Kevin Kinney visits Brighton

BRIGHTON – State Sen. Kevin Kinney visited Brighton in an effort to get to know potential new constituents as his re-election campaign runs in the new Iowa Senate District 46.

Currently, Kinney serves as the senator for District 39 which includes Keokuk County, approximately half of Johnson County, and a majority of Washington County, but not the most Southeastern corner of the county.

The newest election cycle’s shifted Iowa Senate District boundary lines are the reason behind Kinney’s change in District number for re-election.

This new District 46 includes nearly all the same parts of Johnson County, none of Keokuk County, and all of both Iowa and Washington counties.

This means the southeastern corner of Washington County, including Brighton, will now be within Kinney’s district if he were to win the seat in election.

Kinney enjoyed a laid-back ice cream social atmosphere with approximately 20 District 46 voters from the Brighton area, Sunday afternoon.

When making an address in a time of formal Q&A, Kinney spoke on his work specifically with the judiciary committee and his passionate campaigning against human trafficking.

A new bill which provides additional protections for victims of sexual assault was enacted at the beginning of July.

This bill was backed by Kinney from the beginning.

Kinney has been listed as a subcommittee member on many senate files pertaining to human trafficking, as well.

While Kinney’s time in law enforcement has created these passions effecting his work as senator, he is also passionate about helping create bipartisan understanding in agricultural bills.

Kinney owns and operates his family’s farm. He raises livestock and row crops and has for over 30 years in Oxford.

He sees his district and this state as a leader in cover crops, solar power, and no till methodologies.

“When I started there weren’t any Democratic farmers in Senate,” Kinney said. “There weren’t any in the House either.

Kinney feels that he fills this void, and this is a reason for his running for re-election.

Lee Wilson and former Washington Mayor Sandra Johnson held a conversation with the senator pertaining to the Iowa Hemp Act.

In April 2019, Kinney backed the original Iowa Hemp Act with hopes of making hemp the third leading commodity in Iowa after corn and soybeans.

The initial bill allowed licensed growers to cultivate the crop on up to 40 acres of land.

Kinney explained that the limited amount of acreage was intended to give the smaller farmers an opportunity to learn and cultivate the crop instead of large companies monopolizing the industry.

In March, House File 2380 increased the cap on the number of acres a farmer can plant hemp from 40 to 320.

“We were set to reexamine the acreage after five years,” Kinney said. “Now that farmers understand how to grow it, we bumped it from 40 to 320 acres.”

Citizens also asked the senator about the “Strict Scrutiny” policies brought to the house.

The Strict Scrutiny resolution proposes an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa relating to the right of the people to bear arms.

The proposed amendment reads, “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The sovereign state of Iowa affirms and recognizes this right to be a fundamental individual right. Any and all restrictions of this right shall be subject to strict scrutiny.”

Issues raised by those in Brighton were among the idea that the language of “strict scrutiny” could hinder the ability to enact and enforce common sense gun laws.

According to Kinney, under this language a felon could potentially own a gun.

Hunter Wilson, an 11-year-old incoming sixth grader at WACO, participated in the conversation with his own comments on the topics of guns.

“Back when they made the second amendment, everyone had a gun and if you disagreed with someone you’d just have a shoot off,” he said. “Now, of course you can’t do that. The fact that they changed one thing about that but haven’t changed the other, that being people still owning guns seems like we could end up changing back into that [time of legal duels]. We can kind of see America going back in time in a lot of ways.”

Wilson felt right at home speaking up in the Q&A as he already has aspirations to attend Harvard, go into law, and becoming a senator or governor.

The topic of the distribution of public funding to vouchers which can be used at private schools was also discussed.

“I don’t agree with public monies being spent in private schools without public oversight,” Kinney responded.

Kinney did present the idea that he is in favor of giving parents choice, but in a different way.

According to Kinney, the open enrollment deadline has recently been lifted to allow for parents to choose to open enroll their students at any time.

After a little further discussion topics pertaining to educator workforce shortages, nursing home inspection guidance, and taxes for retired individuals, Kinney took the time to introduce Eileen Beran, the likely Democratic nominee for House District 92.

Kinney spent some additional time enjoying ice cream and one-on-one conversations at the end of the Brighton ice cream social.

Kinney took this time to expand on which bill he felt he had passed that made the biggest impact in his district.

“The bottle bill,” Kinney said. “It created better funding for redemption centers like the one in Washington. It kept them from having to shut their doors.”

Work on the expansion of ethanol use came in close on the level of impact, as well.

Due to Kinney’s background in law enforcement and farming, it is not surprising to find that he is a ranking member on both the Agriculture and Judiciary committees.

He also serves on the Ethics committee and Agriculture & Natural Resources Budget Subcommittee.

During Kinney’s service in law enforcement he received the American Legion’s honor of Midwest Region Law Enforcement Officer of the Year in 2014. In 2012, he was awarded the Law Enforcement Victim Service Award and the Continuous Service Award.

Despite these accolades, Kinney says the biggest reason he is the best candidate resides in his philosophy, “I don’t care if you’re Democrat or Republican. I just want to represent you, and what the people of my district want.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com