Justin Wasson is running for Iowa Senate District 42. He is running in a three-way primary and responded to The Iowa Standard’s legislative survey. Here are his answers:
GENERAL QUESTIONS:
Describe your worldview and how that will influence you as a legislator:
I’m a husband, father of three, small business owner, job creator and Chair of the Linn County Iowa GOP. I’m running to represent my friends and neighbors in Iowa’s legislature because I’m concerned about the direction of our state and the world my children will grow up in if more conservatives don’t step up to improve the status-quo. Linn and Benton counties deserve to be represented by a pro-Iowa state senator who is not only supportive of Governor Kim Reynolds’ agenda but is willing to advocate for the interests of our community, fight to end abortion in Iowa, work towards removing the state’s job-killing income tax, push back against woke, abusive school board policies like Linn-Mar’s and usher in the school choice reforms parents and students deserve.
In your opinion, what are the three most pressing issues the legislature should address:
As Iowa’s next State Senator in SD42, I pledge to fight to end the legalization of abortion in Iowa, work to end the state income tax and usher in school choice/pro-parent legislation.
Feel free to explain your ideal tax policy/policies for Iowa (included in this section in order to allow for as much flexibility as possible):
While I believe in, and would have supported, efforts to usher in Iowa’s new flat tax, this step towards progress does not go far enough. In that spirit I fully intend to support:
- Ending Iowa’s state income tax
- Lowering Iowa’s property tax rate – As I’m sure you’re aware, Iowa has one of the highest property tax rates in the country, higher than way overtaxed states like New York, California and Massachusetts and our neighbors in South Dakota, Missouri and Minnesota. These property taxes are hurting Iowa’s prospects at outside investment and are incentivizing Iowans to move out of state. We must lower property taxes in Iowa to a more competitive rate in line with other states that also either don’t have an income tax, like Florida, or a similar income tax rate to Iowa’s, like Arizona. Moreover, we must put protections into the Iowa Code that prevent local legislators from attempting to circumvent these important efforts by barring them from either increasing property values or manipulating mill rates without the consent of voters. I also support the proposals outlined by Iowans for Tax Relief which would provide greater transparency to Iowa’s property tax system.
- Streamlining the agricultural zoning process – it can take years in some corners of our state to rezone so-called “residential” areas in rural Iowa into those zoned for agricultural use. The benefits to doing this are obvious, the tax rates are lower, but under the current system we make it unnecessarily difficult for aspiring farmers, or farmers looking to expand their operations, to do this. In practice, this forces them to pay more in taxes while investing less in our state. We must fix this issue.
- Ending Iowa’s gas tax until the average cost-per-gallon in the state is below $3.00
Have you or will you sign TheBig Family Pledge:
I have signed it.
FREE MARKET:
Do you believe the government should force consumers to buy a product:
We force parents to send their children to public schools and use their tax dollars to support them, even when it is not the best environment for them to thrive or when their school boards pass policies that put their safety in jeopardy, like what happened at Linn-Mar. I fully support school choice and believe parents’ tax dollars should follow their children.
Do you believe the government should force retailers to sell a product:
I am an Iowa First candidate. In that spirit, there are pro-Iowa federal policies I support, like the renewable fuel standard and providing farmers, who are responsible for feeding the world, a level of security. Moreover, there are exceedingly rare, but possible situations, like during World War II, where a regime comes to power that threatens the existence of the entire world and manufacturers may need to build tanks, guns, body armor, etc. instead of, let’s say, hybrid vehicles at the request of the government.
Do you support reforming or eliminating Iowa’s Certificate of Need laws:
If they don’t accept taxpayer money, healthcare facilities should be free to do as they wish. If they do, however, they have already consented to taxpayers having a voice at the table and they should be listened to.
Do you support periodic reviews of all government licenses and boards to ensure they’re necessary:
Yes.
LIFE:
Do you support the Protect Life Amendment to the Iowa Constitution:
Yes.
When do you believe life begins and at what stage does it deserve protections under the law:
At conception. From day one. I am 100%, unapologetically pro-life.
EDUCATION:
Would you support universal Education Savings Accounts for Iowa families:
Yes.
Do you believe obscene materials and pornographic materials belong in public school libraries:
No.
In what grade should schools begin providing instruction to students on sexual orientation and gender identity:
“Schools” and “sexual” are two words that should never go together in Iowa’s K-12 education system. If an employer spoke this way to an employee, they could be sued for sexual harassment. Schools are places where students should be learning life skills to become productive citizens, not places for far-left indoctrination. That said, provided the education is based in science and objective, this level of study may be permissible at the college level and above.
Would you support a bathroom bill in Iowa, which states biological males use the boys’ bathroom and biological females use the girls’ bathroom:
Yes. In fact, as we have a system of checks and balances in Iowa and I believe local control starts at home, I fully intend to work towards outlawing policies, like Linn-Mar’s, that allows for the district to hide mental health information from parents, for boys to use girls’ bathrooms and for boys and girls to spend the night together on out of state field trips in unsupervised hotel rooms.
LGBTQ:
Should gender identity be stripped out of the Iowa Civil Rights code:
Yes.
Should Iowa make it illegal for minors to undergo sex-change surgery and treatments:
Yes.
Should Iowa schools/teachers ask students for preferred pronouns:
No.
Should Iowa require schools/teachers to share a child’s “preferred pronoun” and/or “gender identity” with the child’s parent(s)/guardian(s):
Yes.
Do you support banning conversion therapy (making it illegal for a parent to take a child to a health care professional to talk about confusion as it relates to sexual orientation or gender identity)?
Medical decisions for children are only to be made between their parents and licensed medical professionals.
COVID RELATED:
Do you believe any institution – whether private or governmental – should be able to mandate a vaccination?
No.
How could the Iowa legislature have handled the COVID pandemic differently?
No mask mandates, public events should have been permitted to operate. businesses should have been allowed to stay open had they chosen too and workers should have been allowed to work if they chose too as well.
Do you believe Iowa should reform the Governor’s emergency powers?
Yes. Under COVID, I just imagine how much worse things would have been had Fred Hubbell been our Governor.
CLOSING QUESTIONS:
Are there any issues of disagreement you have with the Republican Party of Iowa platform from 2018?
The platform is created to be a guide to help legislators know where the party stands on issues. I believe we should state clearly that Iowa has a right to become a Second Amendment Sanctuary state, pornography should be banned from Iowa’s school libraries and there are only two genders.
What improvements, if any, would you make to Iowa’s voting laws to ensure elections are fair and full of integrity?
I am opposed to same-day voter registration.
Iowa Senate District 42:
