Iowa House Democratic Leader

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Democrats continue to be in the minority in the Iowa legislature. So, how will they try to impact policy decisions? We'll talk with House democratic leader Jennifer Konfrst on this edition of Iowa Press.

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For decades, Iowa Press has brought you political leaders and newsmakers from across Iowa and beyond. Celebrating more than 50 years on statewide Iowa PBS, this is the Friday, January 24th edition of Iowa Press. Here is Kay Henderson.

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[Henderson] Our guest on this edition of Iowa Press has been the democratic leader in the Iowa House since June of 2021. She is the House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, a democrat from Windsor Heights. Welcome back to the program.

[Konfrst] Thanks for having me. Always nice to be here.

[Henderson] Joining the conversation, Stephen Gruber-Miller of the Des Moines Register and Erin Murphy of the Gazette in Cedar Rapids.

[Murphy] Representative Konfrst, this past week the new House higher education committee met. You are a member of that committee. We saw some of the first few batches of proposals from them and a couple of them deal with the Iowa Tuition Grant, which is state money that goes to scholarships at private colleges, like the one you work for in Drake University, ties some strings to that tuition grant. What do you foresee as the impact to schools like yours?

[Konfrst] I'm an Iowa Tuition Grant recipient as well, so this is something I'm following very closely. And the Iowa Tuition Grant is what allows Iowa families, Iowa kids to go to private colleges and universities in the state. So, it's for Iowa kids. And it is in one way interesting to me that they want to add strings to the public money that is going to private universities when they're not willing to add any strings or accountability to the private, the $1 billion of private money going to our K-12 schools, private schools in this state. But I have concerns. They want to make it so that some of the scholarships go to people who major in certain jobs and will make big salaries when they graduate. I have some concerns about that. How do we decide what those are? How are we limiting the opportunities for students? If someone wants to go be a religious studies major and isn't going to be rich, does that mean she doesn't get to go to college with an Iowa Tuition Grant scholarship because the state determined her job doesn't have value? These are the questions I have. And when people start getting involved in education decisions like this and tying strings to this money, I just want consistency and I want to make sure that we're thinking through the unintended consequences. So, I have a lot of concerns about that and want to see where it's going to go.

[Murphy] And in a similar vein, this week President Trump issued an executive order that Governor Reynolds then promptly reminded the public university presidents about the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion programs and staff at all the universities. What is your understanding of where that process is with the public universities? And might this also impact the private schools?

[Konfrst] Yeah, there is a bill that ties Iowa Tuition Grant money to elimination of DEI programs at private colleges as well. Look, the fact that the Governor issued a press release to talk about how people that work for her and the Board of Regents that she selected need to follow the rules that have been given is proof that this is just politics. She's just playing politics with this. And so, people can criticize DEI. Clearly it has become a buzz word and people want to hate on DEI. But you can be mad at the words, but what it does is it teaches us to work together and live in a multicultural and global society. And I don't know why we're opposed to that and what we're afraid of when we're talking about that. So, what is clear to me is that this is political talking points and political theatre. And it's always disappointing to see the Governor just pick up on Donald Trump's rhetoric and apply it to Iowa. These people work for her. If she wants them to follow the law, tell them. You don't need to put a press release out to do it.

[Gruber-Miller] There seems to be some bipartisan support potentially for something the Governor has called for, banning cell phones in schools during class time. We've seen a number of districts already begin to take action on this. So, is it an issue the legislature needs to address?

[Konfrst] I don't think so. I think it's something that individual school boards and school districts can address because they know their districts and their communities best. If we want to require that districts have a policy, fine. I just don't want us to be mandating what a tiny school district should do versus what a giant school district should do because they know best how to implement these policies and they know their students and their teachers. And again, we're always concerned about the details. I don't want distracted students in classrooms either. But I really don't want teachers to have one more thing to have to do and now they have to police cell phone usage in addition to the other things we've asked them to do. So, if we can allow local districts to make these decisions, they have proven to us that they can do it in a way that is best for their community and I think that is the best way to do it.

[Gruber-Miller] Another proposal to do with cell phones, the Governor has called in her speech this year to ban cell phones while driving. Several republicans have said that this call by the Governor is giving a little more momentum after years of efforts to get it done. Do you think that's enough to get it over the finish line?

