Fact Checker: Gov. Kim Reynolds scores mixed grades in response to the State of the Union

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds was chosen by the Republican Party to deliver the GOP’s response Tuesday night to President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address.

The Fact Checker checks only verifiable claims — so if the governor expressed an opinion or a made a vague statement that can’t be measured, we didn’t check it. Reynolds’ campaign staff provided sourcing to the Fact Checker on her claims.

Claim: “ … the Speaker of the House recently warned our Olympic athletes not to speak out against China …”

This statement was part of a series of three items forming the claim about “an attack on democracy, freedom, and the rule of law,” sandwiched in between North Korea “testing missiles at an alarming rate,” and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

On Feb. 3, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi discouraged protests from athletes during the opening ceremony at the Beijing Winter Olympics, saying that she and other politicians would speak out against China’s human rights record in a way that would not legally jeopardize athletes’ platforms.

“I would say to our athletes: You’re there to compete,” Pelosi said, according to the New York Times. “Do not risk incurring the anger of the Chinese government, because they are ruthless.”

Whether this directive was “an attack on democracy, freedom, and the rule of law,” is another matter.

Grade: Though the claim of Pelosi’s warning athletes not to criticize China is correct on its face, context surrounding quotes makes it a stretch to say it was an attack on freedom, democracy or the rule of law when compared with nuclear weapons testing in North Korea and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. B.

Claim: “(President Biden and Congressional Democrats) were warned that spending trillions would lead to soaring inflation. They were told their anti-energy policies would send gas prices to new heights. But they plowed ahead anyway, raising the price at the pump by 50 percent and pushing inflation to a 40-year high.”

Since Reynolds did not specify an exact date of comparison for a 50 percent increase in gas prices, we will use Jan. 18, two days before Biden was inaugurated. Republicans have been eager to pin the rising price of gas on Biden, as the Fact Checker has previously analyzed.

AAA’s online gas price calculator lists the national average for a gallon of gas at $3.61 on March 1. Using the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, we can see that the national average for a gallon of gas was $2.38 on Jan. 18. These prices are confirmed by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Whether “anti-energy policies” contributed to this, as Reynolds claims, was not demonstrated in the speech.

Comparing those two figures, the price of gas has risen 52 percent between Jan. 18, 2021, and March 1, 2022. Biden announced Tuesday the release of oil from strategic reserves to lower the price increase driven by the lack of supply around the world, which has been affected in part by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

In early February, inflation made headlines when it reached a 7.5 percent annual rate as strong consumer demand combined with pandemic-related supply chain disruptions affected the economy.

On Feb. 10, the U.S. Labor Department said the consumer-price index reached its highest level since February 1982.

Grade: The inflation claims are correct, but again the statement is missing important context on how Biden’s policies affected the rise in prices. B.

Claim: Reynolds said the Build Back Better plan, which has stalled in Congress, includes “spending trillions” and giving “billions in tax giveaways to millionaires and billionaires in Democrat-controlled states like California, New York and New Jersey.”

The version of Build Back Better passed by the U.S. House in November would add $365 billion to the U.S. deficit through 2031, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But the bill also calls for tax enforcement changes that would raise $207 billion over that same time period, the agency reported, for a net $158 billion deficit increase.

However, the cost could go into the trillions if some provisions, such as a one-year increase in the child tax credit, were extended, PolitiFact reported.

When Reynolds said Build Back Better would provide “billions in tax giveaways” to rich Americans, she is referring to a provision that raises the cap for how much of state and local tax payments can be deducted from the income used to compute federal taxes.

The Joint Committee on Taxation reported Nov. 15 that, because of this change proposed in Build Back Better, 69 percent of taxpayers earning more than $1 million a year in 2022 would receive a tax cut, compared with 30 percent of taxpayers earning between $50,000 and $75,000.

New Jersey and California are in the Top 10 of states with the most millionaires, Kiplinger reported in 2020. New York is 12. Iowa is 31.

Grade: The bill passed by the House in November is estimated to cost billions, not trillions, unless some provisions are extended. She’s right about the tax benefits to wealthy Americans. C overall.

Claim: “The Biden administration requires vaccines for Americans who want to go to work or protect this country but not for migrants who illegally cross the border.”

Biden administration policy has made vaccines available to undocumented migrants in detention centers and shelters at the border, but it’s true it’s not mandated. It’s estimated about 30 percent refuse the vaccine offered, according to some reports.

