Iowa Representative Jennifer Konfrst

Iowa Democrats are a distinct minority at the Iowa Statehouse. We'll talk about their 2023 legislative goals with House Minority 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 50 years of broadcast excellence on statewide Iowa PBS, this is the Friday, January 6th edition of Iowa Press. Here is Kay Henderson.

 

Kay Henderson: 

Our guest on this edition of Iowa Press will be at the Iowa Statehouse on Monday, January 9th, because that is when the Iowa legislature convenes for the 2023 session. Jennifer Konfrst, a Democrat from Windsor Heights, will be the leader of 36 House Democrats. She's one of the 36. Welcome back to Iowa Press.

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

Thanks. I'm happy to be here.

 

Kay Henderson: 

Also joining our conversation, Katrina Sostaric of Iowa Public Radio and Erin Murphy of the Gazette in Cedar Rapids.

 

Erin Murphy: 

Representative Konfrst, you’re in the Iowa House. Down the road a bit in the US House, Americans this week watched some unusual drama in the election of the next House speaker. We're wondering if something similar happened in the Iowa House like that, what would happen with that if for some reason next week Iowa Republicans aren't able to unify behind Pat Grassley as House speaker? Which we don't expect to happen, to be clear. But hypothetically, what would happen in Iowa? Would the House still be able to function? What would that look like?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

I don't know. I mean, I'm happy to offer myself up as the next speaker of the Iowa House, but I think it's going to take flipping the chamber to get that done. No, I think that, you know, we're going to see, we would see some chaos, as always. But one thing to remember is that 39% of the Iowa House is new. And so in many ways, we don't know how everyone's going to get along. We don't know who's going to be what. And I know that a majority as large as the Republicans have, it's pretty likely there’s some disarray in their caucus as well.

 

Erin Murphy: 

There are a lot of new members you mentioned that's a result partially because of redistricting, right?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

Yeah, a lot of it was, you know, because redistricting and primaries that happened, but also just, you know, new ways to organize our districts meant a lot of people retired and we got to have a lot of new folks in. So I'm excited. I think it'll be it's a new chance to turn a new leaf.

 

Katarina Sostaric: 

Well, one of the major issues that will be considered in the House this year is Governor Reynolds’ proposal for state funded scholarships that can be used for private school tuition. Do you think there are enough votes this year to get it done in the House after it failed for two years?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

I don't think there are the votes right now to get it passed. And I don't have a whip count. As I always say, Republicans don't let me know. But from what I'm hearing, they don't have the votes. We don't have a proposal yet. I think that's important to remember. We haven't seen what the Governor wants to do, and that's going to be a lot of the issue. But Iowans don't want school vouchers. Iowans don't want to take public money and put it into private schools. And I think there are some Republicans who also have serious concerns about what this will do to public schools, to communities with public schools. Will it make K-12 schools dry up in small towns? Right. What are the impacts of taking that money away from public schools when we've already been underfunding them for so long? So I think that the book is not closed on that issue in any way, shape or form.

 

Katarina Sostaric: 

The Governor did win by 19 percentage points after campaigning on that issue, though. How do you stop the priority of someone with such a big mandate from the voters?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

I think because at the end of the day, it's about what people are asking for and people vote for more than just one issue. People don't vote on one issue. And they probably heard the Governor say that, but they had other reasons to vote for her. Or when they see the plan, they'll say this is not good. This is not good for my schools. We don't have a private school in, you know, 30 miles of us. So what's going to happen to my kids if they want to do this or what's going to happen to my public school when the money comes out? I think the devil's in the details here. And what and when you ask Iowans, do you want school vouchers, the majority say no.

 

Erin Murphy: 

You're going to be intimately involved in this as a member of a newly formed committee, Education Reform Committee, so titled by the Republicans, House Republicans who created this. What are you kind of expecting going into that and being part of that process of seeing the proposal when it first comes out and debating it and taking those first legislative steps? What are you expecting in that committee process?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

If I'm being honest, I'm sort of expecting the worst case scenario, right? I'm expecting a bill to come out that's really the worst of the worst when it comes to school vouchers. We start there and then we negotiate back, I’m the ranking member of the Education Reform Committee. And I'm actually thrilled to have a chance to be on that committee, because it's important to remember that even though we're in the minority and Republicans have such a large majority, we have a voice and we represent Iowans there, too. And we need to be able to say at every step of the process why this is not a good policy, what the impacts will be, and to shed some light on it. You know, the most important thing here is that Iowans have a seat at the table and that this doesn't happen behind the scenes. So the fact that it's part of its own committee is good, I think, because it really puts the focus on the issue and what the impact is.

