Republican State Sen. Kevin Alons committed to withholding his vote in support of a budget until the Iowa Senate debates a bill related to eminent domain on the floor of the chamber this session.
It’s been a four-year fight for Iowa landowners who do not want their private property used for private, for-profit carbon capture pipelines. The Iowa House of Representatives has passed multiple bills that would provide these landowners relief, but those bills have died every year in the Iowa Senate.
This year, though, it appears there may be an effort to force Senators to declare where they actually stand on the issue.
Alons thanked the property owners in attendance for their commitment not just to their private property rights, but the private property rights of all Americans.
He noted that people are typically upset at the use of eminent domain even for legitimate uses such as roads.
“This situation, though, is different because eminent domain in this case is being imposed for a project that doesn’t meet just the general provisions of common carrier — of public use, public necessity, public convenience,” he said. “And it is way past time that this chamber finally does address this issue. So I do commit to not voting for a budget and I think it’s important that we do have this debate.”
It would take nine Republican senators to withhold their votes on a budget and force an eminent domain bill to the floor in order for the legislature to adjourn for 2025.
A similar strategy was used to get the fetal heartbeat bill passed originally as Senators Rick Bertrand, Jim Carlin, Jake Chapman and Brad Zaun locked up on the budget until a vote was taken on the heartbeat bill.
[…] Alons pledged not to vote for a budget until a floor debate happens regarding eminent domain on Tuesday during a point of personal privilege. You can read about that here. […]