3 Republicans running for House District 5 nod

Republican voters in Iowa House District 5 can't complain about a lack of options on the ballot next week.

Dennis Bush, Zach Dieken and Tom Kuiper are all vying for their party's nod in the newly-formed House District 5, which includes all of Osceola and O'Brien counties and parts of Cherokee and Buena Vista counties. No Democrats filed to run on the opposite side of the ballot.

Bush, of Cherokee, currently represents Iowa House District 3, having been elected in 2020. He is a farmer and has previous experience on the Cherokee County Board of Supervisors and the Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn school board. He and his wife, Deborah, have two grown sons and 10 grandchildren.

Dieken, of rural Granville, is an Iowa State Trooper who has worked in law enforcement for 10 years. He is a married father of one and has never held elected office.

Kuiper, of Sibley, works as a paralegal and is a native of the Osceola County seat. He is married to his wife, Denise, and has never held elected office.

All three candidates responded to a questionnaire sent by the newspaper regarding their positions on various issues. What follow are their responses.

Do you support the governor's education reform plan that would give taxpayer-funded scholarships to families to help pay for private school expenses? Why or why not?

Dennis Bush: Most importantly, the emails I have received from my district are overwhelmingly opposed to the governor's plan. The most cited reason is that the plan would hurt public schools financially, especially our smaller rural schools. Another is that public schools are required to accept ALL students; private schools are more selective. Some have pointed out that the governor's plan does nothing to address the problems in some of our public schools, but only allows a select few students to flee. I don't believe that allowing students to leave will make those problems go away.

I support parental choice. I have been a long-time proponent of open enrollment in our public schools. I support home schooling. I voted for easing the process for the formation of charter schools.

Zach Dieken: I am in full support of school choice. For me it is a worldview issue even more than it is a money issue. The public schools teach the secular religion of the state. The public schools are forced to teach our students a secular worldview, which leads to the radical racial and hyper sexualized curriculum. I simply won't send my child into an environment where teachers have no power to enforce rules, discipline, or hold students accountable.

Parents know what's best for their kids, the government doesn't have the authority to decide what's best for children. The money issue comes into play when you are now forcing me to pay for that type of schooling along side my child's own education. We should fund students not systems. Parents shouldn't be forced to pay for someone else's child's education along side their own.

Tom Kuiper: Yes, I fully support it. Far too many of our public schools have been pushing woke/leftish indoctrination.

Are you in favor of the CO2 pipelines being proposed right now that would pass through portions of the district? Why or why not?

DB: I am in favor of requiring the pipeline companies to have a high rate of voluntary participation by landowners before allowing the IUB to grant the use of eminent domain. While I respect the rights of landowners affected by the proposed pipelines, it must be recognized that the economy of northwest Iowa has come to rely on the market price of corn that is supported to a significant degree by the ethanol industry. That industry is threatened with loss of demand created by the push for electric vehicles, forcing them to search for new markets for ethanol. Lowering the carbon score for the production of ethanol by collecting the carbon dioxide released during the fermentation process gives them access to those new markets.

ZD: No, I am not in favor of it. I live on an acreage with no tillable land. However, I think this pipeline is a money-making scheme for bureaucrats and an attempt to expand governmental powers.

Eminent Domain was not meant to be used for private companies or to be used to expand government. Iowans are not even the ones benefiting from this. From what I have heard it is California companies buying the "carbon credits" from the plants hooked up to the pipeline in Iowa. Sounds like Green New Deal money-making schemes to me.

I hope farmers recognize that once the government takes something from us they never give it back. The pipeline and easements will be there way longer than any reimbursement would be.

TK: I am not in favor of this pipeline, as a private company would be benefitting from a public utility.

With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision, do you think the Iowa Legislature should impose further restrictions on abortions if that decision is indeed overturned? If yes, what? If no, why?

DB: Even if the U.S, Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the legislature is constrained by the 2018 Iowa Supreme Court ruling stating that abortion is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Iowa Constitution. The Iowa Supreme Court could reverse that ruling with their upcoming decision on the court case blocking enforcement of Iowa's law requiring women to wait 24 hours before receiving an abortion. If the Iowa Supreme Court does not correct their 2018 ruling, the Life Amendment passed by the Legislature in 2021 will need to be passed again during the 2023-2024 General Assembly, and by the general public in the 2024 General Election, before any legislation can move forward.

I am pro-life and would support legislation restricting abortion except in the case of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother.

ZD: Yes. First off, abortion is the murder of a human being. It should have never been allowed by the states to begin with, it should have been ignored and murdering children should have been out lawed immediately.