 

Erin Murphy: 

So when you say you think it'll be the worst of the worst, are you expecting the proposal -- you mentioned earlier we don't we don't have a bill yet, we're not sure if the Governor will reintroduce what she did last year or if they'll be different -- are you expecting something maybe even though last year's bill didn't pass, something even broader, something even bigger than last year's bill?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

It's hard to know, but I know, you know, as Katarina mentioned, with a large majority, you know, the Governor passing by a lot or winning by a lot, a large majority, they're feeling pretty empowered up there. And so you don't know what will happen. But it doesn't matter what they put forward, I'm not going to support public money going to private schools. We already send $100 million of public money to private schools. That's plenty. And so we need to focus on the 485,000 kids in public schools, and that's what we'll be pushing for. But when it comes to the details of the bill, chances are I'm not going to like it. I just don't know how much.

 

Kay Henderson: 

The Republicans who are going to be leading the tax writing committees in both the House and the Senate have said property tax reform is their priority. In the 2022 legislature, House Democrats made some proposals in regards to limiting property tax increases. What has been the discussion among House Democrats about their intentions to involve themselves in this coming debate?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

I think what we recognized then and what we recognize now is that property taxes are something we need to talk about at the legislature. It's time to look at them to see what the costs are. But our goal is going to be to make sure that it lowers costs for Iowa families. That's the most important thing. It's what we're running on. It's what we ran on. It's what we're working on. And so when we're looking at proposals, we want to make sure that we're finding the balance between, you know, addressing the costs, the high rate, and also making sure that essential services are funded. And so it's finding that balance. We're waiting to see what they propose, to see kind of what our response will be. We're hearing so many different things and sometimes in the middle of this, you can get really wound up in I heard this rumor or this is what we're hearing. But at the end of the day, we have to remember this is about people's pocketbooks and this is about what people have to pay every single year. The assessment sheet always comes out in the middle of session, so we always get those letters at home and know and have reactions to that. I think we just need to make sure that we're listening to what Iowans want on this issue.

 

Kay Henderson: 

The lobbying group Iowans for Tax Relief has suggested a two year statewide property tax freeze to let legislators come up with a proposal. Is that something that would be supported by House Democrats?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

Here's what happens. Too often, we hear from the other side that they're going to do a broad proposal that sounds simple, freeze property taxes for two years while we figure it out. There are real implications for everyday Iowans on that. There are implications to public safety, implications to public education. So I think that what we need to do is have a little more nuance in our policy development and make sure that what we're working on actually works for Red Oak and Waukee, you know, and that we're talking about a statewide policy here. Communities have different needs. What do Iowans want us to do and address? And instead of just freezing things and kicking it down the road, let's really address it.

 

Kay Henderson: 

Last year, there was something proposed by Senate Republicans that didn't ever get considered in the Republican led House. It would have created a statewide sales tax by sort of getting rid of the local option, sales taxes and raising the sales tax in about 50 different cities and counties, and using part of that money to fill the Outdoor Recreation and Natural Resources Fund. The House Speaker has said, no, we're not going to do that. Senate Republican, key Republican over there said, I'd still like to sort of tinker and figure out how to do this. What is amenable to house Democrats in that regard?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

Well, I think a couple of things. You know, we Iowans voted for the recreational trust fund back in 2010 and we were going to fund it soon. And Iowans need clean water. We value clean water. We love our recreation. We love our trails. And so Iowans expect us to fund that trust. Right. The question always comes down to the details. So how much of it is going to go toward the water and land legacy, trust? How much of it is going to go toward other things? What's the impact on small communities if they have a if they lose their local option sales tax? So again, it all comes back to we have big ideas, we have great things we want to do. We have to remember that we report to constituents who have also big ideas and plans for what they want us to do and we work for them. So we need to listen to them on this.

