Upset with Gov. Reynolds’ veto, Iowa landowners, legislators look to their next steps

DES MOINES — Landowners impacted by a proposed carbon capture pipeline in Iowa say they are “not going away” and that the debate is “not over” one day after Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds vetoed legislation that sought to limit pipeline projects and the use of eminent domain.

During a conference call Thursday with Iowa reporters, landowners expressed their frustration and disappointment with Reynolds’ veto of House File 639, and pledged to continue pushing for similar legislation and working to elect lawmakers who will support such bills.

“We look forward to working with a growing number of Iowa legislators that want to stand with Iowans against this abuse of eminent domain. This is far from over,” Julie Glade, of Wright County, whose land would be impacted by a proposed pipeline, said during the virtual news conference.

Summit Carbon Solutions has proposed a 2,500-mile CO2 pipeline through five states, including Iowa, to capture the greenhouse gas from ethanol plants and bury it in North Dakota. State regulators approved a permit for the Iowa section, including granting Summit eminent domain powers.

Supporters of the proposed bill said it would have protected Iowans’ private property rights against proposed pipeline projects from private companies.

Opponents of the bill asserted that they also support Iowans’ private property rights, but expressed concern that the legislation will hamper economic growth by stifling all types of infrastructure projects — not just pipelines — and alleged the true goal of the bill was to kill a current proposed CO2 pipeline project in Iowa.

A group of landowners who would be impacted by the pipeline have become active at the Iowa Capitol, urging state lawmakers to enact restrictions on eminent domain — the process through which the government can take private land for infrastructure projects — for hazardous liquid pipeline projects.

Four landowners spoke during Thursday’s virtual news conference, and dozens more logged on in a show of support.

Wearing a red shirt with the message, “I stopped farming to be here so this better be good,” Page County farmer Marty Maher expressed his frustration with Reynolds’ veto and her lack of public comment on property rights and eminent domain legislation over the past four years. Maher also referred to a line in Reynolds’ veto message where she pledged to work on property rights and eminent domain legislation in the future.

“Governor, what have you done in the last four years to limit the use of eminent domain? I can think of nothing,” Maher said. “We will be back in 2026 to see if you live up to the promises that you made in this veto letter.”

Special legislative session not likely

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Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley, a Republican from New Hartford, immediately after Reynolds’ veto, announce he is seeking a petition to force a special session of the Iowa Legislature to override the veto.

Rep. Steve Holt, a Republican from Denison who joined the landowners on Thursday’s media call, said he supports the effort to force a special session but acknowledged it is unlikely to happen.

As detailed in Article 3 of the Iowa Constitution, a special legislative session can be called only by the governor or by a petition signed by two-thirds of the members of each chamber of the Iowa Legislature.

Assuming all 21 Senate Republicans who voted against the bill also would oppose a special session to override the veto, there would not be enough Senators to get the 34 votes needed to reach two-thirds in that chamber.

“I’m 100 percent in support of overriding the veto. The veto is egregious,” Holt said. “Unfortunately, I doubt we’ll have the votes in the Senate to do that. But we’re going to do everything that we can.”

Holt, too, said, “This fight is far from over.”

History repeats itself

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Coincidentally, the last special session of the Iowa Legislature called to override a governor’s veto was in 2006 over a bill that dealt with eminent domain.

That year, state lawmakers approved a bill that limited local governments’ ability to use eminent domain for economic development. Then-Gov. Tom Vilsack, a Democrat, vetoed the bill. Lawmakers voted to call a special legislative session and overwhelmingly overrode Vilsack’s veto with votes of 90-8 in the House and 41-8 in the Senate.

One of the key lawmakers behind that 2006 gubernatorial veto override was then-Iowa Rep. Jeff Kaufmann, who is now chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa.

Fast forward to nearly 20 years later, and some lawmakers are once again calling for a special session to override a gubernatorial veto of eminent domain restrictions. And this time, one of the lawmakers who had especially critical words for Reynolds after her veto was Jeff Kaufmann’s son, current Iowa Rep. Bobby Kaufmann.

“I vow to work to kill every single piece of legislation that has her name on it. Her days of legislating, as far as I’m personally concerned, are over,” Bobby Kaufmann said Wednesday.

What happens now

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The issues of property rights, pipelines and eminent domain have divided statehouse Republicans over the past four years, and that divide appeared to widen this week in the wake of Reynolds’ veto.

And yet critics of Reynolds’ veto, both landowners and legislators, say they will return to work — either in a special session or when the Iowa Legislature reconvenes next January — to pass property rights, pipeline regulation and eminent domain restrictions into state law.

Without an election before then, the negotiating parties will largely be the same when that occurs.

In other words, House Republicans who want strong eminent domain restrictions still need Reynolds and Senate Republican leaders — most of whom opposed House File 639 — to approve any such legislation.

Whether those two sides within the same party can work together next year after Reynolds’ veto and the backlash remains to be seen.

“I would say the country club Republicans in the Senate need to come to the realization that we’re not going to back down,” Holt said during Thursday’s press call. “There’s only so much compromise we’re going to be willing to do. The Iowa Constitution, the Republican Party of Iowa platform is clear on the use of eminent domain for private economic development projects. We’re not going to compromise on that. We’re going to fight until landowners are protected.”

Reynolds, in her veto message, pledged to work with state lawmakers “to strengthen landowner protections, modernize permitting, and respect private property.” Iowa Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, a Republican from Grimes, said “a significant majority of our caucus supports a better policy to protect landowner rights.”

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com

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