ROZENBOOM: Upcoming session will make changes to K-12 schooling in Iowa

Education will no doubt be the most-talked-about issue this upcoming session at the Iowa Legislature, which is good news for Sen. Ken Rozenboom. Not only does he consider school choice to be his No. 1 priority in 2023, but he also will be integral in crafting the legislation as chair of the senate education committee.

The senator of District 19 in Iowa— which covers portions of Jasper, Mahaska and Marion Counties — told Newton News the governor made school choice an important issue for the past few years. For Rozenboom, school choice has been an issue all 10 years he has spent at the Iowa Legislature.

“It feels like this is the year maybe we will make some changes to the K-12 schooling in Iowa,” Rozenboom said. “And I’m the new chairman of the senate education committee, so it was going to be in my lap anyway … Parents are demanding more options than they have now.”

School choice legislation did not pass this past year, apart from a last-minute attempt near the end of session that lifted the deadline on open enrollment. The topics of school choice and educational savings accounts, often referred to as school vouchers, were controversial and was a main talking point this election.

Although Rozenboom would not go so far as to say the legislation will surely pass this next session, he was positive the Senate will be solidly behind the changes this year. He is already prepared for the senate education committee to demand a lot of his time just for school choice legislation alone.

People are demanding more choice, Rozenboom said, and it was exacerbated by the pandemic. When Iowa Legislature returned in January 2021, he said there were still public schools refusing to provide in-person learning, resulting in stronger laws that forced public schools to comply.

“That got a lot of attention, a lot of upset parents. Believe me. For most of our rural public schools that I’m familiar with … it was not an issue. They fought through the pandemic like we all did, trying to make good decisions going something we didn’t understand,” Rozenboom said.

School mask mandates also caused an uproar, further fueling parents’ and lawmakers’ desires for more choices in education.

“Those types of things really, really brought some urgency to the matter,” he said. “Coupled with the fact that because of the pandemic when there was online learning provided, parents got a much more open view of what was being taught in some classrooms. Some of the content was objectionable to parents.”

All these issues combined is what brought school choice to the forefront of the Iowa Legislature last session and going into this upcoming session.

“It’ll be a process like it always is,” Rozenboom said.

PROPERTY TAX IMPROVEMENTS & TRANSPARENCY

With his leadership position in the senate education committee, Rozenboom told Newton News he feels like he has not had much time to think on anything else beyond school choice. Although it will demand a lot of his time, the longtime senator still wants to work toward improving property tax laws in Iowa.

Rozenboom said his constituents say lawmakers need to do more property taxes and control assessments throughout the state. Tax issues are always a major issue. The legislature chipped away at income taxes the past three or four years, but there may be even more changes coming down the pipeline.

As former county supervisor, Rozenboom believes the state needs to be transparent with how taxes are collected and how much is being collected.

School boards, city councils and county boards of supervisors take information from the assessor regarding valuations, set their levies and build their budget to achieve their needs and revenues. Rozenboom said there is a lot of “finger pointing” when it comes to property taxes.

Some folks will point toward the assessors. The assessors will point toward the municipalities not reducing their levies. The county treasurer even gets blamed for having his or her name on the property tax statement sometimes. Rozenboom said it can be frustrating process for citizens.

“I know in Jasper County, particularly the supervisors, they’ve been very deliberate about providing transparency so people know exactly who is collecting the taxes and what they’re used for,” Rozenboom said. “I think there’s some things we can do on transparency that would make people feel a little bit better.”

Property taxes is a complex topic, which is by Rozenboom stressed by transparency is a critical component.

“People have a right to know how their tax money is being spent,” he said. “Sometimes people benefit from the public not understanding. Well, that’s unacceptable. The public needs to know.”

SUPPORTING AGRICULTURE & WATER QUALITY

With his background in livestock and hog production, Rozenboom said agricultural issues are important to him. As a member of agriculture and natural resources and environment committees for the past 10 years, he wants to continue to address water quality in Iowa.

Like some other livestock producers in Iowa, Rozenboom said he has been targeted by animal rights groups he claimed broke into his buildings a number of times. The groups, he said, are “extremely deceitful.” Lawmakers need “to find better tools to keep them out of our livestock buildings.”

In addition to possibly spreading diseases to the livestock, Rozenboom said the groups are full of “bad actors” trying to “drag the meat industry out of existence,” under the guide of animal welfare. The senator said he has enough experience with these groups “to know animal welfare is not their primary objective.”

He said, “Their primary objective is to drive livestock production out of America. That’s not acceptable.”

There have been a few “ups and downs” regarding the courts and so-called “ag-gag laws,” a term Rozenboom said drives him “absolutely nuts.” By definition, ag-gag laws protect producers in agriculture from whistleblowers of animal rights abuses by forbidding undercover filming or photography.

“It’s a pejorative term,” he said. “It’s all about hiding things — farmers, livestock producers — hiding things from the public. No. That’s not what these laws are about. They’re about protecting people from deceptive, potentially hazardous activity … It’s not about hiding things from the public.”

Rozenboom said if livestock producers were doing what the animal rights groups allege they are doing, “they would be out of business overnight.”

Looking into the next year, Rozenboom wants to improve protective measures for livestock farmers. Diseases can spread fast and can be devastating to Iowa farmers. Rozenboom said he is working with the secretary of agriculture to put a process in place to deal with outbreaks.

WHICH COMMITTEES DOES ROZENBOOM SERVE?

For the 90th Iowa General Assembly — which convenes on Jan. 9, 2023 — Rozenboom will be serving as chair of the senate education committee and will be a member of the agriculture, transportation and natural resources and environment committee.