Ruby Bodeker, Iowa House District 75

The Gazette sent a questionnaire to Iowa Legislature candidates representing Linn, Johnson and surrounding counties. The responses are unedited, unless to correct spelling or punctuation. 

To see other candidates' responses, visit our Election 2020 Candidates page. 

Ruby Bodeker faces Republican Rep. Thomas Gerhold in the election for Iowa House District 75. Gerhold did not respond to the questionnaire.

What are the three biggest issues facing the state? How would you address them?

Some of the biggest issues currently facing our state include the hollowing out of rural Iowa, soil loss, and the pandemic. These are complex issues that cannot be solved with a single bill or by a single strategy. The best thing we can do to pave the way to a sustainable tomorrow here in Iowa is to bring more voices into the conversation. Voices that represent the people, not corporate interests.

Working people live everywhere and all the spaces they call home are important. Iowa has long needed an infrastructure investment, just like Iowa's tax policy, in general, has needed a working-families overhaul. By enacting smart tax reform, we could at long last invest in Iowa's crumbling infrastructure. Corporate tax cuts, loopholes, and massive research credits are costing Iowa families and local governments millions in tax revenue every year. Essential services—like the driver's license station in Belle Plaine—are being cut. Iowa has not been putting working families first. We need to invest in the people who live here now by finally connecting every acre to broadband internet, fixing our roads and bridges, upgrading our aging power grid, investing in our local public schools, fully funding REAP for the first time ever, expanding tax credits for beginning farmers, restoring the tree canopy lost following the derecho, and bringing sustainability to every corner of the state. We cannot hope to attract people to Iowa or help them to remain here if we continue to pass the buck down the road. An infrastructure bill is key to investing in the spaces where Iowans already live and work.

I would like to see Iowa's Beginning Farmer Tax Credit program expanded significantly to include credits for not just the rent/lease of farmland and equipment, but also the sale of farmland and equipment to beginning farmers. 50% of Iowa farmland is rented out by non-farming owners and Iowa has some of the highest cash rents in the U.S. It is practically impossible to get into farming anymore if you do not inherit your place in the system. Consolidation is destroying the small and medium family farm. We need to get more young farmers on the land. Families who will attend our schools, live in our small towns, care for the land they own.

Expanding unions and protecting working people will also go a long way to strengthening rural Iowa. Union wages afford rural Iowans a way to stay in place, remain rural, and keep communities from disappearing. Workers have the right to unionize and should be supported in their endeavors. A living wage is important, too, for maintaining our communities—keeping Iowa's roots strong. Small towns and rural spaces are stronger when working people stand together.

In regards to soil loss, Iowa needs to remember its roots and invest more in sustainable agriculture, not agribusiness. We have boxed in our farmers by allowing corporations to eat up family farms. We've valued yield over everything else, even above the longevity of our soils. There are countless examples in Benton and Iowa counties of farmers being good stewards of the land and water—it's time we made it easier and less complicated for farmers statewide to quickly implement conservation practices, including those who rent their land. We need to listen to Iowa's 500 Soil and Water Conservation District commissioners and pass mandatory, meaningful regulations in the form of a saturated buffer law. To that end, Iowa would benefit from a Farmers' Bill of Rights included as part of a state-level climate task force. The issue of flooding in our state is not going away and farmers are on the frontlines in this changing climate. We need to protect those who steward our land and wild spaces.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing crisis and will remain so until state leadership implements a clear, comprehensive strategy statewide that takes into account and respects local control. There should be a statewide mask mandate for all indoor public spaces. Both the Benton County Courthouse and Vinton-Shellsburg Community School District have implemented a mask mandate but the greater community does not have a similar order. This inconsistent approach to masking makes it all the more difficult to keep COVID-19 out of our schools and county buildings and puts our local businesses and communities at risk. Similarly, the governor should let local school districts decide what instruction modality is best for their students based on positivity rates and other health and safety factors in the community.

What, if anything, needs to change about the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic?

From the early days of the pandemic, leadership needed to take a role that was proactive rather than reactive—one that provided a clear, comprehensive strategy instead of inaction and over-reliance on hoping that Iowans would just do the right thing. Honesty and transparency have been severely lacking in our state's response to COVID-19. Our care home residents and workers, our manufacturing and packing plant workers, our healthcare workers, our small business owners, our teachers—all deserved better. Iowa deserved better.

What do you consider as budget priorities? What would you do to ensure these see funding? Which areas would you target funding reductions?

Inequities in Iowa's tax code that result in some not paying their fair share need to end. Iowa's tax policy has needed a working families overhaul for years. By enacting smart tax reform, we could at long last invest in Iowa's crumbling infrastructure. Corporate tax cuts, loopholes, and massive research credits are costing Iowa families and local governments millions in tax revenue every year. Essential services—like the driver's license station in Belle Plaine—are being cut. Iowa has not been putting working families first. We need to invest in the people who live here now.

