Statehouse News 4-15-06
9/19/2007
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
We are so lucky! I am home for a three day weekend and there is no place like home in Mt. Auburn. The birds are singing, flowers blooming, new growth coming up everywhere, neighbors helloing, even the dogs and cats are perked up.
I was thinking I would have a perfect weekend with my family, until politics reared it's ugly head and on Good Friday too. Even the people in the middle east have a cease fire for the religious holidays, but apparently that isn't true for Iowa politics.
On Good Friday, thousands of robotic calls went out to Republican and Independent voters in our district about a vote I took on Wednesday, April 12th. This is the second such call in two weeks, although on different votes. While thinking of not responding to it and letting it go, after all I need to develop a thicker skin if I'm going to stay in this job, I thought of something a long time ago friend told me. "Lead with your heart and you'll always be okay." My heart says to let you all know the truth.
First of all, please let me say, I do not feel like a politician and I do not vote like a politician. I am a chubby, middle aged lady who is trying to protect our wonderful way of life here in District 39, not a politician. Each vote I take, I weigh on its own merit, not by whether it's Republican or Democrat, but is it fair, does it solve the problem, does it help anyone and does it hurt anyone.
Now for the calls:
The first call said I supported recess and lunch as "instructional time" in school. How ridiculous is that? The bill was to change the required 180 days of class time to a 1000+ hours of instructional time. I voted no. Although I don't think it's a bad idea, because of snow delays, etc., it could result in the school year going another month and it did not include a promise of additional monies to go with that. The "number of hours" idea could be good, but schools doing more with less is not the way to make our children as well prepared for life as they can be. But I am not an education expert, so I called home and talked with our school superintendents and some teachers on whether this was something that would help our educational process. They said not to vote for it. Does it solve the education problem? No. Does it help anyone? It might. Does it hurt anyone? It could.
The Good Friday call said I did not support small business, but I did support big insurance companies. I'm so offended by this one. Our whole district is full of small businesses!! I worked for three months on a sub-committee for a bill to lower health insurance costs for small businesses. Hundreds of hours researching and talking to service providers about where the high costs were coming from. Many of our small businesses are having trouble keeping employees, because employees nowadays expect health insurance, and the cost is prohibitive. Then, because of an amendment that was thrown on it the last day, I couldn't even support my own bill if the amendment had passed. Luckily the amendment failed on a bi-partisan vote.
It's very complicated and I can't relay on in a few words what I've learned over the last few months, but the amendment would have forced health insurance carriers out of the market. So, how is it helping small businesses to have cheaper health insurance if they can't buy it from anyone? Or if only a few carriers stayed in Iowa, then they could charge whatever they wanted and there would be even higher premiums. Did the amendment solve the health insurance problem? No. Does it help anyone? No. Does it hurt anyone? Yes. Could you twist it in a way to say that I voted for insurance companies instead of small businesses? I guess.
There you have it. I do not intend to justify every vote I take in this manner. But if any of you have a question on why I voted for or against anything, please call me. I will be happy to let you know. If the people who generated these calls had identified themselves, I could have contacted them directly. To me, it is a cowardly thing to do, attacking without letting your opponent know who you are. Identify yourself and fight honorably!
When I took the oath of office, I swore to represent you as my duty and serve honorably, to represent our way of life and hopefully make it better, to represent the most disadvantaged of our citizens the same as I would the most advantaged, to always fight for what's right and to do no harm to the citizens of Iowa. Those are serious words and I took them to heart.
Thank you so much for letting me defend myself against this unknown attacker. Leading with your heart isn't always the most expected, but hopefully is the most effective for Benton and Iowa counties.
If you ever have questions, concerns or ideas, I want you to contact me. You are an important part of the process. I need to hear from all sides of an issue to make good decisions and welcome your call or email. My cell number is 319-610-3412 and my email address is dawn.pettengill@legis.state.ia.us.
We are so lucky. Have a blessed Easter weekend!
Dawn Pettengill
State Representative
Iowa House District 39
"Serving Benton and Iowa Counties"
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