 

Katarina Sostaric: 

Republicans have indicated they're interested in addressing some parents’ concerns about school policies that allow students to keep their gender identity confidential from their parents. What else in addition to that, are you expecting to see this session in regard to LGBTQ rights and what Republicans would call parents rights?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

Yeah, I think that a couple of things. We have to remember that in this case, we're talking about kids who go to school and just want to live their authentic lives. And it seems that lately we've been punching down on those kids quite a bit in the legislature, and that's unacceptable. It's bad for workforce and it's just not the right thing to do. When it comes to, you know, parents rights – a lot of us have a lot of rights. We're all for parents' rights in the classroom. We want to make sure there's a really good conversation between parents and teachers and administration. That's why we have school boards. That's why we have local policies. But at the end of the day, I think that, you know, we have to make sure that when we're talking about parents rights, we're including every family and every kind of family in that conversation, not just the ones who think one certain way. Public schools are supposed to be a great equalizer. They're supposed to welcome everyone. That's the ethos of what it is and who we are. It's also the ethos of who Iowa is. And so we need to make sure that when we're talking about policies that address parental choice and parental engagement, we're looking at issues that really affect kids, not just playing, you know, playing games and trying to appeal to a political base.

 

Kay Henderson: 

Abortion may come up, and I think Katarina has a question.

 

Katarina Sostaric: 

You've said you want there to be a constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the Iowa Constitution. Republicans have been considering the opposite. And so it's unlikely that your proposal would pass the Republican legislature. What else do you plan to do to try to protect abortion rights in this session?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

Defending reproductive freedom is critically important to us because, you know, women in this state deserve the right to make their own health care decisions. So we're going to fight like hell every day to make sure that people can make their own decisions about whether or not they live and die based on whether or not they have an unintended pregnancy or if something goes wrong in a pregnancy. So when they're going to put things forward, we're going to fight them, and then we're going to try to make them as limited as possible. So that means ensuring, not just hearing from them, but ensuring that the life of the mother is protected and any legislation that comes forward. IVF and birth control are protected. We still have access to those services and that survivors of rape and incest are protected in abortion bans. Republicans will stop at nothing until abortion is completely banned in the state. We can't get abortion put in the Constitution like I want to. We can at least make the legislation they put forward as -- we can stop the damage as much as possible.

 

Katarina Sostaric: 

The top Republican leaders have said that they want to wait until this current court case regarding abortion is decided by the Iowa Supreme Court. Do you do you think they'll wait until that's over?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

I, you know, I think they should. I think they should wait quite a while. I think they also see the political tea leaves here and see that it's their position is not very popular. In fact, it's incredibly unpopular among Iowans. And so they might want to keep their head down a little bit for a while, too. But frankly, I don't think they'll be able to help themselves. I think we will see legislation regarding dismantling reproductive freedom probably pretty early in the session.

 

Erin Murphy: 

One issue that has been growing across the state and kind of creates some interesting political divides is carbon capture pipelines and the use of eminent domain to build these pipelines. I'm wondering, where House Democrats will fall on this? Do they side with landowners who are concerned that these pipelines are taking away from their land and not for the public good or do House Democrats side with the companies who want to build these pipelines and say they can be good for, you know, the biofuels industry and creating a stronger renewable energy portfolio in Iowa?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

Well, I think, as with anything, this issue is one that's not going to be that delineated right. We are looking out for people who are concerned about the impacts of these pipelines in their communities, you know, on their land. What are the environmental impacts? What are the socioeconomic impacts of having these pipelines in their communities on their land? We're hearing rumors of, say, a 90% easement requirement on pipelines with only 10% available to use for eminent domain. Having a conversation about voluntary easements is really important in this issue. Iowans deserve to be able to decide what happens with their land and if they're compensated for it I think that works out well if they have the option. But we also have to remember that the idea of eminent domain does sit on the concept of public good. And it's up to the companies to prove to all of us that these pipelines serve a public good. I'm not convinced yet. They need to show us that they serve the public good and that they're safe. So I think this is a place we can work in a bipartisan way. I heard Speaker Grassley wants to talk about this issue and move something forward. I'd like to work with him on that because I think together we can get something that's best for all Iowans, because this issue is really it's divisive across the state, but it's very nuanced as well. So we need to be convinced that this is for the public good if we're going to be using eminent domain to take land.

 

Erin Murphy: 

So where is there an opportunity for legislation? What kind of policy that would impact this, as you said, nuanced and multilayered issue, where can the state become involved, do you feel?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

Well, I think in terms of, you know, requirements for what you need to build, you know, how will you get there, what the Iowa Utilities Board process is, how people who live on the land can make complaints. Currently, it's to county supervisors. Can they go to the utility board instead if they have problems? How do we make sure that crop land is taken care of? How to make sure people are compensated? We have a role in this. What I know is that it's only going to get solved if we work together and solve it instead of it going behind closed doors and the Governor just helping out her biggest donor. That's not the way this is going to get fixed.

