Iowa Republicans cripple local democracy

Republicans used to believe that government closest to the people governs best. Not anymore.

Since Republicans gained control of the governorship and both legislative chambers in 2017, they have passed more than 70 laws blocking cities, counties, and school districts from doing what local voters elected them to do. The party that rails against “big government” has decided the state knows better than local communities.

Iowa is a home-rule state. Our constitution grants local governments broad authority unless a power is explicitly prohibited by state law. But the ever-expanding list of prohibitions is steadily draining home rule of any real meaning.

The campaign to replace local democratic choice with state mandates began in 2017 with three major bills. One gutted collective bargaining for public employees. Another banned project labor agreements used by cities to ensure local hiring, fair wages, and timely completion of public projects. The third wiped out local minimum wage ordinances enacted in four counties and under consideration in others. The law barred any local regulation of wages, benefits, scheduling, or other employment standards — while also sneaking in bans on plastic bag regulations.

Since then, the legislature has increasingly constrained how cities and counties can fund basic services. Lawmakers brag about cutting property taxes while local governments absorb the backlash from residents facing more potholes and fewer services. Bills now under consideration would lock in service cuts indefinitely by preventing local budgets from even keeping pace with inflation. Want better services and willing to pay for them? Tough luck.

The preemption spree continues. Cities and counties have been told how they can and can’t regulate topsoil removal, stormwater, fireworks, firearms, traffic cameras, ATVs. The legislature placed restrictions on how localities hold elections. They passed a bill to allow the attorney general to unilaterally take over a case from a county attorney.

School districts are told what they can teach, what books they can carry in their libraries. If an elected school board allows transgender girls to participate in sports, or leaves it up to the team and the coach to decide, tough. The state has decided for you; it can’t happen.

The Republican majority has become more autocratic every year. Legislation under consideration now would ban local governments from adopting civil rights legislation that extends protection to any group not covered by the state’s recently truncated list. Another bill would prohibit school districts from entering into agreements with public libraries when the school library is inadequate.

The pattern is clear. When local voters choose policies that don’t conform to Republican ideology, the legislature steps in and makes those choices illegal. That’s not home rule, and it’s not local democracy. It’s rule from above — take it or leave it.

Peter Fisher is the former research director of the Iowa Policy Project. He lives in Solon.