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Kaufmann visit heated at times over Republicans’ law changes
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · April 13, 2017
Nearly 70 people showed up Saturday in what state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann called “easily our best” West Branch crowd for a Town Hall meeting; a meeting that turned contentious at times with arguing and shouting and stretched for three hours.
At the start, more than 50 made up the standing-room-only crowd in the meeting room of the West Branch Fire/Police Department, but more trickled in over the next hour to hear the Wilton Republican answer questions about topics ranging from collective bargaining, education funding, sanctuary cities and more.
When this reporter shared a head count of 69 constituents, Kaufmann said “I love that kind of turnout.”
“This was the record-breaking single largest town hall (turnout) I’ve had,” he said afterward.
Kaufmann on Saturday hosted his first Town Hall meeting in West Branch since voters in November gave Senate control to Republicans, after the GOP already held a majority in the House and occupied the executive branch.
Kaufmann’s Town Hall meetings typically take place in the West Branch Public Library’s meeting room and last about an hour, with six to 15 people in attendance.
Yet interest in many controversial topics — especially bills to change what could not be overturned with a split congress, and even some federal topics of which Kaufmann cannot affect — drove the discussion until Kaufmann closed the meeting to get to West Branch resident Clarence Crew’s 90th birthday reception across the street.
Some of the highlights:
Water quality
Asked about water quality, Kaufmann stated there are two different bills addressing this.
One takes the existing water excise tax and turns it into a revolving loan fund and local cities and counties, etc., can apply for grants to help fund projects.
However, the $23 million this would produce is “a drop in the bucket” to Iowa needs, though he likes the system it establishes.
Kaufmann said he proposed a bill that changes part the 2010 voter-approved 3/8-cent water quality referendum. The Water Infrastructure and Soil increases 1/8 cent per year over three years while reducing income taxes at the same rate — what he called “tax-neutral” — to build up to $180 million a year, or $4 billion over 20 years, into the revolving loan fund.
“The beauty of the system is that it is proactive and allows for creativity,” the state representative said, because applications are based on merit.
He thinks this bill will be debated next year.
Corporate taxes
Lauren Whitehead of Solon, a member of political action group Indivisible District 73 who streamed the meeting on her Facebook page, asked about “tax neutral” programs and whether Republicans had ideas to bring in more revenue.
Kaufmann inferred she was referring to “Democratic proposals that tax credits are given out too generously.”
“I actually agree,” he said. “The tax credit system, as far as I’m concerned, picks winners and losers. A true Republican philosophy doesn’t … but rather allows things to exist and thrive on their own.”
He said he thinks most agree with child tax credits, but not corporate tax credits. He said that all corporate tax credits in place since 2010 “has been under Democratic advisement as well.”
The Republicans are now pushing a property tax reform bill and capping giveaways to corporations that should lead to an “uptick” in the economy.
“There are corporations whom I support and who are good employers who are not only not paying taxes, they are actually receiving a check for it,” he said.
Bruce Barnhart, owner of Barnhart Custom Services, said that some of those “kickbacks” help “level the playing field” with surrounding states which suggests the need for more collaborative tax reform.
Kaufmann said the corporate tax rate is “significantly higher than almost every state around us” and that the Iowa legislature will see a tax reform package that addresses income taxes, corporate taxes and giveaways like the Research Activities Tax Credit.
Mike Owen of West Branch, director of the Iowa Policy Project, said the Research Activities Tax Credit is not related to tax rates and that the “giveaways” are 80 to 90 percent of the cost of that credit. Last year, that RATC cost was about $50 million, of which $40 million was sent out in checks.
“Some people have good lobbyists,” he said.
Wealth
distribution
An unidentified woman followed by stating that the United States has multi-millionaires and billionaires “hoarding” resources while she makes $50,000 a year and happily pays her taxes.
“Those resources are not being pushed back into things like parks, roads, bridges, communities, police, fire departments,” she said. “How do we stop the hoarding? People making $50,000 a year cannot count on this country distributing — I’m not going to use the word ‘redistributing’ — distributing its wealth so that we all live better, so that we all prosper? I’ve had it with this disparity … it is breaking my heart … we have a catastrophic failure in our nation.”
She received some applause following her question.
Kaufmann said he represents some 31,000 people in District 73, not the entire nation, “but I know zero people in House District 73 who are wealth and hoarding money.” He suggested that if she knew of someone evading taxes, she should contact the Internal Revenue Service.
The woman asked why people and corporations “have so freaking much money” that they can move it outside the United States.
“I am against people making multi-, multi-millions because that means they are not paying the people (who) work for them …,” she said, to which Kaufmann cut her off.
“That’s not true,” he said. “That’s actually slander … if you were to name somebody and accuse them of not paying their taxes …”
“I’m not talking about taxes, I’m talking about minimum wages,” the woman said, talking over Kaufmann. “I don’t have enough money to stash in my retirement account, Mr. Kaufmann, much less have money that I don’t want the government to touch so I stash it overseas. I want those loopholes shut down. I want that wealth to be put into better wages. I want some kind of universal health care. I don’t want tax cuts for the rich.”