Article 1, Section 6 of the Iowa Constitution already says law-making bodies cannot legislate laws that are partial to one class of citizens over another. Thus, abortion is not a constitutional right in Iowa anyways. Our legislators should work to abolish abortion and criminalize it. Why, because the LORD has said murder is immoral and wrong and deserves punishment for all involved. Roe v. Wade is in the same category as Dred Scott v. Sandford in the 1800s, which claimed black people were property.

TK: Yes, I would be in favor of outlawing abortions in Iowa, with the only exception being the health of the mother.

Are there any district-specific issues you'd like to address if elected? What are they and how would like to address them?

DB: Little Sioux Corn Processors is one of just a few ethanol plants In Iowa that had to construct several miles of natural gas pipeline to connect with a supplier when their plant was built. They pay taxes on that pipeline the same as if they were natural gas suppliers such as Northern Natural Gas or MidAmerican Energy, placing them at a disadvantage against other ethanol plants that did not have to build pipelines. I would like to correct that disadvantage by taxing those pipelines based on their valuations rather than on the more expensive taxation category of a natural gas supplier.

ZD: Mental health is a great issue to fight for in our specific district. I had a great time talking with the directors of MHI in Cherokee. I have talked to many others across the district who care about this issue. I would love to see how we could incentivize halfway type houses for those who need mental health assistance.

According to the MHI directors, there are many folks who don't need to be at MHI, but a lower level of treatment or accountability would suffice. As a law enforcement officer, I also deal with mental health and would like to see a different option to help those struggling with mental illness than simply bringing them to MHI.

TK: More resources for mental health issues. This includes proper staffing, lodging and education for first-responders or anyone else dealing with those in mental health crisis.

Are there any statewide issues you'd like to address if elected? What are they and how would like to address them?

DB: There are more issues that I would like to work on than is available for me to explain in the space provided.

I want to continue to support our local rural public schools so that they can provide the best education possible to our students. Iowa children covered by Hawk-I and Medicaid often cannot find dentists willing to provide services because of the low reimbursement rates. Those rates need to be increased. Mental health providers and those providing in-home services for Iowans with disabilities are also suffering from low reimbursement rates. To help protect the Iowa voting system from inadvertent mistakes, I have been advocating for absentee ballots to be mailed out several business days before in-person absentee voting, rather than the current requirement of mailing ballots the same day as in-person absentee voting. There are continuing problems with available housing and affordable childcare.

ZD: I sort of already addressed it, but abolish abortion. The Iowa Constitution doesn't give anyone the right to kill their children.

How would I address them? Enact legislation which enacts equal protection under the law for all children from the moment of conception. We already have laws punishing murder, children simply need to be equally protected under the law.

Enact specific medical freedom legislation. Not lump medical freedom in with a bunch of other laws that have nothing to do with medical freedom choices. These bills need to be stand-alone bills.

TK: Better civics education in public schools, teaching the true history of our country, in that we were founded as a Christian nation, based on Judeo-Christian principles

Is there anything the Legislature can do that's not already being done to strengthen rural economies and support small businesses? If so, what and how?

DB: Agriculture is the lifeblood of the new House District 5. Anything that can be done to help keep agriculture profitable will also help our small businesses.

Whenever I meet with community leaders, they talk about workforce, housing, and childcare. The Legislature has passed a number of laws during the last two sessions addressing childcare. We also tightened up unemployment compensation to more strongly encourage the unemployed to get back into the workforce.

Most of the state incentives for housing construction cannot be easily utilized in many of our smaller rural communities. I would like to see programs tailored for those towns. I sponsored a bill that would have made the building materials for all new homes exempt from Iowa sales tax, which I would like to continue to work on next session.

ZD: I have never started a business but I have talked with those who have. I think we over regulate small business and over regulate starting them up. This doesn't attract entrepreneurs from wanting to go through the hassle of starting the business.

I would also say the more government gets involved with forcing business to buy or sell certain goods, or forcing high and higher minimum wages, hurts the start of small businesses. Essentially ensuring the government stays out of the way and not creating more hoops for business owners to jump through.

TK: Emphasize community colleges or a trade school education, instead of a four-year college degree.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

DB: It has been an honor and a privilege to represent the great residents of the current Iowa House District 3. I would like to thank all those who kept me in their prayers and those who sent me words of encouragement. It was greatly appreciated.

I ran for this job two years ago to be a strong voice for agriculture, for mental health services and to represent my constituents to the best of my ability. I would like to continue that work for another term.

ZD: No response.

TK: My campaign is funded 100 percent by family and friends, not by a national PAC – unlike one of my competitors.