Discussions gets heated at final legislative coffee

Verbal blows were thrown at the final legislative coffee held by the Jasper County League of Women Voters in the Hy-Vee club room Saturday.

Thursday, Doug Bishop criticized Rep. Dan Kelley in a letter to the editor published in the Newton Daily News, and Kelley, on Friday, published a response. However, Saturday morning it was clear the two were still at odds over the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund and Kelley’s votes on its funding.

“My question for you is, you want to support veterans and you took two ‘no’ votes ... if your answer is ‘I don’t think it was the best approach’ or you’re really looking to support the veterans, why didn’t you place an amendment either in the state government committee or on the house floor to work to get more money for the veterans instead of a silent ‘no’ vote?” Bishop said.

Kelley said the veterans fund is being supported inadequately and is in the wrong hands. He explained that $20 million goes to advertising and $2.5 million is going to the trust fund, coming from, what he called the lottery’s least successful and failing product: pulltab items.

“It’s just not right. What I believe and what I am going to introduce next session is that the Veterans Trust Fund be funded straight out of the general fund, so that the veterans aren’t put on the hook for selling lottery tickets,” Kelley said. “There’s better ways to benefit veterans than an unstable funding mechanism such as that.”

Kelley said that he did discuss ideas with the majority party but that it did not accept those ideas and he did not want to waste taxpayers’ time writing an amendment that wouldn’t be included in the bill. He emphatically said that he supports veterans, and brought up that he did not hear from a single person about the vote until Bishop’s letter was published. He accused Bishop of having other reasons of writing the letter, but said he thinks it is time to get the discussion going not only in Jasper County but in his own Democratic party on how to best serve veterans.

“The folks in this room know me. The people in Jasper County put me in that office for a reason because they know that I am honest, I am straight-forward, I say things the way they need to be said and I will not vote for bad legislation, even when I know it could be manipulated by someone who wants to manipulate it,” Kelley said. “We either work together or we don’t.”

Bishop responded by saying Kelley would be held accountable for his votes.

Sen. Chaz Allen, who was also in attendance, said the sales of the pull tabs have been declining but the lottery brought them the bill and said it wants to fund the Veterans Trust Fund at $2.5 million a year going forward, so that the fund is not tied to the pull tabs. The lottery said it would take part of its profits and put the money in the trust fund, Allen said, and he voted yes for the bill.

Kelley said that he does not trust any quick fixes the lottery presents. He finished by saying that he is happy to be held accountable and that he took the right vote.

Discussion in the packed room turned to several other subjects including legislation on puppy mills, gun regulations and the deadly intersection in Jasper County along Highway 330. A moment of silence was taken at the end of the meeting for Dave Pitz on his recent passing and he was praised for the work he did in the county.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com