Kaufmann said he appreciated her concerns, but the state could only take action if it had names of violators. He also stated that the audience included business owners who “go above and beyond for their employees” with health insurance and benefits.
“For you to blanket-slander business owners is not something I’m going to stand for,” he said.
Members of the audience began debating with the woman by giving their own examples and tensions rose further.
Collective
bargaining
Kaufmann brought up the issue of collective bargaining first when making a comment about critics of his voting record.
“When I was up in Lowden, there were 10-11 people who were very, very against the collective bargaining vote,” he said. “When I voted for it, I heard that I was ‘completely against’ my constituents. That’s not accurate. There are people absolutely for it and absolutely against it and I acknowledge both sides.”
Collective bargaining came up again following the wealth distribution discussion when Julie Eisele of Newport Township questioned Kaufmann’s concern for “local control” when he voted in favor of a collective bargaining bill that forbids public boards and unions from negotiating health insurance, staff reductions, evaluation procedures and leaves of absence. The bill also includes provisions that require annual votes to certify a union with a majority of the possible voters — as opposed to a majority of actual voters — and no longer allows public entities to collect union dues through paycheck deductions.
“This notion that every single person, regardless of performance, automatically gets the exact same raise — every single year, no matter what — didn’t make any sense,” he said. “That’s not how the real world works.”
Kaufman said he had a “significant number of teachers” saying most teachers are “fantastic,” and he has several teachers in his family.
“If a group of teachers want to get together and say, ‘Hey, we’re working extra hours and paying for our school supplies. We’re busting our behinds to get this done. We don’t deserve the same 2.2 percent as somebody else got. We deserve 4,’” the state representative said. “And that’s why I voted for it. A lot of people didn’t like my vote and I’m very well aware of that, but this notion that it was not representative of every single constituent isn’t true.”
Minimum wage
Eisele also questioned why Republicans passed the “pre-emptive” bill that rolled back minimum wage increases imposed by cities and counties like Johnson County.
Kaufmann said he agrees with a statewide minimum wage and voted against the pre-emption bill because he supports local control. He noted that the bill also blocked plastic-bag bans.
A man whom Kaufmann called “Paul” stood up to thank Kaufmann for “crossing party lines” to vote no.
School funding
West Branch Community School Board of Education member Jodi Yeggy thanked Kaufmann for voting in favor of increasing state aid, but the 1.1 percent “is still not quite where we need it, obviously.”
“One percent does not nearly keep up with the rate of inflation or the needs of a school district,” she said.
Her “larger concern” regarded school vouchers and school choice and tax incentives, “which is essentially vouchers” for families who wish to send their children to parochial and private schools. She wanted to know if the proposed bills “have any legs” and why.
“It’s ridiculous it has any legs whatsoever from either side,” she said.
Kaufmann said the tax incentives “are going no where this year,” but cannot predict what will happen next year.
Further, he said he has advocated for more spending for schools and noted that Republicans shielded education from cuts when the Revenue Estimating Committee determined in March that the state would fall about $131 million short. The legislature made $118 million in cuts and took the remainder out of savings.
Kaufmann said he did not support school choice this year and will not next year “until our school funding formula is changed.”
He said small schools that lose state aid when pupils move to growing districts are “disproportionately affected by the funding formula,” and he does not want to see small school close, which, in essence, takes away one form of school choice from families who live nearby.
He also wants to see the School Infrastructure Local Option (SILO) tax, a 1-cent tax, continue for another 20 years, especially for small schools that, for example, experience higher fuel costs by sending buses into the countryside.
Kaufmann said he would like to see SILO used for new purposes like testing, preschool and other things, but not the general fund. He said this was in line with his belief in local control.
Yeggy said she opposed making SILO money available to complement a school’s general fund.
“Then you’ve got competing priorities,” she said. “Flexibility is good … but we have to be careful because if we’re going to be paying teacher salaries against facilities, … it’s going to put school districts in a real tough spot.”
Sanctuary cities
One unidentified man asked Kaufmann’s opinion on Johnson County directing the sheriff department to not honor detainer requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement or support local immigration or customs raids, among other things, unless required by law.
“I completely disagree with what they did,” the state representative said, stating that Johnson County is choosing this action simply because conservatives support it. “It’s unbecoming of their office. It would be like me saying, … ‘I’m a state representative and I just don’t think I’m any longer going to wear a seat belt.’ or ‘You know what, I’m no longer going to pay my employees $7.25 an hour. You would all laugh at me and say, ‘Get out of office. You don’t get to do that.’”
Kaufmann said the Iowa legislature is waiting to see if the U.S. congress acts since President Trump has suggested sanctions.
“I’m anxious to see, right or wrong, agree or disagree, what the president decides to issue on that as far as sanctuary cities are concerned,” he said. “This whole notion that any supervisor, in any party, on any issue, conservative or liberal, can say, ‘Eh, we don’t like that law, I’m not going to do that one.’ I just vehemently disagree with it.”
Whitehead said that Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek is “responsive” to concerns and believes the Johnson County position is “more nuanced than that.”
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