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Meet the Candidates for Iowa House District 53: Rep. Dean Fisher

Rep. Dean Fisher (R-Montour).

Ahead of the Nov. 5, 2024 General Election, Tama-Grundy Publishing reporter Ruby McAllister sent questionnaires to all the local candidates in contested statehouse elections. This week we feature responses from those running for Iowa House District 53: Republican incumbent Dean Fisher of Montour and Democratic challenger Tommy Hexter of Grinnell. House District 53 includes all of Poweshiek County and most of Tama County excluding the northeast corner.

Dean Fisher, 68, is the longtime Republican incumbent for House District 53. He lives with his wife Vicki in Montour, and works as an engineering manager and farmer. Rep. Fisher earned a Bachelor of Electronics in Engineering from DeVry Institute of Technology, Chicago in 1978.

1) Why are you the best candidate for this office – what differentiates you from your opponent?

A candidate’s values are the most important characteristic in any political office. My values are the commonsense values of hard-working Iowans, not East Coast Liberals.

I have a wealth of experience in my life that helps me understand the needs and issues of my constituents. I was born and raised on a farm here in Tama County, growing up with that farm work ethic. I graduated college with an engineering degree and worked in the electronics industry for 26 years as an engineer, engineering manager, and business manager, designing and manufacturing complex electronic products from point-of-sale terminals to automotive electronics. I’ve worked in offices and in factories, and I’ve managed teams of people across the spectrum of disciplines needed to design and manufacture those products. I moved back to the farm in 2004 and farmed with my brother for 10 years in a 120 head cow calf operation. I got into politics in 2012 and have served in the Iowa House these 12 years, helping Iowa move forward as a state.

2) What particular issues would you like to see addressed by the Iowa Legislature in the session?

There are many issues that need to be addressed, including continuing to lower our taxes, which is my number one priority.

I’m also taking the lead on protecting our daughters from men in girls’ sports, locker rooms, and bathrooms.

Economic development for small towns is also a top priority. I will continue pressing for a statewide grant program to demolish abandoned school buildings and revitalize the space they occupy. Abandoned school buildings are not only dangerous for curious children and youth to explore, but they drag our small-town economies down. My proposed legislation would provide any government entity, city, town, county, school district, with the opportunity to apply for a grant to take over these buildings and demolish them, returning purpose to the property. I know of at least three of these abandoned buildings in Tama County and three in Poweshiek County.

3) Please explain your position(s) on private property rights and eminent domain in Iowa.

I strongly support private property rights as a sacred right of the American people, property rights are as fundamental as freedom of speech, religion, and movement. The Iowa Utilities Commission’s recent ruling, allowing Summit Carbon Solutions to use eminent domain to take property for their carbon capture pipelines, is a violation of the constitutional rights of these landowners. This ruling sets a precedent that extends far beyond the carbon pipelines, allowing corporations to take private property for the sole gain of the corporation, and not the public benefit.

4) Where do you stand on funding for public schools, particularly rural public schools? What is your position on the Students First Act (signed into law in January of 2023) and its recent rollout?

I have consistently voted for increased funding for our public schools. Just this past session I voted in favor of a 5% increase in funding for them, half of that in the State Aid, and half for the beginning teacher salary program. I was successful in gaining $1.5 million in funding from the state for the new South Tama Middle School program through a grant program that I initiated several years ago to help communities repurpose unused state facilities. This was in addition to the donation of the property from the state to the City of Toledo which I also supported.

State funding for public schools is generally provided on a per pupil basis regardless of whether or not it’s a rural or urban school district. One way that the legislature specifically helps rural schools with funding is through the Operational Sharing program which I have strongly supported, including floor managing a bill for this program to its passage in the Iowa House. Operational Sharing benefits our rural schools by providing additional funding to school districts that share a staffing position with another district. The schools not only save on the salary by sharing but receive additional funds as well. These sharing agreements are used only by the smaller, rural districts.