What, if any, changes would you make to the way the state funds its K-12 education system?

Funding for public education should at minimum keep up with inflation. Legislation should never include unfunded mandates. We need to properly fund education to ensure small towns do not lose any more elementary school buildings—we've consolidated ourselves enough at this point. It's time to protect our children—including their mental health—by keeping them in their local public schools. The loss of a school reverberates for decades in a community. Our children should be educated if at all possible in the spaces in which they live and thrive.

What should the state do to further address water quality issues? What, if anything, should the state do to increase funding for water quality improvements?

In 2010, Iowans voted for a constitutional amendment to create the Outdoor Recreation and Natural Resources Trust Fund (Iowa's Water and Land Legacy, IWiLL), but to this day the fund sits empty. It's long past time to listen to the will of the Iowa people and fund the Trust. But IWiLL's formula should be funded as it was originally designed with no alterations to ensure the health and vitality of Iowa's people and pets. More importantly, the sales tax should not be raised to fund IWiLL if cuts to schools and other services are made elsewhere. Cleaning up our water and ensuring a sustainable future for Iowa shouldn't be made on the backs of working people. To that end, when private wells do test positive for contamination in our rural communities, the Grants to Counties program needs to have access to funding to clean it up. Every Iowan has a right to clean water.

What should the state do to address the availability of safe and affordable child care across Iowa?

As a Better Tomorrows Early Childhood Iowa board member and mother of young children, I am well aware that Iowa is in the midst of a child care crisis. Iowa House District 75 has several child care desert tracts. Iowa's child care workforce supports the entire workforce and needs our help. There were several good bills addressing child care that failed to pass during the 2020 Legislative Session which must be taken up again. Child care should be accessible and affordable to every Iowan, including those who live in our rural counties. Incentives for businesses to provide on-site childcare, for schools to provide wrap-around care, for child care providers to be compensated at higher levels—all avenues must be explored if we are to ever close the gaps and address the crisis. We also need to expand access to our public four-year-old preschool program.

What is your response to recent protests calling for racial justice? What changes to law enforcement policy or budgeting do you support? 

I believe law enforcement needs better training and more diversification. This may actually require an increase in funding. Rural access centers— like we have in Benton County — should be expanded throughout the state.

Will you support a constitutional amendment to restore voting rights for felons?

Yes

Will you approve the governor's IWILL tax relief/mental health plan?

No. It's long past time we listen to the will of the Iowa people and fund IWiLL as it was originally designed with no alterations to the formula to ensure the health and vitality of Iowa's people and pets. Such funding will ensure watershed protection, soil conservation, and habitat restoration. But the sales tax should not be raised to fund IWiLL if cuts to schools and other services are made elsewhere. Cleaning up our water and ensuring a sustainable future for Iowa should not be made on the backs of working people. Instead, working families in Iowa would be better served by expanding Iowa's Earned Income Tax Credit in tandem with the funding of IWiLL.

Will you seek voter approval of a constitutional amendment on abortion (SJR2001/HJR2004)?

No

Will you support a ban hand-held electronic devices while driving (SF2248/HF2375)?

Yes

Will you support allowing financial compensation for college athletes (SF2330/HF2282)?

Yes 

Will you support making daylight saving time permanent (SF2077/HF2059)?

Undecided

Will you support allowing end-of-life options for patients with terminal conditions (SF2156/HF2302)?

Undecided

Will you support closing loopholes to protect mobile home occupants/tenants (HF2351/SF2238)?

Yes

Will you support increasing the state minimum hourly wage from $7.25?

Yes

Will you support raising the state tobacco tax by $1 to $2.36 per pack?

No

Will you support modifying or repealing Iowa's bottle bill law?

Yes. I support modernizing the bottle bill while still believing its basic premise — to keep Iowa beautiful — is important.

Will you support requiring helmets for minors operating motorcycles/motorized bikes?

Yes

Will you support eliminating criminal penalties for possessing marijuana?

Undecided. Iowa has some of the toughest laws in the nation for first-offense possession of marijuana and I do think a change is necessary in that regard. I am undecided in regards to the legalization of recreational marijuana, but as more and more states move to legalize, Iowa is going to have to address the issue. 

Will you support establishing a moratorium on constructing large-scale animal feeding facilities?

Undecided. I think any moratorium at the state level needs support at the federal level. We need to strengthen the Packers and Stockyards Act in order to give small family farms a fighting chance at survival and the opportunity to thrive in our state. And ultimately what we need to do is bring more beginning farmers to the land.

Will you support creating an 'extreme risk' or 'red flag' firearms protective order?

Undecided