Major floods, another Iowa law challenged, seven key legislative races

June 24 "Capitol Week" is online

Jun 25, 2024

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Aerial image of flooding in northwest Iowa on June 22, posted on Governor Kim Reynolds’ social media.

Good morning! The audio file from the latest edition of “KHOI’s Capitol Week” is at the top of this newsletter. Before I recap Monday night’s show, I wanted to remind you that June 28 is the last Friday of the month. That means the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative is holding its monthly lunchtime Zoom meeting for paying subscribers. We call it “the Office Lounge,” after a bar in downtown Des Moines that was a favorite hangout for Des Moines Register staff back in the day.

Robert Leonard

will be moderating this Friday’s call, which runs from noon Central Daylight Time until 1:00 pm. You’ll have a chance to meet some of the newer columnists. I’ll be ready to talk about the Iowa Supreme Court’s major abortion ruling, which is expected to be published first thing Friday morning. (My only prediction is that it will be a 4-3 decision one way or the other.) We always leave plenty of time for questions or suggestions.

If you are a paying subscriber to this newsletter, scroll down to find a link to the Zoom meeting at the bottom of this message, after the list of Iowa Writers Collaborative columnists.

If you aren’t a paid subscriber through Substack, but you have donated to support my work in some other way (using a credit card, PayPal, Patreon, Venmo, or a personal check), email me for the Zoom link, and I will send it to you.

If you are a paying subscriber to any other Iowa Writers Collaborative member, you should receive the link from that person.

On to the show! You can listen on any podcast platform or smart speaker by searching for “KHOI’s Capitol Week.” The full archive (going back to February 2021) is available on KHOI’s website.

For the first time since Spencer Dirks and I have been working together, unexpected events over the weekend forced a total overhaul of our draft format.

Of course we began with the severe flooding in northwest Iowa. Several cities including Rock Valley, Spencer, and Estherville reported flood waters higher than 1993 levels;
Governor Kim Reynolds requested an expedited presidential disaster declaration for the 22 worst affected counties. This news release explains how the various Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Small Business Administration programs work. Late Monday evening (several hours after we recorded live), the governor’s office announced that President Joe Biden approved a Major Disaster Declaration for the hardest-hit counties: Clay, Emmet, Lyon, Plymouth, and Sioux;
The governor’s office called a press conference on short notice for Sunday afternoon. I was able to attend and hear from Reynolds, a National Weather Service meteorologist, and six cabinet members (Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director John Benson, Department of Transportation Director Scott Marler, Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens, Department of Natural Resources Director Kayla Lyon, Health and Human Services Director Kelly Garcia, and Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn, the Adjutant General of the Iowa National Guard);
More rain is forecast for later this week, and while flooding is expected to continue in the Missouri and Des Moines River basins this week, officials are also preparing for possible flooding in eastern Iowa. Allamakee County in the northeast corner is already affected. Iowans in low-lying areas should keep an eye on the forecast, because waters rose very quickly in northwest Iowa;
Marler and Bayens emphasized that it’s important for Iowans to stay off roads that are closed. Some people drove around barriers over the weekend and had to be rescued, when law enforcement and first responders were facing so many other demands;
State officials don’t have firm numbers on how many people have been displaced from their homes, but at least 1,000 needed to be sheltered over the weekend;
The Iowa National Guard put 40 service members on state orders to assist with the flood response, I was told on Monday. For those who are wondering: the deployment to Texas earlier this year is not affecting the Guard’s ability to respond to the floods. Most of those personnel returned to Iowa in early May; only five people remain in Texas. The Guard has approximately 8,500 service members across Iowa;
I forgot to mention on the show that Reynolds did ask Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen for assistance over the weekend, because the Iowa National Guard’s Medivac Unit is currently deployed to Kosovo. The Guard’s public information officer told me on Monday, “Nebraska assisted with medivac in the first 48 hours, but they are no longer activated”;
HHS Director Garcia highlighted her agency’s plan to submit a request for a special federal food assistance program called Disaster SNAP. That can’t happen until after a presidential disaster declaration is issued. Disaster SNAP can help families who otherwise wouldn’t qualify for food assistance, because the damage done to their property can be subtracted from their income. People can buy certain prepared foods with Disaster SNAP that can’t be purchased with ordinary federal food assistance;
Reynolds and Pillen issued a joint statement Monday urging people to stay off the Missouri River to avoid hazards related to debris and high water flow;
For those who want to donate to help flood victims, Homeland Security Director Benson encouraged Iowans to give cash rather than physical items, and to check the Iowa Disaster Recovery website for reputable organizations. Unfortunately, scam artists often pop up after a natural disaster, and that happened in Greenfield a few weeks ago;
Speaking of which, the tornado that struck Greenfield last month reached maximum wind speeds exceeding 308 mph, which makes it the strongest tornado recorded since 1999;
Director Benson had one more suggestion for Iowans living in flood-prone areas: prepare a “go bag” with essential items in case there’s an evacuation order. In addition to a change of clothes, he recommended packing prescription medications and important documents related to your insurance policy or the title to your home;
Spencer mentioned that he’s headed to Okoboji for vacation next week. Iowa Writers Collaborative member Arnold Garson wrote about the flooding in that area over the weekend. It’s already surpassed 1993 levels;
Moving to other news, Attorney General Brenna Bird announced the creation of a cold case unit last week. The GOP-controlled legislature increased her office’s budget substantially, which made it possible for her to dedicate about $500,000 to run this office;
Last week, Bird led a group of two dozen Republican attorneys general opposing Special Counsel Jack Smith’s request for a gag order on former President Donald Trump in connection with the classified documents case;
Bird also followed through last week on appealing the federal court order blocking enforcement of Senate File 2340, the immigration law creating a new state crime of “illegal reentry”;
Two Iowa beverage producers filed a federal lawsuit last week challenging House File 2605, the new state law regulating consumable hemp products. There are two main arguments: first, that the federal government has exclusive authority to issue that kind of regulation, and second, the state agency went beyond the statute when issuing administrative rules on the new THC limits;
This lawsuit doesn’t target every provision of House File 2605; it focuses on rules affecting beverages. Other parts of the law make it a crime to administer full-spectrum hemp products to people under age 21. That has alarmed parents of children with seizure disorders. Erin Farquhar wrote about this issue last week, because it directly affects her family. Her commentary is now the most-viewed post in Bleeding Heartland’s 17-year history;
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee endorsed seven Iowa House or Senate candidates last week. I covered the “spotlight” candidates and their districts in more depth at Bleeding Heartland;
Anti-abortion activists gathered at the state capitol on Saturday. They made clear that their ultimate goal is not the near-total abortion ban Republicans enacted last year; they hope to go further to ban abortion;
As I mentioned near the top, the Iowa Supreme Court is expected to rule on June 28 on whether the state can enforce that abortion ban;
The Des Moines Register continues to publish findings from the latest Iowa Poll by Selzer & Co. We spent a few minutes talking about the job approval numbers for State Auditor Rob Sand, Governor Reynolds, AG Bird, and Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst;
One other Iowa Poll finding caught my eye: 50 percent of respondents said Iowa is on the wrong track. The Des Moines Register reported, “This poll and the February poll are the only times since 2010 when half of Iowans thought the state was headed in the wrong direction.” In 2010 we were coming out of the “Great Recession.”

Thanks for reading or listening! I hope to see some of you at the “Office Lounge” on Friday. Remember, that Zoom link is at the bottom of this message.