[Konfrst] Well, I know that Iowa House democrats didn't need to be convinced by the Governor that it was important to have a hands-free bill pass in the state. That's why we've supported it for a long time. The problem in the past has been that republicans don't have the votes in the House to bring it over. Democrats are happy to provide those votes. But at the end of the day, they need to get their own caucus in line and if the Governor saying it in the speech is what gets it done, that's great. What I care about is the policy happens. The politics behind it are their problem.

[Henderson] One of the surprises in the Governor's speech was passage about cancer and about Iowa's high incidence of cancer among all the states and the need for research to figure out why. She is calling for a million dollars’ worth of funding for epidemiologists at the University of Iowa to really dig into this and find the cause. Is that something democrats will support?

[Konfrst] Well, we're thrilled that the Governor has joined us in our concern for the cancer rates in the state. This is a growing, escalating problem that we tried to raise the alarm bells on for a couple of years now. And so, I'm also thrilled that she believes in the epidemiologists at the University of Iowa to do this work and research is important. We can, of course, support research for cancer to learn more about our cancer incidences in this state. We would love to see more urgency behind it because people are being diagnosed every day and a million dollars for research kicks the can down the road. What can we do right now to help people get better treatment for cancer? To make sure people have access to health care? To make sure people can actually start to get better from the cancer they are diagnosed with this year? I'm tired of seeing us kick things down the road with studies and looks at things when Iowans are in crisis right now. So, I'd love to see more devoted to that. But this is a lovely start, of course.

[Henderson] So, are you talking about requiring insurance companies to cover certain things, to cover certain drugs that are used for cancer treatment even if they are experimental?

[Konfrst] I'd love to have an all of the above conversation, not necessary a policy, but sit down with stakeholders and figure out what do we need to do with regard to pharmaceuticals, with regard to health care access, with regard to Medicare coverage, Medicaid coverage, with regard to funding for programs in this state, physicians, we need more physicians in this state. If OBGYN cancers are going up, we also have a crisis with maternal health and OBGYN practitioners not being available in this state. We have to look at this comprehensively.

[Murphy] There is a proposal to extend the moratorium on casino licenses in the state being considered again. There was one previous that expired and that's why we're here talking about it again. This would expand the moratorium for another five years. We've seen multiple market studies now that have said the market is saturated in Iowa. Should the legislature just consider saying we've got enough for now instead of having this discussion every two or five years? Do you think it's time to cap these?

[Konfrst] I'm glad to hear about market studies and I've heard different things from different market studies, of course, depending on who puts them out and what their goals are. But I will say that we have a Racing and Gaming Commission for a reason and we as a state, this has been working for a while. I like the idea of allowing the Racing and Gaming Commission to make this decision. But people on both sides of the aisle are going to be on different spots on this one. So, I think you're going to see a pretty bipartisan mixed vote there.

[Murphy] To that, is it as simple as if you're a legislator with a casino in your back yard you're for this because the casinos don't want any more? And if you don't have a casino in your district, it's not as important? Or is it more complicated than that?

[Konfrst] I think that's a lot of it. I think a lot of it is just I have someone in my district who employs a bunch of people and I want them to be able to continue to succeed. And some of it is philosophical. I don't believe we should be underfeeding here. Some of it is I don't believe we should have gambling. It's a lot of different issues that people weigh in on here. This issue is complicated and has been for a long time. So, people are in different spots for different reasons.

[Gruber-Miller] To go back to the health care discussion we were having a minute ago, the Governor released several proposals. One of them has to do with having Medicaid cover doulas. Another would increase the rates for midwives that they receive. And she's also talking about using federal money to create hundreds of new residency slots in this state. I'd like to hear if you think those programs would make an impact on Iowa's rural health care shortage?

[Konfrst] It remains to be seen. I hope so. I'm willing to look at all kinds of ways that we can help women who are having babies in rural areas not have to be on an ambulance for a few hours or not have to take a long drive. So, if more doulas and midwives is the answer to help currently, I can support that absolutely. I want to make sure we're not doing that as sort of a headline grabber and not actually addressing the problem, so we'll be looking at that. Additionally, the residencies are hugely important. Remember that when women come to the state and want to learn -- or when doctors come to the state and want to learn about OBGYN services, we need to make sure they can still learn the entire scope of OBGYN work, including miscarriage management, emergency termination services, things like that. Will they be able to learn the full scope of OBGYN services in Iowa based on the new abortion ban remains to be seen. And so that is a concern we have with regard to folks who are trained in Iowa being in Iowa and being able to fully practice and practice their whole scope of practice in the state, if that makes sense.

[Henderson] The Governor outlined several proposals regarding preschool. One of them deals with the property taxes that the owners of child care centers pay making it equal to what you pay as a residential homeowner rather than as a commercial business. Another one dealt with making it easier for parents who have enrolled their kid in preschool, which maybe lasts two or three hours a day, and getting that child to a child care center. Are those proposals that go far enough in addressing the preschool problem that Iowa has?

[Konfrst] Two things there. When my kids were little, I worked in Johnston and would drive downtown to pick them up after preschool three days a week, I would take an hour of vacation every day and drop them off at child care. So, I know what this scurry and scamper is like. And we have to address that issue. We also have to address child care and we've talked a lot about availability but I don't know anyone whose bills have gone down. And so, what are we doing to address affordability of child care too? But the most important thing to understand with the preschool debate is that it is really for the kids. It is for making sure they are ready for school. We know that kids who go to preschool learn better and are better able to read by third grade. So, we need to be looking at it not only from a child care perspective, but also from a what helps our education system be as strong as possible? I think we can go farther.

[Henderson] So what would be going farther?

[Konfrst] I like the idea of implementing some universal pre-K for four-year-olds in this state.

[Henderson] So requiring them to attend like kindergarten is required?

[Konfrst] I think that I need to look at what other states are, what other districts are saying. But what I like is the proposal that is out there right now that is looking at making it available to four-year-olds, not required.

[Murphy] Representative Konfrst, this week lawmakers in the House wrangled over a response to an Iowa Supreme Court ruling about children testifying in court remotely against an alleged abuser. The Iowa Attorney General wants to amend the Iowa Constitution to address this issue. Is that the proper method? That was part of this debate. Is that the proper approach?

[Konfrst] You know, since republicans have been in charge in the legislature it seems like we have a new constitutional amendment to vote on every year. And I think that there are a lot of things that can be solved without having to address the Constitution and we as lawmakers are able to make those decisions to help protect victims and survivors and I don't know that adding another amendment to the Constitution is necessary.

[Murphy] So, the pushback I heard, and I would be interested in your response to this, from the AG's office in that subcommittee hearing was that because of the Supreme Court ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that that remote testimony is unconstitutional so any law that would attempt to address that will still be considered unconstitutional by the court.

[Konfrst] So let's work with the Supreme Court, let's work with the courts and figure out how we can write a law that is constitutional, that we can do within the parameters of our current Constitution. Again, it's fascinating to me always that republicans seem to get very upset when the Supreme Court that is appointed by all republicans does something that they don't like, so then they just want to change the Constitution. Can we please have some conversations that are more nuance and look at ways to work together to solve problems instead of politicizing every single thing?

[Gruber-Miller] The Governor this year is proposing four weeks of paid leave for state employees who give birth. Your Senate democratic colleagues have gone further and proposed 12 weeks for public and private sector employees. Where are House democrats going to come down on this because we know that you're in the minority, if your propose your own bill like this it probably won't get a hearing? So, is it a case of you can support the Governor's bill and something is better than nothing? Or do you think the solution needs to be further?

[Konfrst] Here's the problem with all of the things that we consider is that we're doing the same thing. Something is better than nothing. The same thing is true with the cancer funding. We can support some of that. We think things should go farther. Our conversation always is what does the actual bill look like? Is it going to go farther? Will you actually commit to this? Or is it just an introduction of a bill to get headlines and look good? Is this really going to get to the Governor's desk to be signed? If that's the case, let's have conversations about how we can work together. If it's just for a headline, then we don't have a lot of interest in promoting something that is less than we think Iowans deserve.

[Henderson] So why do you think this has failed to gain traction among republican legislators because she has proposed this before that state employees should have this benefit?

[Konfrst] I don't know. I've heard from some of my republican colleagues that they just think that you knew what you signed up for, you should be back to work. It's not the most sensitive approach and I disagree with it and a lot of Iowans do too. I don't know why they aren't supportive of this. It's the same reason I have questions about why they're not supportive of some child care legislation that we could actually do to expand affordability of child care. I don't know what is behind it. But it is absolutely devastating for women to really face a lot of financial insecurity when they are forced to take time without pay, things like that. I think we could do better for Iowa's moms.

[Henderson] So let's shift to a brief discussion about the Department of Government Efficiency, which we have now learned is pronounced DOGE. In the last century, Terry Branstad assembled a group of private sector people, they came up with a report called The Fisher Commission Report recommending efficiencies in state government. Governor Reynolds says she's going to do the same thing. Do you have hope that there will be efficiencies in state government? And how will democrats approach this?

