Senate advances Reynolds’ picks for utility panel

DES MOINES — Senators confirmed and advanced several of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ appointments to Iowa boards and commissions Wednesday, including two appointees to the three-member board tasked with approving three controversial carbon dioxide capture pipeline proposals.

Erik Helland, a lawyer and former Republican state representative, was mostly opposed by Democrats, while Sarah Martz, the engineering director of utilities at Iowa State University, advanced unanimously. Their nominations to the Iowa Utilities Board were successfully advanced out of the Senate Commerce Committee, and they will need to pass a two-thirds vote in the Senate to be confirmed to the panel. Helland was appointed as both a member and chair of the utilities board.

He has been a member of the Public Employee Relations Board since 2021. His confirmation to that board was initially blocked by Senate Democrats, but Reynolds appointed him to be chair without Senate confirmation later that year.

Republicans said Helland had displayed an ability to increase efficiencies and operations on the Public Employee Relations Board and when an employee of the state of Alaska.

But Sen. Janet Peterson, a Democrat from Des Moines, said she is concerned about Helland's lack of utility experience and where he may stand on issues before the panel, specifically about granting the power of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines.

“I have concerns about where he might stand on the issue of public good, and also some concerns regarding his tenure at the PERB board,” Petersen said.

The appointments will fill two vacancies on the board: Richard Lozier’s term ends April 30, and current chair Geri Huser, a former Democratic state representative, will step down at the end of the month, according to Radio Iowa. Her term as chair was set to end this month, but her term on the panel was to last until 2027.

Martz was advanced unanimously, and lawmakers praised her depth of experience working on utility issues.

“Miss Martz brings a tremendous amount of knowledge and a wonderful skill set to the Iowa Utilities Board,” said committee chair Sen. Waylon Brown, R-Osage.

The Iowa Utilities Board is considering permit requests from three companies to build carbon capture pipelines in the state. The projects would capture CO2 produced at ethanol plants and shuttle it to reservoirs deep underground in other states.

The projects are vital to keep the ethanol industry afloat, according to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. But they’ve garnered staunch opposition from a coalition of landowners opposed to the use of eminent domain for private projects and environmental activists that think they will prop up fossil-fuel reliant industries and not significantly reduce carbon emissions.

Of the three pipelines companies before the utility board, only Wolf Carbon Solutions — whose pipeline route includes Linn County — has not asked the panel to grant it eminent domain powers.

The committee also unanimously advanced the nomination of Lanny Zieman, a lawyer with the Iowa Division of Labor, to lead the Office of the Consumer Advocate, which represents the public in matters before the Iowa Utilities Board.

Iowa Civil Rights Commission

The Judiciary Committee unanimously advanced the nomination of Kristen Stiffler, a lawyer and former Republican Iowa House candidate, to be the executive director of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.

The commission handles complaints of civil rights violations, processing more than 1,000 complaints a year, according to its website. It also provides conflict resolution and mediation and provides training to prevent discrimination.

Stiffler is replacing Stan Thompson, who was hired as deputy attorney general for civil litigation under Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird earlier this year.

Stiffler said she wants to ramp up operations in the investigation wing of the commission and help address a backlog of discrimination claims. She also said she wants to increase education programs for the public and with landlords, employers and others that have frequent claims made against them.

Reynolds, a Republican, has signed into law bills this year that ban minors from receiving gender transition health care and that block transgender students at school from using the bathroom that matches their gender identity — two laws that have been challenged on discrimination grounds in other states.

While the commission does not weigh the constitutionality of state laws, Stiffler said “the law is the law” and the commission will enforce laws that prohibit discrimination against protected classes, including gender identity.

“We will make sure that if discrimination is occurring, then we'll take the necessary steps to make sure that we can either eliminate the discrimination for the individual and then determine if additional education and support is needed for those that are committing those offenses,” she said.

Senate confirms appointees by slim margins

In full Senate votes, two more of Reynolds’ appointees were confirmed on the strength of Republicans’ new supermajority.

With 34 members in the Senate after the 2022 election, Republicans no longer need any Democrats’ votes to reach the two-thirds level of support needed to confirm gubernatorial appointees.

And two members were confirmed Wednesday with exactly that level of support: 34 votes, all from Republicans. They were Reynolds’ appointees to the state medicine board, Drs. Robert Donnelly and Chad Stadsvold.

Petersen said she voted against the nominations because the board has not been politically balanced as prescribed in state law, has not been transparent and has not adequately responded to citizens’ concerns, citing the case of an Iowa woman who says she was sexually abused in 1975 by a man who has been a practicing physician in the state recently.

Two more appointees, Dr. Jeremy Kidd to the Health Facilities Council and state parole board chair Nicholas Davis, were confirmed with 35 votes.

Receiving much broader, bipartisan support were appointments to lead state agencies: Kraig Paulsen as head of the Department of Management and Mary Mosiman as head of the Department of Revenue. Both were confirmed with unanimous support.