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Bacon, Winter seek House District 48 seat

State Rep. Rob Bacon, R-Slater, is being challenged by Democrat Tim Winter, of Kelley, in House District 48.

That district includes southeastern Webster County, all of Hamilton County and parts of Boone and Story counties.

Winter said he has degrees in agribusiness and agronomy from Iowa State University in Ames.

“I’ve worked as agronomist with farmers and businesses throughout central Iowa, including right here in Hamilton County,” he said.

The candidate said he wants to build up Iowa for the future.

“We need to build up our communities,” he said. ”We need to create good paying jobs and help small businesses grow. High speed internet must be provided throughout the district and everyone needs access to affordable health care, health facilities and education.”

He said he believed there were big issues to overcome in Iowa. He pointed to statistics stating that 40.5 percent of Iowa families had incomes low enough to qualify for free or reduced-priced meals.

“Economic prosperity hasn’t come to the rural areas either,” he said, citing Burnside Township in Webster County which he said has 36.7 percent of its households receiving food stamps.

“These are big issues we will have to face, ”he said. ”We need to have someone who will work and fight for Iowans. That is why I am running.”

Bacon said he is an Iowan by choice. The candidate, born and raised in Chicago, has been a licensed funeral director since 1981 and has owned businesses in central Iowa.

“Education, health care and our natural resources are very important to our family,” he said.

Bacon serves as the chair of the Natural Resources Committee and serves on the Health and Human Services Committee. He is also on the State Government and Transportation committees.

“I’ve been in the House since 2012 and prior to that I served in the Senate for two years,” he said. When redistricting occurred after the 2010 census, Bacon said he decided to run for the House seat.

Medicaid

“Let’s put our cards on the table — we rolled the MCO way too fast,” Bacon said.

The reason for the quick roll out went back to an audit that showed more than 10 percent of the checks issued were improper, according to Bacon.

“Not fraudulent, but improper,” he said, “Inappropriately spent.”

The idea of managed care organizations was developed, he said. Just three companies applied to be MCOs and two were awarded the contracts.

“They were just overwhelmed,” he said.

“Would I like to see some changes?” he asked. ”Yes, and that’s one of my priorities when we get back in session. We really need to redo everything with that.”

“I want to thank Rob for admitting that there is a problem,” Winter said. ”I appreciate that, but I wish he hadn’t voted for it.”.

He said that in all of his discussions with Medicaid recipients, providers and advocates, the consensus has been that privatization has been “a colossal failure.”

“The governor and the Republican Legislature have been given three years to fix these issues by tweaking them,” he said. ”The care and the costs have really gotten worse. Iowans have had their care interrupted or denied and multiple providers have been forced to close their doors because they haven’t been paid.”

Winter said he supports ending privatization of Medicaid and returning the administration back to the state.

“We need to keep the focus and emphasis on the patients,” he said. “They deserve better.”

Master matrix

Winter said he was very familiar with the subject since he has worked with farrowing and finishing operations. Winter also said that he was aware of the significant economic impact hog operations have on the district and the state.

“We’ve reached a tipping point in this district as locations selected for new structures are moving closer and closer to residential property lines, bringing odor, traffic and concerns for water and air quality,” he said.

Winter said the matrix needs to be updated and he would support developing a focus group of small and large swine, cattle and poultry producers, the Department of Natural Resources, representatives of the Iowa State University College of Agriculture and the University of Iowa College of Medicine.

“They would come up with a fact-based research and framework for the matrix changes,” he said, adding that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and county supervisors could be included as well.

“Iowans like to be good neighbors. But it takes a good neighbor to be a good neighbor,” he said.

Winter said if nothing is done, the action that could result is a moratorium on concentrated animal feeding operations.

Bacon said he was afraid that with a moratorium, producers would file permits which would overwhelm the county supervisors.

“Then if they meet the matrix, the supervisors would have to issue the permits,” he said.

Bacon agreed that the master matrix needs to addressed.

“It’s 17 to 20 years old and things have changed a bit since then,” he said. “We are an agriculture-based economy and hogs are a huge part of that.

“That being said, I wouldn’t want one next to my house,” he added.

He also said he was concerned for the watersheds, like the one at Brushy Creek, with new CAFOs being added in the area.

“It’s quite a concern in case anything should happen,” he said. “If something should happen, that would be disastrous.”

Public school funding

Bacon said spending for K-12 has not been cut, but actually has increased by $736 million since 2011 or a little over 2 percent a year of constant growth.

He said the last budget passed was $7.48 billion, of which 73 percent of the new money, $2.13 billion, went to education and health care.

“The education part of that is $780 million,” he said. “It has always increased. We’ve never cut back what the state has offered the schools.”

He said that between 2001 and 2011, six of the 10 years under Democratic administration, the budgets were promised but funds weren’t available.

“One budget was so bad they cut it 10 percent straight across,” he said.

Winter said the Republicans are trying to remove the backfill payments, which he says will hurt counties, cities and school districts. The state currently pays cities and counties every year to help offset lost revenue from sweeping commercial property tax cuts approved by the Legislature in 2013.

“That will have a huge economic impact on school districts out there,” Winter said.

Winter said education is “the key for a prosperous and thriving Iowa.” He said he advocated adequately funding pre-K programs, making sure schools have the best teachers, administrators and supplies and curriculum to allow them to compete in a global economy.

Winter also said he supported keeping tuitions lower at the state schools and community colleges so students don’t enter the workforce with overwhelming debt.

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