State Rep. Shannon Latham addresses questions at the Legislative Forum Saturday in Webster City. Moderator Jim Kersten, of Iowa Central Community College, left, took written questions from attendees.

By Robert E. Oliver

The 91st Iowa General Assembly convened January 13 and, according to state Rep. Shannon Latham, R-55th, a district which includes all of Hamilton and Franklin, and parts of Story and Wright Counties, is “moving toward adjournment.”

Latham addressed 25 people Saturday morning at a Legislative Forum in Webster City. State Sen.Dennis Guth did not attend.

Latham opened with the general remark, “before we adjourn, we must agree on a balanced budget.” She then reiterated her top three priorities for the session, which included funding pay increases for paraeducators, addressing Iowa’s growing nursing home crisis, and funding Medicaid, which is projected to operate at a deficit this year.

Twenty-one percent of Iowans — about 678,000 people — are enrolled in Medicaid, which helps pay for medical care for low-income persons and families.

Latham, who grew up, and still lives, in Sheffield, told the audience: “I feel strongly about rural grocery stores. They help connect local producers with local consumers, and help our rural communities remain viable places to live.”

She continued, saying, “Unlike in cities, we have little public transportation in rural Iowa, so, often, older people have no way to travel long distances to a grocery store. This makes local stores critical to everyday life.”

She brought up the “Choose Iowa Butchery” grants which are designed to encourage more people to work as butchers in rural Iowa. “That’s a great need,” Latham said. She also mentioned “Choose Iowa Dairy Innovation” grants which, she hopes, will encourage another generation of Iowa dairy farmers to continue producing in the state.

In the last 10 years, the number of dairy producers in Iowa has dropped by 50%.

Wayne Jackson, Webster City, asked why Iowa doesn’t have a law prohibiting anyone, except an owner, from issuing a quit-claim deed on their real property. Latham didn’t answer, saying it wasn’t within her expertise. Jackson told of recent scams in which fraudulent loans were obtained with quit-claim deeds filed by other than property owners.

Another attendee asked if, “after two decades of tax cuts, and cuts in services, with further large drops in taxes in 2026, if Latham saw a need for any tax increases.” She replied, “none I’m aware of.” The questioner warned of “lower quality of life in Iowa” if tax cuts continued.

Latham mentioned legislation to lower the cost of “some essentials of living,” such as toilet paper, vitamin supplements, laundry detergent, and dish soap, that would remove sales taxes from such items, “similar to laws covering prescription drugs.” Although savings from no sales tax on such items might “amount to only a few dollars a month, it’s not something to make light of,” Latham said.

A question arose asking if recent LGBTQ demonstrators in Des Moines “were mostly from out of state.” A member of the audience, present at the demonstrations, said he “met no one from out of state.” Latham added, “everyone has a right to protest peacefully, and these were peaceful protests.”

Another questioner asked Latham what the Legislature is doing to address cancer. Iowa now ranks No. 2 in the nation in new cancer cases. Latham replied she supported a bill “to ensure women with high-density breast tissue don’t pay more for treatment,” but added “the senate didn’t take it up.” The same questioner asked if agricultural chemical use was being investigated as a cause of cancer. Latham only said, “We didn’t become second in the nation overnight, and must continue studying the potential causes.”

Another question asked: “Why is Iowa lowering the legal age of gun ownership to 18?” Latham replied, “Some people have guns handed down to them. Shooting sports are gaining in popularity, and we should allow kids to participate by learning gun safety.”

Asked if private schools should disclose how they spend public money from tuition payments funded by Iowa’s Educational Savings Account (ESA) laws, Latham replied, “Parents choose to have their students attend these schools; it provides more competition.”

Iowa will spend an average $7,826 per student for those attending private schools in 2025.

CO2 pipelines came up, with Latham stating, “I’m a proponent of protecting private property rights,” but she stopped short of saying she categorically opposed use of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines.

An attendee, who described themself as an investor in Iowa ethanol plants, said: “Up to half the ethanol plants in Iowa will close without some form of carbon sequestration.”

Latham said the “Legislature was aware “there are already valid contracts in effect, so we have to respect those.”

The same citizen said he’d looked at likely tax increases on his property under a proposed flat $50,000 rollback versus the traditional 47% rollback, and “could see a huge increase in my taxes.” Latham said discussions on the matter continued at the Legislature, and “didn’t know the answer at this time.”

In odd years, Iowa’s General Assemblies are scheduled to last 110 days. In the last 10 years, the 90th General Assembly, in 2024, was the shortest, running for 103 days. The 88th, in 2020, was the longest, at 154 days. Iowa’s Legislature is rated “part time” in national rankings. Only 10 states have full-time, year-round legislative sessions, including California, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to Ballotpedia, a nonprofit, nonpartisan website generally thought to be even-handed in the information it provides.

Wayne Jackson, of Webster City, attends the Legislative Forum Saturday to ask why there isn’t a state law to protect filing of a quit-claim deed on property by other than the owner. In recent months, there have been reports of real estate scams operating in Iowa which make claims on property and use them as collateral to obtain loans, he said.