 

Kay Henderson: 

A few years ago, the legislature passed and the Governor signed the children's mental health system. But there's never been of a flush of cash headed that way to actually create it. How much is needed? I mean, different now than when it was created. Far more is needed. And what would it take for the legislature to come up with that money?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

I'm going to tell you what. We are in a mental health crisis in this state. You are right that we need more money now than we did before, because there are more people who need mental health services now than before. I work at a university. I see young adults in crisis all the time. The pressures on kids are huge. Kids are facing mental health challenges like never before. Dollar amount, I don't know, right off the top of my head, but a real significant, substantial investment. The problem comes when we create a mental health system and then say we fixed mental health in Iowa. That's not true. Right? We're still having a hard time getting appointments. We need to get providers to come to the state. We need to get reimbursement rates up so that people will continue to serve Iowa kids who need it. We need to put a focus on mental health care in this state that is not just a passing talking point, but is really looking at the issue and investing because it is an investment in Iowa kids. If we can help kids live emotionally, mentally healthy lives as kids, they will be more productive, better able to handle life as an adult, and they'll feel supported by their state and maybe they'll even stay.So we think we need to do a better job, without question.

 

Katarina Sostaric: 

Last year, the legislature made some changes to child care regulations to try to open up some more availability as people are having a lot of trouble finding childcare. And advocates say that that didn't really do much. A lot of child care centers aren't making those changes that were allowed by the new laws, and they're still just problems with people finding child care that's affordable. What do you think the next step should be on the child care crisis?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

We've been laser focused on child care for a long, long time, and we're thrilled to see our Republican colleagues come along in the last few years on child care. I disagree with the way they've handled this, Just because we've made it legal for them to, for instance, include 16 year olds as lead classroom teachers doesn't mean they should. And I think that's a decision a lot of child care centers have made. The bills that were passed last year were in no way a panacea to say we've now fixed child care in the state, so we need to be looking at public private partnerships in small communities. Democrats have a plan for this as part of our people over politics plan, and it's part of lowering costs for Iowa families. We want to create funding for small businesses to create child care centers on site. We want to work with in-home care providers to help them have more room or more ability to have more kids in their facility. We want to work with big companies to make sure that they're doing the work across the state to make child care more affordable and more accessible.Here's the deal. We all agree child care is a huge issue in this state. My only concern is we shouldn't be saying it's fixed because we did a few tweaks last year. It didn't work. We have to really look at this issue.

 

Erin Murphy: 

One of the other places that I know Democrats feel needs a little more attention is funding to the Regents universities. The House speaker, Pat Grassley, has said he's interested in more funding to those public universities, but he'd like to see it in a very targeted way that is designed and I'm paraphrasing here, but it is designed to get more graduates into specific careers that are high need jobs out there at the moment. Does that address the funding shortage in your eyes?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

Look, I think we need to be doing more funding for the Regents because Iowa families are paying more than ever. I'm one of the families who's writing the check to the University of Iowa. And it's gone up. Right. And I'm proud to have a Hawkeye student. But sure, there are families out there who are struggling to get their kids to the Regents institutions -- as we've put more burden on families and less on the state. Tying it to things like jobs for, you know, graduate degrees or programs that are for high needs jobs is pretty restrictive. I think we all agree that we need more graduates. I think we all agree that we need more people to stay in Iowa. It seems to me that it's a little shortsighted just to pick a few jobs and say that's how we're going to give you the funding. Students graduate from the three universities all the time with all kinds of degrees, and they find jobs. And I think we need to be doing more than just finding majors at universities, and that's going to fix our workforce problem. We have a lot bigger things we can do to fix the workforce. So no, I think it needs to be a broader support and I think we need to allow the universities the flexibility to train students and teach students in a way that's best for our environment and our world and our community.

 

Kay Henderson: 

Voters in Missouri decided to make marijuana legal there in the 2022 election. It appears that Minnesota lawmakers are headed in that direction. Illinois has had recreational marijuana legal for a couple of years. House Speaker Pat Grassley says that that's just not something Iowa voters were asking of his candidates. You made that a priority for your candidates. Explain.

