Shipley reflects on career, retirement

Appearing as the sole legislator on Saturday’s legislative coffee in Creston, Iowa Sen. Tom Shipley discussed legislation involving property taxes and HMO premium tax adjustments. Iowa Rep. Devon Wood could not attend due to a prior commitment.

Shipley’s visit to Creston will be the final visit from the Iowa Senator, as he will not be running for re-election. He took a moment Saturday to reflect on his work in the Iowa Senate and reflect on his veteran father who served in World War II.

Shipley said his father sustained injuries after he was blown out of his tank outside Frankfurt, Germany. Still, after returning to Iowa, his father farmed through the lingering pain, through his disabilities. That resilience was part of what inspired Shipley to run for the Iowa Senate and fight for rural farmers like his father.

“They’d look at x-rays, see all these little pieces of fine American and German steel all over his back,” Shipley described. “He never lived a day without pain. It traveled all through him and he lost his hearing. He never heard a cricket after that day. So I had an appreciation for the greatest generation, and we’ve instilled that in our kids.

“I believe even in his grandkids now, and I expect they’re going to instill it in their great-grandkids. Because what grandpa did was not necessarily exceptional in some ways, but in many ways it was. And so I was just very lucky to have him for a dad. When I got this job, my mom said, ‘your dad would be very proud of you.’”

Shipley gave his endorsement to Cass County Supervisor and former teacher Steve Baier to be his replacement. On reflection of his years in the legislature, he remembers debates and like-minded conversations. With a constant fight for recognition of problems in rural Iowa, Shipley has left a part of himself in Iowa’s government.

“I walked into the Capitol the other day, and I realized I spent one-sixth of my life here,” Shipley said.

Legislature

Property tax legislation was seen by Shipley to be at a standstill, with Shipley doubtful of any passage by the end of the legislative session in April. However, under the current proposed bill, Shipley was told agriculture would fare well.

Key features of current proposals include capping the government revenue growth at around 2%, freezing tax bills for Iowans over the age of 65 and eliminating the rollback valuation system.

Maintaining the security of county budgets was an issue for Shipley, who recognizes the necessity of emergency response facilities in rural areas. With law enforcement and emergency medical services, rural areas often rely on the county rather than local law enforcement.

Shipley noted three bills which did not receive unanimous approval. The first regarded the tint on car windows, with the new bill lowering the required tint to match other Midwest states. The light transmission requirement will be lowered from 70% minimum to 50%. A lower number allows for a sharper tint film, blocking more sunlight.

The second bill effectively limits the ability to sue agricultural operations against lawsuits that would claim their greenhouse gases are creating damage to the climate. The new measure would place a burden of proof on entities bringing the lawsuits. These two bills are awaiting approval by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

The final bill, already signed by Reynolds, was on the state’s plan to create a temporary nine-month HMO premium tax adjustment. Shipley noted confusion around the bill, with some members of the public fearing health insurance rates and premiums could jump due to the legislation, and prepared a newsletter handout for visitors to the meeting.

Shipley said the purpose of the bill is to generate backfill funding for Iowa’s Medicaid program following changes to the program from the federal level. The Medicaid Forecasting Group, in a report directly to the state legislature, found the state health coverage program is expected to face a $90.6 million deficit in Fiscal Year 2026, and a deficit of $167.6 million in FY 2027.

“Iowa’s going to look at a lot less money for Medicaid,” Shipley said. “Somehow or other, this way is how we’ll approve our Medicaid program. Medicaid insurance companies, health insurance companies, their premium tax in Iowa is [0.925%]. It’s about the lowest in the United States.”

This change will give a temporary adjustment between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 to hike the premium tax rate on HMOs to 3.5%. Following Oct. 1, the rate would lower to 0.95%.

This hasn’t been done without pushback. Wellmark, the company with the largest share of Iowa’s health insurance market, has claimed that the tax changes would see premiums increase by $500 for a family of four covered through Wellmark’s HMO plan. The state sees this threat as Wellmark choosing to pass the cost from the tax increases to their customers.

Shipley’s newsletter says the temporary tax represent’s “less than 1% of Wellmark’s $3.17 billion surplus,” and would be paid through corporate taxes on insurers.

“Do they need to raise a rate for six months that’s not going to take off?” Shipley said. “How else are we going to pay for Medicaid? I think that part doesn’t seem to be getting told very much. If it goes on, it’s on them. That’s their call. That point needs to be understood. Nobody knows if they’re going to do it. I would say probably for their benefit, they shouldn’t.”

Shipley said he was disappointed in the legislation choosing not to move forward with four-year degree programs for select community colleges, appealing to Southwestern Community College President Lindsay Stokes who attended Saturday’s meeting.

“To say I’m disappointed that that didn’t make it through would be an understatement,” Shipley said. “I almost was hoping Ms. Stokes wouldn’t show up today because I do not understand why some of these people thought they way they do. They obviously do not live in western Iowa, and I’m just horribly disappointed.”

SWCC would have been one of five community colleges which would have allowed four-year degree programs under a five-year pilot project. Legislation did not go through.

In regards to the Department of Education, Shipley said the department is valuable for oversight in the education sector of Iowa. A federal dismantling was seen by Shipley as a chance for additional funding to go to the states.

A proposed bill enforcing mandates on physical education requirements for students was also in need of revision according to Shipley. As the bill stands, students are required to have a portion of their school day dedicated to physical activity.

For grades kindergarten through fifth, a minimum of 30 minutes per day is required. For sixth through eighth, 150 minutes per week (minimum 20 minutes per day). For ninth through 12th, 120 minutes per week.

Shipley described the requirements as impractical, citing the physical space needed for PE of this caliber and the requirement of additional instructors. For rural schools, this isn’t viable, and Shipley knows it.

“I think it’s got a lot of problems as we call them,” Shipley said. “I guess I’d say this as I’m going out the door; I don’t know where some of these people get some of this stuff.”

Voter fraud was another subject Shipley touched on, saying he’s confident in the capacity of polling locations to accept votes. Although he mentioned college towns as a potential place for “weird stuff,” he appealed to the crowd.

“Does anybody know somebody who didn’t get to vote?” Shipley asked. “Anybody know somebody who didn’t get counted?”

Incentivizing rural veterinarians to not only work within the rural areas of Iowa, but stay there as their career progresses was a subject for Shipley, who hopes to pass an incentive program before the legislative session ends.

Rural veterinarian work can be intense, especially during calving season. Shipley said the state has to figure out a way to balance the low attractiveness of the job (Shipley cited a scenario where a veterinarian would have to help with the birth of a calf during a thunderstorm with -30 degree wind chill) with incentive pay.

“It can be terribly brutal work,” Shipley said.

Iowa Capital Dispatch contributed to this article.