Cy-Hawk game, CO2 pipeline, cull of state boards, and more

Sept. 11 "Capitol Week" is online

Sep 12, 2023

I’m excited about visiting northwest Iowa next week for the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat, a Julie Gammack production. Check out the schedule if you are interested in writing fiction, nonfiction, memoir, poetry, plays, journalism, or editorials. There may still be a few slots available. No professional writing experience required!

The retreat won’t affect the radio show: Dennis Hart and I will be on the air at the usual time next Monday at 7 pm Central.

Here’s the audio from our September 11 program. Remember, the full “Capitol Week” archive (137 programs) is available on KHOI’s website for free at any time.

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This week, we covered a smaller number of topics in more depth.

The Cy-Hawk game was the center of the Iowa caucus campaign on Saturday. I was struck by the warm reception for Trump at an agricultural fraternity. There’s no evidence young Republicans are looking for an alternative to the former president;
The Des Moines Register’s Brianne Pfannenstiel reported that Trump watched the Iowa/Iowa State football game from the private box of “influential Republican donor and casino magnate Gary Kirke.” Kirke was among a group of major Iowa GOP donors who recruited then New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to run for president in 2011, and endorsed his candidacy in 2015. Although some people in the GOP establishment may be ready to move on, Kirke’s tacit endorsement is a sign that lots of business Republicans are content to have Trump continue to lead the party;
Trump’s campaign staff kept him surrounded by supporters, but in the stands at Jack Trice stadium, some people made obscene gestures in the direction of Kirke’s box;
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis attracted a small crowd at a pre-game tailgate organized by the Never Back Down super-PAC. He watched the game with Governor Kim Reynolds. At this point the only question in my mind is when will Reynolds endorse DeSantis? My guess is sometime between Christmas and January 10;
Dennis and I talked about the political calculations for Reynolds as she considers whether to endorse a candidate before the caucuses, now scheduled for January 15;
Six other GOP candidates came to the Story County fairgrounds before the Cy-Hawk game: former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, former U.S. Representative Will Hurd, Texas pastor Ryan Binkley, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and the Rev. E.W. Jackson (I wasn’t familiar with his candidacy). From where I’m sitting, Ramaswamy is the only one of that group who could be a factor in the race after the caucuses;
Marc Caputo was first to report for The Messenger that during the Cy-Hawk game, the Never Back Down PAC used “geo-fencing” to direct an online ad to people’s cell phones in and around Jack Trice stadium. The ad slammed Trump for allowing transgender contestants to participate in the Miss Universe pageant. In July, a new dark money group paid for mailings to Iowa Republicans depicting Trump as an advocate for LGBTQ rights and a “trailblazer for trans.” Team DeSantis is betting it all on Iowa and must be getting pretty desperate to use this line of attack. To be clear: Trump is no friend to transgender people and even tried to ban transgender people from serving in the military;
Two presidential candidates were in Iowa to mark the 9/11 anniversary; former Vice President Mike Pence was at the Ankeny Fire Department, and Hurd walked to the state capitol;
I reported late last week that Governor Reynolds’ staff told a state regulator that no public funds were used for the governor’s “fair-side chats” with presidential candidates during the Iowa State Fair. At Bleeding Heartland I explained why I wanted to nail this down;
Moving away from the presidential campaign, Dennis and I spent a few minutes discussing the latest news related to proposed CO2 pipelines. Regulators in North Dakota and South Dakota have denied permit applications, and the Iowa Utilities Board’s hearing on Summit Carbon Solutions’ permit is ongoing. We didn’t have time on the show to get into all the details, but tried to hit the main points;
On a related note, I’ve been proud to publish Nancy Dugan’s exclusive reporting about the pipeline controversy. She has explored questions about whether the CO2 would be permanently sequestered in North Dakota or used for fracking, and has broken news about a network of LLCs linked to Summit Carbon Solutions, which are seeking permits to use large amounts of well water in Iowa;
The Des Moines Register’s Donnelle Eller reported last week on email correspondence showing the governor and Summit leader Bruce Rastetter meet several times a year for lunch or dinner. An attorney who represents landowners opposing the pipeline introduced the emails in the Iowa Utilities Board’s docket. I thought it was common knowledge that major GOP donors and business leaders have access to Reynolds. To my mind, the stronger evidence of Rastetter’s influence over this process came in 2021, when the governor named one of Summit’s top executives to her carbon sequestration task force;
I attended last Wednesday’s public hearing at the state capitol, where nearly 70 people weighed in on plans to cull Iowa boards and commissions. Lots of people urged the review committee not to recommend axing boards now slated for elimination. Many also testified against a proposal to repeal Iowa’s statute requiring appointed bodies to have gender balance;
We talked about how the boards and commissions review committee did most of its work in secret and withheld key details about their draft recommendations. I wrote about this angle in more detail at Bleeding Heartland;
Many commissions focused on one area of public policy (such as tobacco use and control) are going to be rolled into subcommittees of larger boards. Commissions that now focus on underrepresented communities (African Americans, Native Americans, Asian and Pacific Islanders, Latino Affairs, Deaf services, women) will be combined into one Human Rights Council;
The Des Moines City Council voted September 11 to hold a special election on November 7 to fill the vacancy created by Indira Sheumaker’s recent resignation in Ward 1 (the northwest side of town). I wish her the best and don’t plan to endorse a candidate in that race;
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new COVID-19 vaccine. I am curious to see whether the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services will make even a token effort to encourage Iowans to get vaccinated. I will be getting a booster as soon as it’s available;
Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst want to overturn the latest Biden administration student loan plan. To paraphrase from the Hamilton musical: They don’t have the votes. By the way, I would be happy to publish guest posts at Bleeding Heartland by affected Iowans, either praising or critiquing the Biden policy;
Grassley told some Iowa reporters last week, “I have no question whatsoever” about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s health. Since the senator’s staff don’t allow me to participate in his conference calls, I wasn’t able to ask any questions about that issue or anything else.

Thanks for listening!

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A final note: I took a break from scheduling fundraisers for Bleeding Heartland over the summer, but I will have more evenings free this fall. If you would like to host a house party or event somewhere else in your community (like a park shelter or community center), please let me know: laurabelin@substack.com. These informal events have been a lot of fun. I say a few words about how I came to be doing this work and some of the Iowa political stories in the news, and I always leave plenty of time for Q&A.