[Konfrst] You know, I hate to say this, but it's always the devil is in the details because we all want government to be more efficient. We want to make sure also that Iowans are getting their value for their tax dollars and they're getting the services that they are paying for with their tax dollars. So, efficiency can't mean I now have to wait longer to get the services that I need or that I no longer get the services that I need. Efficiency can't just be rearranging an org chart and sending everything to the Department of Health and Human Services and to the Department of Education and growing those bureaucracies so big. We need to look at the details here because it's great to say I want to make government more efficient. But when is the follow up to say, did it work? Are people getting more services or better service than they got before? Or have we gotten headlines and played politics and now Iowans are scrambling to get what they deserve? So that's really what we're going to be paying close attention to. Our role in the minority is to call out politics when we see it and I have some concerns that that's what this is.

[Henderson] Well, the reorganization of state government has been in force for a couple of years. What have you seen with that?

[Konfrst] Well, I mean, anecdotes and not a lot of data. I can't get a lot of information out of the Governor's Office or the Executive Branch about the impact of those reorganizations. Every time I ask, I hear, well it's still new, we're still working on it, we're still getting organized. Taxpayers deserve answers on exactly how it is that this current reorganization is working.

[Murphy] Majority republicans are once again this session talking about addressing Iowans' property taxes. I want to take a step back first and I'm just curious broadly speaking, maybe philosophically, do you consider the property tax a fair tax?

[Konfrst] That's a good question. I haven't -- that's a philosophical question, Erin. I was ready to talk politics. I think that property taxes certainly when they are applied appropriately and when assessments are accurate and when they are going to the right purposes, yes, they can be fair. I think the concern comes when you're looking at communities that are growing versus communities that are stagnant and who is being punished and who is being rewarded in that circumstance? What happens to the impact of state dollars for education, for example, on raising property taxes? So, I think the problem is that property taxes are incredibly complex and confusing and my colleagues across the aisle are trying to come up with simple answers to a very complicated question. And again, what is the impact? We had property tax reform last time. Whose property taxes went down? We did a corporate tax cut a few years ago and corporations property taxes went down and ours didn't. So, can we start seeing some results instead of continuing to kick the can down the road and say we know it will get better later, let's just keep doing it? That's my concern.

[Murphy] To your point about growth, nobody thinks their property taxes are too low. But do you feel that this is a largely urban issue where like you talked about, the communities like Waukee that are booming and not as much an issue in rural Iowa? Or how do you view that?

[Konfrst] I think it just brings different perspectives to the table. So, my constituents are coming to me saying, we're growing, we're doing well, we want to be able to continue to grow and expand and we can do that, we can have more infrastructure if we have property tax revenue. Our police and fire are having to serve more people. Then there are legislators whose constituents are saying, but we haven't built a new house in my town in five years. And so, we're coming at it from very different circumstances and then I think we're trying to apply a one size fits all solution and that's why we have city councils and that's why we have mayors because they are really good at handling those issues on the local level.

[Henderson] Last week the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presented her wish list to legislators and it included sort of a DOGE idea in changing the way magistrates operate in Iowa. Every county has a magistrate. It is a private attorney paid to spend about 31% of their time working for the court system. That is not happening. Some are working as few as 5% or 10% of their work hours for the court system. Is that something that should happen? Are you hearing from members of the democratic caucus that there will be pushback against that?

[Konfrst] I haven't heard any yet. I know that the feedback that I've gotten so far is that yeah, in some counties we really need them. We have more than one in some counties. And in some they're not doing the work. So, if that helps -- if we can make those decisions on a more local basis and let counties and local folks decide we don't need this anymore let's give them that freedom as long as justice is still served, as long as people are still getting access to justice.

[Gruber-Miller] In our last few minutes here I want to turn from policy to some politics and some political questions. When you were on this program last May we asked you if you were considering running for Governor in 2026 and you said you weren't taking anything off the table. Have you made the decision about whether to run for Governor? And if not, when do you need to make that decision?

[Konfrst] I know one thing to be true and that is that Iowans are real tired of politics and campaigns. And so, the last thing they want to talk about is the 2026 election. But what I can tell you is that nothing has changed from our conversation in May. We're going to have a lot of conversations after session about going forward. We know that Kim Reynolds is incredibly unpopular. We know that republicans have been in charge in this state for a while and Iowans are going to be looking for something different in 2026. So, there are a lot of talented people in our party and a lot of places that we can inject that talent and we're looking forward to seeing how it goes.