I support parental choice in education because the state should fund students and allow them access to education that’s best suited for them. Wealthy families have always had the opportunity to choose private schools, they could afford the tuition. The Students First Act gives low-income families the same educational opportunity.

5) Where do you stand on access to abortion in Iowa? As of today, abortion is prohibited in Iowa after cardiac activity can be detected (roughly 6 weeks of pregnancy); there are also limited exceptions for cases of rape, incest, fetal abnormality, or when the life of the mother is in danger.

I am pro-life because I believe that if life ends when a heartbeat stops, it’s only rational that we use that measurement for the beginning of life too. Life begins when a heartbeat starts. We have an obligation to protect innocent babies.

6) ‘Cancer capital,’ ‘cancer hotspot,’ ‘cancer crisis,’ – these are just some of the phrases being used to describe Iowa following a report earlier this year from the Iowa Cancer Registry – a research group at the University of Iowa – indicating Iowa has the second-highest and fastest-growing rates of new cancers among all the states. What should the Iowa Legislature do in the upcoming session to tackle this issue, an issue that is concerning to many Iowans?

This is a complex issue, and we must be careful to follow the scientific evidence and not jump to conclusions based on political agendas. Cancer is a horrible disease, I too have lost family members to it over the years. The legislature has supported, and will continue to support, efforts to investigate and identify the reasons why Iowa seems to be a hot spot. Much of the information I have read about Iowa’s cancer rates point to the simple fact that Iowa’s population is older and more obese than the national averages. Therefore legislation to encourage healthier lifestyles would be in order, but that is only a partial solution. I know that the University of Iowa has been a leader in cancer research, including spinning off business entities that have developed cancer treatments. I support continued, and additional, funding of research into the causes and cures of cancer.

I know that some activist groups are claiming that Iowa’s cancer rates are the fault of the agricultural industry alone. In spreading false information, they are laying the groundwork for East and West coast environmentalists to shut down Iowa’s agriculture industry. We must continue to do our research and identify the true causes. Iowa’s cancer rates appear to be across a wide range of types, indicating it is not a single source causing them as these activists imply.

7) Housing is incredibly tight currently in many rural counties including in Tama County. If elected, what legislation will you support to ensure Iowa’s rural counties are places young families can afford to live?

Cost of construction and of housing has skyrocketed with the inflation brought upon us by the Biden administration, and of course that inflation hits our younger and lower income families the hardest. We need national leaders that understand our economy and the impact of federal policy on that economy.

As a legislator, I have championed the reduction of state income and property taxes to help families keep more of their hard-earned money in their pocket. I strongly supported cutting the state income tax to a flat 3.8%, I have supported reductions in our property tax growth, and I look forward to more work on property taxes in the next session as a top priority.

I’ve also supported a program at the state penitentiary in Newton that apprentices inmates in the building trades by building houses on site that are later moved to a site that is in a rural community in Iowa, a great program that helps everyone.

One of the cost drivers in construction is the lack of skilled workers. I have supported increased funding to our community colleges to increase our apprenticeship programs for the building trades.

8) Iowa is predicted to end Fiscal Year 2024 with a nearly $2 billion budget surplus. How do you think the surplus should be managed?

We have moved much of that surplus into a Taxpayers Relief Fund that we can utilize to continue providing tax relief for Iowans, especially during times of record inflation, just like we did with the $100 million in property tax relief we provided last year.

Our budget must always be balanced and sustainable, which is why we never spend more than what we take in. As your state representative, my goal will continue to be to allow Iowans to keep more of their hard-earned dollars in their own pockets.

9) In one sentence, why should people vote for you on November 5, 2024?

With my breadth of experience as a native 5th generation Iowan, my career that spans many disciplines, and my 12 years of experience in the legislature, and my strong common sense Iowa values, I am clearly the best choice to represent Tama and Poweshiek counties.