Legislators stay active even with no session

The Iowa Legislative session was suspended in mid-March over concerns about the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The Union reached out to local legislators to see what they've been up to since then. Reps. Jeff Shipley (R-Fairfield) and Joe Mitchell (R-Mt. Pleasant), as well as Sen. Rich Taylor (D-Mt. Pleasant), responded to our request for comment.

Union: Can you tell us what you've been doing since the Legislature was suspended in mid-March? Have you been able to continue working in any capacity in your role as a legislator, or did that work have to come to a halt since the Legislature was not in session?

Jeff Shipley: Initially, I spent most of my time contemplating the enormity of events as they were unfolding and considering potential repercussions. Once the gravity of the situation set it, from the time the basketball tournament was cancelled to the Governor's emergency order the following week, I had a lot of somber self-reflection, needing to define in my mind exactly my responsibilities and opportunities to serve the public.

The first couple of weeks was largely just getting information out on what exactly was happening as it pertains to the daily functions of life. The main questions were surrounding schools and the economic development opportunities that were coming available. I feel like my mind is perpetually pondering the health and welfare of Iowans and imagining how the government could be a more effective servant. So in that sense I never stop working.

A lot of peculiar tasks emerged such as businesses asking me to help make the case they're essential, hospital staff asking for help to navigate an unfortunate contract arrangement, factory employees deemed essential by Homeland Security wanting greater assurance for their health and welfare. Information about the small business money and unemployment rules was probably the most urgent in the early days.

Thankfully, locals organized a dedicated Facebook page that made it easy for me to share information and copy and paste web links. Once the dust settled on some of the initial uncertainty, people became more interested in policy and politics.

Two weeks in on March 28th, I made a Facebook post after a conference call with the Governor, explaining her approach and the legal distinctions of a ‘shelter in-place' order. That post had 200 shares and got seen 27,000+ times. From that point, the Governor improved transparency in sharing the relevant hospitalization data that alleviated a lot of anxiety once the scope of this was better understood.

Now the focus is all about how we can get on with our lives and end this war (declare peace) with the virus.

Joe Mitchell: Since session has been suspended, I have been extremely busy in my state representative capacity helping constituents apply for [Iowa Economic Development Authority] grants, file for unemployment and navigate the Payroll Protection Program from the CARES Act that congress passed.

Other tasks have included responding to normal inquires of other pieces of policy the legislature is working on. I also have delivered over 5,000 face shields around southeast Iowa to nursing homes, hospitals, grocery stores and all different kinds of facilities. My folks' company in Wayland, MD Orthopaedics, started making PPE in mid-march and has made over 15,000 face shields.

We are still working virtually through our laptops responding to emails, taking phone calls and attending conference calls with the Governor's office and legislature leadership.

Rich Taylor: I am mostly reading and answering emails. I do my best to try and help everyone that has a problem. Surprisingly, there are very few that I just can not help.

Most people complain to me. I point out whom is at fault (if I know for sure) sometimes rather bluntly I've been told. I suggest to whom they should be directing their attention toward and that's generally the end of their involvement. A few do write back and thank me.

I pride myself in being honest with the information I have at hand, sometime brutally honest. I hate half-truths and always try to have the whole truth to share.

I do use social media, Facebook, I really rely on the office staff to post most of my stuff because I really just don't understand the inner workings. I admit I am not very good at it.

Union: Do you know if there are any plans to allow for remote working so that Legislators can conduct business when not at the capitol?

Mitchell said the legislators are working through a plan to come back, but Shipley and Taylor said they had not heard of any plan to resume the session.

Union: What role are State Senators and State Representatives playing in state government at the moment? Is all business being conducted through the Governor's office, or do you still have a say in what transpires?

Jeff Shipley: I believe my role is primarily making sure that the public has all the relevant data and to encourage critical thinking and self-government wherever possible. Legally, it's my understanding that the Legislative Council can serve as a check and balance against the Governor's emergency declaration, so the Governor's office does solicit input from legislators, and legislative leadership asks for guidance on what exactly is happening on the ground in our local communities.

I also see my role as supporting the Governor from misguided and mean-spirited criticism while at the same time offering constructive suggestions to all levels of government on how we can best serve the health and happiness of the people of Iowa.

Joe Mitchell: State legislatures can voice concern to the governors legislative liaison or to our leadership.

Rich Taylor: If I were Governor, I would have reached out to every Legislator from every party. I would have tried to come to a consensus of a 60 percent, plus or minus, agreement and moved forward hoping that that same percentage would follow from the public eye. At the very least, hard pressed for time, I would have involved leadership from every party.

This Governor, in my opinion, heard only the president, very few Legislators from the Republican Party and no Democratic Legislators. The people of Iowa really had no voice in her decisions. Again, that's my opinion.

Union: Even though you're not in the capitol, are you staying in touch with constituents through phone calls and emails? Can you share some of those experiences?

Jeff Shipley: Yes. I've been doing my best to reach out to people to proactively gauge the stress of the situation. This quarantine has been much harder on some people rather than others. The rich will get richer from this crisis and the poor will struggle doing their best to get by. Every business is hurting bad. Even with the federal forgivable loan, that really only buys two months of time but it's still very uncomfortable.

I even heard from hospital staff at Van Buren County that this crisis threatened to put them out of business. A not insignificant number of people are very incredulous of media and government. There is a belief that in rural Iowa, especially people that live in very low population density... neighbors a mile away.... that the virus really isn't a threat. A lot of people are confident in their body's ability to mend.

Initially, I commonly heard frustrations of the health departments not giving the public guidance on how they can naturally boost their immune system. I heard from constituents that told me the government never mentions Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc, sunshine, healthy eating, goodnight's sleep, or anything health positive approaches because they can't be patented and made profitable by corporations.

Of course there is another, more significant segment of the population that is extremely concerned. There was a group (COVID act now) telling people that tens of thousands of people will certainly die in Iowa, so that generated a dozen emails or so. Thankfully, those types of predictions fell out of favor by the second week of April. I hadn't responded to those e-mails yet because I've found talking to people with that level of fear is never fun or productive. Interestingly enough, there will never really be any proof positive way to determine the effectiveness of the various mitigation measures/stopgaps.

Rich Taylor: Unemployment have been one of the biggest concerns I am dealing with. I am very lucky to have a very dedicated young man, Michael Witt, Administrator for SE Iowa Workforce Development, that has been very involved solving issues.

I am also collectively working with other Democratic Legislators to get more testing to rural Iowa. So far, to say testing is minimal in rural Iowa is a colossal understatement. Lots of small business issues and guidance and ZOOM Meetings.

Union: Do you think the Governor has done the right thing by prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people, but at the same time, not issuing a stay-at-home order for the whole state? Do you think the state should be more aggressive or less aggressive in limiting business activity and social gatherings than it has been?

Jeff Shipley: The Governor is doing the best she can, under enormous pressure from all sides. I'm thankful for her calm leadership. I advocate for personal health strategies to empower individuals, and public health strategies specifically geared to protect the most vulnerable; without paralyzing the rest of society (with fear). Now that it's clear our hospital system is not at risk of being overrun, and therapeutic treatments are quickly becoming viable, we need to get back to work.

I expect the economic impact of this to be drastic and severe. Although that's largely due to unsustainable economic practices over decades but this virus seems to have popped the bubble. I'm uneasy on how many more trillions of dollars we can spend and get away with it. Although it was embarrassing that even as the economy was the best it's ever been, the federal government was still running an enormous deficit.

Joe Mitchell: I think the Governor has done a phenomenal job balancing the general public's health while also allowing our economy to have the essential parts of it to continue to run. Governor Reynolds understands you can't fund things like public health and public hospitals without tax revenue coming into the state, which doesn't happen without a healthy economy.

A healthy economy means people are working, contributing and spending money. If we go into financial hardship, it will be much harder to get more funding to public health facilities to increase testing for the future and hire the healthcare workers needed to run healthcare facilities.

Governor Reynolds's approach has been very successful in flattening the curve and saving lives. Thanks to everyone, social distancing and following the guidelines laid out by the Department of Public Health, we are in a better spot than most states.

Rich Taylor: I am not going to comment on the Governor's handling or mishandling of this situation other than she should have involved more of us Legislators directly in the process. At this point, it is hers to own, good or bad.