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

Well, you know, I think there's a difference between what people are asking of your candidates and what Iowans say in well respected polls. Iowans are saying over a majority, over 50% of Iowans want recreational marijuana legalized in the state. The reason is because they want a safer product that they're already using and they want it regulated here. Right now it's not. They're sick of seeing the tax revenue go to Illinois and now Missouri and now Minnesota. Right. And they really want to make sure that we have the ability to regulate, to ensure what's being used in the state is safe, and to address some of the folks who are in jail for low level drug offenses, that if you got arrested in Dubuque, for example, you'd go to jail. If you get arrested across the river in Illinois, you don't. That's not fair. That's not right. Iowans agree with that. We hear from them that this is an issue that they want leadership on. And frankly, I think that there are some, I think that the idea that we just aren't going to look at this or aren't consider it is shortsighted at best.

 

Erin Murphy: 

How do you break through on that issue? You mentioned the polling. The public polling is pretty clear on this. How do you break through that messaging and get through to a majority that just is opposed to this issue, regardless of those numbers?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

Well, I think we remind them who they work for. We work for Iowans. And a majority of Iowans have told us they want this. So why are we putting priorities on things that aren't public priorities or statewide priorities and are instead answering to special interests and things like that that Republicans seem to do a lot at the Capitol. They seem to spend more time making sure that the special interests are appeased than they do making sure that the people are appeased. And that's what we're working to do, is answer to the people what they want. Put politics aside and listen to Iowans. If a majority of Iowans want something and there's a policy way to make it happen, we have a responsibility to listen to them and to move forward.

 

Kay Henderson: 

You're one of the top elected officials who's a Democrat in the state of Iowa. What are you going to do to help the Iowa Democrats stop losing so many elections?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

Yeah, it's really important that we stop losing so many elections and start making the connections. You know, Iowa voters are with us on so many issues and it's our job to connect them to those issues and remind them that it's Democrats who are fighting for people. And so we're working on that. We're going across the state. We're talking. We're listening. Leader Wahls and Auditor Sand and I have come together to say we're going to work on this issue on a regular basis to try to build a bench of Democrats who are community leaders, who can really represent their local communities, to talk to Iowans about what Democrats stand for. Because when they hear what we stand for, they're with us. And then it's a matter of making that connection and turning it into electoral success. I would like to say we're going to make everything better by 2024. I think the state would be better if we did that. We're not going to. It's going to take some time. But we have to make progress each and every year, each and every month. And that involves listening to Iowa voters.

 

Erin Murphy: 

As you set out to do that work is the recent loss of Iowa's first in the nation caucus status going to make that work more difficult or I've heard some Iowa Democrats argue that may actually be a blessing in disguise.

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

Look, at the end of the day, we're going to work with the environment we're in. We don't listen to what D.C. Democrats tell us to do anyway. So we'll see what happens with the caucuses. But when it comes down to what Iowans want to hear, I think they want to hear from Iowa Democrats. Right. So people flying in from all across the country is great. It's fun, it's exciting and it's important because we have a role in the presidential nominating process. But spending a little more energy, a little more time on homegrown Iowa Democrats can't be a bad thing. So we're spending time making sure that Iowans know the Democrats aren't just the folks who fly in here every four years. They're your neighbor, they're your pastor, they're your doctor. They're the folks who live in your communities and making those connections.

 

Kay Henderson: 

We have just a little bit of time left. The secretary of state of Iowa has made a proposal to uniformly address recounts. Is that something that you have already come up with a plan on?

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

We want to see, we're working on some plans. We found a lot of problems this year with recounts, a lot of close races in the state of Iowa this year. And we want to make sure that every Iowa vote counts. And so the process needs to be unified in some way, we think, because there are differences. Right. You should have the same process in Linn County that you have in Scott County, for example. And so we're open to that idea. As long as the goal remains, make sure every Iowa vote counts. We should always air on the side of counting the votes rather than looking for reasons to throw them out.

 

Kay Henderson: 

Well, I'm counting the seconds and we don't have many of them left. Thank you again for joining us on this edition of Iowa Press.

 

Jennifer Konfrst:

Thank you for having me.

 

Kay Henderson: 

You can watch every episode of Iowa Press online at iowapbs.org. For everyone here at Iowa PBS, thanks for watching.

 

Funding for Iowa Press was provided by Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation. The Associated General Contractors of Iowa, the public’s partner in building Iowa’s highway, bridge and municipal utility infrastructure. Small businesses are the backbone of Iowa’s communities, and they are backed by Iowa banks. With advice, loans and financial services, banks across Iowa are committed to showing small businesses the way to a stronger tomorrow. Learn more at iowabankers.com.

 

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