[Gruber-Miller] So, after session conversations?

[Konfrst] For sure. For sure. We've got to focus on session right now.

[Gruber-Miller] So, Rob Sand, the democratic State Auditor raised $8.5 million last year and is widely thought to be considering a run for Governor as well. Does that kind of money, regardless of whether you run, does that kind of money clear a democratic primary field? Is there an opportunity for anybody else to run?

[Konfrst] I don't know. I think the message that it sends is that people are excited to beat Kim Reynolds and they want to donate to someone who they think might be trying to do that. And so, if we can have a level playing field or a competitive chance financially in the Governor's race, I think Iowans and democrats are really excited about that. And so, I think it's great news. Having $8.5 million in the bank in January of 2025 is a great place to be if you're running for Governor in 2026.

[Henderson] You were one of the Iowa democrats who went before the Democratic National Committee a couple of years ago and said the Iowa Caucuses should be the first event in the presidential nominating calendar. That's not what happened. Rita Hart was recently re-elected as the Chair of the Iowa Democratic Party and she said democrats need to have a discussion about should Iowa be first. What is your input in that discussion?

[Konfrst] I don't know that folks know this, but Chair Hart, Auditor Sand, Leader Weiner and I meet weekly to discuss party things and party business and make sure that we're all on the same page. So, we meet regularly. We talk about this issue. She's getting input from democrats across the state, state central committee members, etcetera, all have input in that conversation as I do weekly. But I don't know that we've landed on an answer yet. Iowa democrats are divided on what to do here.

[Henderson] So, what are the pros of keeping it and what are the cons?

[Konfrst] Well, I can tell you one thing that was real rough was in 2024 when republicans were all over the state getting media coverage and there were very few democratic opportunities to fight back. And having one party have the caucuses and one not is an incredibly big disadvantage to Iowa democrats organizationally. And so, if they're going to continue to have the caucuses, it seems like it's good for democrats to still have the same kind of equal activity and engagement, especially next time when it will be an open field.

[Henderson] So, there are democrats who say it's not worth it, we're not seeing results, we're losing races statewide after the caucuses are over. What do you say to those people?

[Konfrst] Well I would say that I sure remember times when presidential campaigns would help us with canvas kickoffs and knock doors in communities and we've had 30 people there with us. So, there's a lot of organizational benefit to having them here. So, I honestly don't know where we're going to land. But I would say that there are benefits to having the caucuses.

[Murphy] We have just a little bit more than a minute left here. Piggybacking off of Kay's question, but removing the caucuses from the equation, this past election was another one that was successful on the other political side for you. Have Iowa democrats completed any kind of analysis of what needs to change moving forward?

[Konfrst] I'm so glad you asked that because it is important to use data to make these decisions and these analyses. We've seen a lot of hot takes over the past six, eight weeks and we are just now getting the voter file. So, we're analyzing that now to see who voted, where they voted and sort of then we can start to determine okay -- and we're doing research right now to find out why they voted the way they voted because we want to actually listen to Iowans, not listen to political hot takes. And so that's what we're doing right now. What can we do for them? We are laser focused on lowering costs because we know no matter what that says, that's what Iowans need, and that's not going to change.

[Murphy] Have you been able to determine yet one of the things going into the election democrats were hopeful of finding those voters who had come out in previous elections but didn't in, and forgive me if the years are blending together here, 2022. Did those voters not turn out again?

[Konfrst] Many of them did and that's what we're analyzing right now is how many did they? Where were they? And what can we do? We know our message is right. How do we get it to them in a way that shows them they can trust us to lead because if they don't like the way things are going, republicans have been in charge for a long time, and they deserve a change.

[Henderson] Speaking of time, we are out of it for this conversation. Thanks for being here on this edition of Iowa Press.

[Konfrst] You bet.

[Henderson] If you would like to watch other editions of Iowa Press, please go to iowapbs.org. For everyone here at Iowa PBS, thanks for watching today.

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Funding for Iowa Press was provided by Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation.

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The Associated General Contractors of Iowa, the public's partner in building Iowa's highway, bridge and municipal utility infrastructure.

Elite Casino Resorts a family run business rooted in Iowa. We believe our employees are part of our family and we strive to improve their quality of life and the quality of lives within the communities we serve.

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Across Iowa, hundreds of neighborhood banks strive to serve their communities, provide jobs and help local businesses. Iowa banks are proud to back the life you build. Learn more at iowabankers.com.

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