Ashley Hinson, Mariannette Miller-Meeks file first financial disclosures after joining U.S. House

Disclosure reports recently filed by Iowa’s four U.S. House members shed some light on the finances of elected officials who all likely will be running for office again in 2022.

For example, two of Iowa’s delegates have home mortgages, listed under liabilities. But the rules for filing don’t require listing real estate they own as assets unless they’re getting rental income from it.

Collectively, Iowa’s delegates also have investments, rental income, deferred compensation and other income besides the salaries they get for serving in public office.

These are the first federal financial disclosure statements filed by freshmen U.S. Reps. Ashley Hinson, Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Randy Feenstra, who all took office in January.

Hinson, a Republican who represents Iowa’s 1st District, turned in her new filer financial disclosure form Aug. 13. All members of the U.S. House and Senate were given an extension from the original filing deadline in April.

She reported earned income in 2020 of $32,801.73 for her salary in the Iowa House, where she served from 2017 to 2021. This includes her annual salary of $25,000 and the per diem paid to members of the Legislature.

Hinson reported receiving between $5,001 and $15,000 in rent from the building that houses Elliott Hartman Insurance Services, the Waterloo firm co-owned by her husband, Matt Arenholz.

As liabilities on her 2020 disclosure form, Hinson listed a mortgage in the range of $50,001 to $100,000 and business liability of $15,001 to $50,000 to ANP Properties, which owns the insurance agency building.

Hinson’s disclosure report includes interest or dividends from investments in companies including Apple, Constellation Brands, Gray Television (the company that now owns KCRG-TV, where she had worked as an anchor), Heron Therapeutics and QCR Holdings. The couple also got dividends between $100,001 and $1 million from Transportation Insurance & Consultants Inc. in 2020, the report states.

Hinson told the Telegraph Herald in April she and her husband would sell stocks that weren’t part of widely used mutual funds and exchange-traded funds for their retirement. This was after it was reported some U.S. senators and representatives made money on pandemic-related stock trades.

Hinson spokeswoman Sophie Seid said this week Hinson and Arenholz have since sold all their individual stocks.

“While she is in Congress, they will not actively buy or sell any individual publicly traded stocks, and they will only invest in widely held mutual funds and ETFs (Exchange Traded Fund) for retirement savings,” Seid said in an email. “This isn’t a requirement for members of Congress, they did so voluntarily.”

Hinson, of Marion, announced in July she plans to run again, but what the 1st district will look like still is undecided as the redistricting process just started this week. Democrat Liz Mathis, an Iowa senator from Hiawatha, also has announced her candidacy.

The proposed redistricting map by Iowa’s nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency calls for a new 1st District that includes Linn, Johnson and Scott counties. Black Hawk and Dubuque counties would be in a new 2nd District that stretches from the Minnesota border all the way south to Jefferson County.

Rep. Ashley Hinson’s financial disclosure report:

U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson fin... by Gazetteonline

Miller-Meeks, a Republican representing Iowa’s 2nd District, filed the least information on her financial disclosure form. Her report says “none disclosed” for assets and “unearned” income, liabilities, positions or agreements.

For her earned income for 2020, Miller-Meeks reported $100,000 for her salary as a U.S. representative, although she didn’t start that job until January 2021. It’s possible she intended that amount to represent the share of her $174,000 congressional salary she’d been paid through Aug. 13, when the report was filed.

Miller-Meeks did not list her $25,000 annual salary from the Iowa Senate, where she served from January 2019 to January 2021.

Will Kiley, a spokesman for Miller-Meeks, said Wednesday his boss now is working with the House to update her form to add her Iowa Senate salary. He said Miller-Meeks does not have any outside income, including from IRAs or 401(k)s, that she would be required to report on the form.

Miller-Meeks, a retired ophthalmologist from Ottumwa, did report on her federal financial disclosure form she was paid at least $5,000 in 2020 in deferred compensation from the Great River Health System, in Burlington, where she was employed.

Miller-Meeks has not officially announced she will run in 2022, but when Iowa Rep. Christina Bohannan announced last month her intent to run for the seat as a Democrat, Miller-Meeks welcomed Bohannan into the race. However, if the new redistricting proposal is approved, Bohannan would be in a district with Hinson — not Miller-Meeks.

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks’s financial disclosure report:

U.S. Rep. Mariannette Mille... by Gazetteonline

Feenstra, a Republican elected in 2020 to lead Iowa’s 4th District, reported 2020 earned income of $52,439 from Dordt University, the Sioux Center private school where he’s been a business professor since 2017. He also reported receiving $24,105 as a state senator before he was elected to Congress.

Feenstra reported interest income between $2,501 and $5,000 on his pension, $2,501 to $5,000 from the Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System and $201 to $1,000 from his checking account. He listed $1,206 to $6,000 in capital gains from his 401(k) and another retirement fund.

As a liability, Feenstra reported a home mortgage of $50,001 to $100,000.

Feenstra reported “none disclosed” for positions, agreements and compensation in excess of $5,000 paid by one source.

Feenstra, of Hull, has not yet announced whether he will run again in 2022, but is expected to do so. There are not yet any Democratic challengers in the heavily Republican 4th District, the Des Moines Register reported Sept 4.

Rep. Randy Feenstra’s financial disclosure report:

U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra fi... by Gazetteonline

Democratic U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne, who has represented Iowa’s 3rd District since 2019, filed her annual report July 15. The annual report is slightly different from the new filer report completed by Hinson, Miller-Meeks and Feenstra. Instead of asking for specific amounts of income, it requires a check mark if income in each area is more than $1,000.

For assets, Axne includes several pages of investments in her or her husband’s IRAs and 401(k)s. These stocks with companies that include Alphabet, Nike, Berkshire Hathaway, Johnson & Johnson, MasterCard, O’Reilly Automotive, Progressive and Starbucks all are marked as tax deferred with no annual income of greater than $1,000.

She listed “none disclosed” for liabilities, transactions, gifts, travel payments and honoraria donated to charities. She also listed no earned income for 2020. House members are paid $174,000 a year, but the 120-page instruction guide asks for compensation besides congressional pay.

Axne reported she has a position as owner/partner of Creation Agents, a West Des Moines-based business consulting firm, but also reported she and her husband, Creation Agents co-founder John Axne, took a leave of absence in May 2017. Axne also has an agreement to receive deferred compensation after working for the state until 2014.

Axne, of West Des Moines, has left the door open to run again in the 3rd District or to pursue another office, such as the governorship.

Rep. Cindy Axne’s financial disclosure report:

U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne financ... by Gazetteonline

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