(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne says the climate, tax and health bill she voted for in the House will be transformative. The three Iowa Republicans in the House voted no. Anxe, a Democrat from West Des Moines, says the bill lowers the costs of prescription drugs for seniors and invests in clean energy. Zach Nunn, the Republican who’s challenging Axne, says the bill is the wrong move in the middle of a recession.

“The so-called Infation Reduction Act added almost another trillion dollars in government spending at a time where they’re telling Iowans: ‘You should spend less. You should tighten your belt,'” Nunn said, “‘We’re going to go ahead and print off more money and spend more of your tax dollars on projects.”

Nunn made his comments at the Iowa State Fair on the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox. Axne did not speak during House debate of the plan, but Iowa’s three Republican members of the House did. Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion called the bill a tax and spending spree. “It’s the worst policy at the worst possible time,” Hinson said.

Liz Mathis is the Democrat from Hiawatha who is running against Hinson. Mathis says the bill reduces the federal deficit and increases U.S. energy independence by supporting Iowa’s biofuel industry. Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa says letting limiting prescription drug prices for Americans on Medicare will limit innovation.  “It means less cures for rare diseases or debilitating diseases,” Miller-Meeks says.

Christina Bohannan of Iowa City is the Democrat running against Miller-Meeks in the General Election and she’ll speak at the State Fair on Wednesday. Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra of Hull says the bill that passed the House late Friday is full of liberal priorities. “This radical bill will also supercharge the Democrats’ Green New Deal agenda without making our country energy independent again,” Feensta said in remarks on the House floor.

Ryan Melton of Nevada is the Democrat who is running against Feenstra. He will speak at the State Fair this (Monday) afternoon.

(Radio Iowa) – Diedre DeJear, the Democratic candidate for governor, says some of the state’s surplus should be directed to improve the state’s mental health care system and other priorities. “$1.5 billion dollars of your taxpayer money is sitting in an account that this current governor is calling a trust fund…That’s Iowa’s ‘Rainy Day’ fund and it’s raining in our state on mental health care, on education, on health care, on child care,” DeJear says. “We have to have leadership who’s going to put your resources to work.”

DeJear made her comments during a speech at The Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. DeJear told the crowd she recently spoke with a man who was trying to get mental health services for his son, but the only in-patient treatment available in Iowa was a six hour drive away and the first available appointment with a psychiatrist was in two months.

“We see suicides are up across this state and we don’t like it,” DeJear says. “…Our cops are telling me: ‘Deidre, we’re coming quasi mental health care practitioners. That’s not what we signed up for.’ In our rural communities our county jails are becoming holding facilities for people with mental health challenges. We can do better than that, can we not, Iowa?”

Republican Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill in 2019 that created the framework for a children’s mental health care system. DeJear says under her opponent’s leadership, Iowa has made little progress.  “We have less than 30 child psychiatrists for a population of more than half a million students in this state. Is that right? Can we do better?” DeJear asked the crowd listening to her speech at the State Fair.

Iowa Republican Party spokesman Kollin Crompton says DeJear is a radical Democrat who has spent her time tweeting, while Governor Reynolds has been meeting with thousands of Iowans every day at the Iowa State Fair.

(Radio Iowa) – The Republican candidate for Iowa Attorney General says if she’s elected in November, she’ll go to court to challenge the overreach of the federal government. “We hear from a lot of people who are concerned about what’s going on with the Biden Administration,” Bird says. “They’re worried about their freedoms, they’re worried about how do you fight back?”

Brenna Bird is currently the Guthrie County Attorney. As Iowa’s attorney general, Bird says she’d assign a squad of staffers to work on lawsuits challenging federal regulations that restrict Iowa farm operations or impose unwarranted public health restrictions.  “I have news for Joe Biden when I’m attorney general: I’ll see you in court,” Bird says.

Bird made her comments at the State Fair on The Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox. Bird is challenging Democrat Tom Miller’s bid for a 10th term as Iowa’s Attorney General. Miller says his opponent primarily sees the office as a means to sue the Biden Administration, while he views his role as serving the people of Iowa.