As of Oct. 1, the administration requires immigrants to complete a COVID-19 vaccine series in order to complete medical examinations required to become permanent U.S. residents.

Workers in health care facilities that receive federal Medicare and Medicaid funding are required to be vaccinated. Other Biden administration’s vaccine mandates — including those for large employers and federal workers — were blocked by the courts.

Grade: It is true Biden has introduced vaccine mandates for certain workforces, but not everyone who wants to “go to work.” The second part of her claim leaves out that there are vaccine requirements for immigrants to become U.S. citizens. She also does not acknowledge the challenge of vaccinating people who are trying to go undetected as they illegally cross the border. C.

Claim: “And we actually listened to the science, especially with kids in masks and kids in schools.”

In May 2021, Reynolds signed a law that forbid mask mandates from local governments and school districts.

A Reynolds campaign spokesman pointed to an Atlantic article written by scientists who argue there’s little evidence children can wear masks correctly, thus reducing their effectiveness. The article mentions prospective studies in Greece and Italy finding masking is a barrier to speech recognition, hearing and communication — particularly important to English Language Learners.

However, the same article also states research has shown mask wearing by school staff has reduced COVID-19 transmission within those facilities. Those findings are echoed in large-scale study after literature review showing masks impede the spread of a potentially-deadly virus.

When it comes to masking, the recommendations from scientists and public health officials are clear. For much of the pandemic, federal, state and local entities were encouraging masks for everyone aged 2 and older in public settings.

Grade: When Reynolds said her administration “listened to the science” it depends which science you mean. While there is some early research showing psychosocial impacts of masking, overwhelming medical evidence shows masks reduce the spread of COVID-19. D.

Claim: “That’s why Iowa was the first state in the nation to require that schools open their doors.”

Reynolds was the first governor nationwide to require the state’s schools to offer in-person instruction. In July 2020, she signed a proclamation requiring K-12 school districts and non-public schools to have at least 50 percent of instruction time in-person.

Reynolds signed a law in January 2021 requiring Iowa schools to offer 100 percent in-person instruction five days a week by February. But other states beat Iowa to full-time instruction. Both Arkansas and Florida mandated 100 percent in-person learning in August and November 2020 respectively, according to EdWeek.

Grade: A

Claim: “I, along with Republican governors from several states have sent resources to the border.”

Last summer, Reynolds agreed to send 28 Iowa State Patrol officers to the U.S. border with Mexico for a 15-day deployment to assist the Texas State Patrol and the Texas Rangers. The deployment cost Iowa $294,853.

Other states, including Florida, South Dakota and Idaho — all governed by Republicans — announced they also would sent troopers or National Guard members, Poynter reported.

Grade: A

Claim: “And we’ve actually gone to the border — something that our president and vice president have yet to do since taking office.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told news outlets in Oct. Biden’s only visit to the border was a drive-by in 2008. Vice President Kamala Harris visited El Paso in June, touring Border Patrol facilities and meeting with local migrant aid groups, the Texas Tribune reported.

Grade: This half-true claim gets a C.

Claim: “Today, I signed legislation that eliminates Iowa’s tax on retirement income and sets our tax rate at 3.9 percent. That’s less than half of what it was just four years ago.”

Hours before delivering the Republican response to Biden’s address, Reynolds signed a major tax cut package into law that does get rid of Iowa’s tax on retirement income and sets the individual income tax rate at 3.9 percent. This cut will be phased in by 2026.

Before the 2019 tax year, when 2018 tax cuts took effect, the top individual income tax rate was 8.98 percent, according to the Iowa Department of Revenue. The new flat rate is less than half that.

But compared with 2018, not all Iowans are seeing reduced marginal tax rates. At the other end of the tax bracket, the income tax rate for lower-income Iowans was 0.36 percent. For them, a flat tax rate of 3.9 percent is 10.8 times higher.

Grade: The claim is true for many Iowans, false for others. C.

Claim: “And it shouldn’t come as a surprise that out of the top 20 states with the lowest unemployment rates, 17 have Republican governors.”

Reynolds is correct on this, though that’s not to say correlation implies causation. Of the 20 states with the lowest unemployment rates, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the only three with Democratic governors are Kansas, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Grade: A

Members of the Fact Checker team are Elijah Decious, Erin Jordan, Marissa Payne and Michaela Ramm. This Fact Checker was researched and written by all four members of the team.