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The Iowa Senate has been pretty conservative the last handful of years. Complaints with the Republican caucus have been relatively few and far between.

But this year the chamber is creating heartburn, confusion and pain for Iowa landowners, many of which I would wager are the “base” of the Republican Party.

These landowners are being sold out to a pet project of a prominent Republican donor in the form of proposed Carbon Capture Pipelines.

The Iowa House passed a bill last week to help protect private property rights in the battle over eminent domain being used for the proposed CO2 pipeline projects. The bill was sent to the Iowa Senate, assigned to the Commerce Committee and killed.

It wasn’t even given a subcommittee hearing.

Earlier this year the Senate killed bills addressing the issue because the Republicans lacked the votes.

However, that doesn’t seem to be the case this time around. Word around the Capitol is Republicans have the votes to protect private property rights, but the bill isn’t advancing due to Republican Senate Majority Leader, Jack Whitver.

Whitver has aspirations for higher office. Whether that is in the role of U.S. Senator when Chuck Grassley is done, or governor when Kim Reynolds is done, it’s difficult to envision Whitver not taking a crack at higher office.

And, until this very moment, Whitver would be able to make a compelling case for broad, conservative support. He has spearheaded a strong conservative movement in the Iowa Senate.

But I wonder if he is completely miscalculating how upset the GOP base in rural Iowa is over the theft of their private property to allow these private, for-profit projects to be constructed.

Right now, based on what I’ve heard, the fate of Iowans’ private property rights rests in the hands of one person inside the Capitol — Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver.

While this misstep will not undo all the good that has been done under his leadership in the Senate, I am willing to bet it costs him the inside track at being a future governor, or U.S. Senator. It will hurt him badly in any statewide Republican primary.

This issue alone could be enough to keep him from winning a statewide GOP primary.

Opposition to these pipelines is only growing. Typically over time the opposition dies down. They get worn down. They give in.

I haven’t seen or heard that in this case.

The issue will not be addressed in the traditional way, but there is still time for Whitver to do the right thing.

Mind you, the right thing, in this case, isn’t necessarily to vote a particular way on the issue, but just to let the issue have its day on the floor of the Iowa Senate. Let the people of Iowa see which Iowa Senators stand with them and their private property rights, and which ones don’t.

Again, Whitver’s unwillingness to allow this bill to progress is going to hamper his political future. He has time to realize he is making a gross miscalculation on just how upset the Republican base will be if he allows eminent domain to be used to seize their land for a private, for-profit project they do not want.

There is, also, an option for Republican Senators who will be faced with a difficult decision. They can lock up on a budget and demand a vote be given on the eminent domain bill. It would only take nine of them to do this.

It would not make them popular with leadership and it will come at a political cost, but ultimately they simply have to consider who they are in Des Moines to serve — private property owners and their rights or political donors and corporate interests?

At the end of the day, that’s really what this boils down to if we’re being honest.

Senate Republicans, who I believe have the votes to provide additional protections to Iowans, will have to decide if they want to follow their leader, or if they’re willing to go to bat for the people who have elected them.

I still have hope that Whitver and the Senate Republicans will do the right thing. But we’re nearing the two-minute warning here in the fourth quarter and things aren’t looking good. You don’t punt down 10 with two minutes left.

And Whitver shouldn’t punt on protecting the private property rights of Iowans. Especially if he has any hopes of one day achieving higher office. Iowans, especially rural Iowans who feel their private property rights are being abused in this situation, will not forget. And inaction will have lasting impact on any statewide political effort of Whitver in the future.

Author: Jacob Hall

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