Fresh off re-election announcement, U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson stops in Mason City

MASON CITY — U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, touted her sponsorship of the Save Our Bacon Act and her support of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” during several stops in northern Iowa on Tuesday.

The visits followed her recent announcement she is running for a third term to represent Iowa's 2nd Congressional District.

Hinson held a roundtable with the Mason City Chamber of Commerce, visited teens at YSS of North Iowa, toured Clear Lake's Main Street, and met with Jenn Pope, the owner of Roots Nutrition Counseling in Mason City, during Tuesday’s tour.

Hinson's fight against Prop 12

Pope, a registered dietitian, said she tries to focus on clean eating, locally sourced foods, and healthy proteins for her clients at Roots. Pope and Hinson spoke about rising food costs — something Hinson has spoken frequently about in her fight against California's Proposition 12.

“Any non-starchy vegetable, good quality protein sources, the cost … that's something I hear a ton, is that ‘It costs so much to eat healthy’,” Pope said.

Hinson said the information she heard at Roots dovetailed well with her House Resolution 4673, also know as the Save Our Bacon Act, a bill she sponsored this year to protect pork producers from what the bill calls "arbitrary" state mandates.

The act, which Hinson says is designed to keep control over animal confinement standards in local hands and safe from interstate interference, prevents any one state from closing its markets to goods not adhering to its regulations.

The bill targets California's Proposition 12, which prohibits the sale of animal products unless it can be verified animals were raised in conditions that meet California's regulations.

"California regulations require veal calves, breeding pigs, and egg-laying hens to be housed in systems that comply with specific standards for freedom of movement, cage-free design, and specified minimum floor space," the proposition reads.

Hinson has said the proposition is pushing Iowa farmers out of California's markets and infringing on business owners' rights to participate in interstate commerce.

“It’s designed to help fix what I perceive as a big interstate commerce issue,” Hinson said. “California was trying to regulate how our producers grow their animals … and frankly, Californians want to be able to buy Iowa pork as well, without a lot of those restrictions.”

Hinson has concerns that regulations like those outlined in Proposition 12 will increase operating expenses for Iowa farmers and push the cost onto American consumers in the form of higher prices at the grocery store.

“Access to affordable protein is a key part to being able to eat healthy … and driving up that cost and making healthy protein less available to people is a huge challenge,” Hinson said.

Hinson proud to back Trump's Big Beautiful Bill

Hinson said her meetings with the Chamber of Commerce and with Pope affirmed her decision to support Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” and highlighted what making the 2017 tax cuts permanent can do for small businesses like Roots.

“When I talked to Jen about the impact of a 20 percent permanent tax cut for her, as she has started up and grown a small business, it means a lot to her because she's going to be able to do more," Hinson said.

Pope was excited about the tax law, saying it could enable her to hire more staff.

“I think about 20 percent for me, and it's like, ‘What could I do with that?’” Pope said.

Hinson has been staunch in her support of Trump's agenda, telling supporters at a Cedar Rapids rally Saturday evening that she was “proud to fight alongside the president.“

“I’m continuing to do visits like this one, roundtables like at the Chamber, and public town halls to make sure I’m hearing directly from Iowans,” Hinson said. “My biggest goal is to protect taxpayers who are sending me there to look after them … and I think there's more to do working with President Trump to advance that agenda.”

Hinson, 42, of Marion, previously was a news anchor, journalist, and producer at KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids. She then pivoted to politics, serving in the Iowa House of Representatives before snagging Abby Finkenauer's seat in the U.S. House in 2020.