Senate Ethics Committee. (RI photo)
The Senate Ethics Committee has tabled a complaint against the state senator who didn’t schedule a hearing for a House bill with new rules for carbon pipelines.
Republican Senator Mike Bousselot of Ankeny used to work for Summit Agricultural Group and one of its subsidiaries to planning to build a pipeline. Bousselot said in a written statement he has no conflict of interest and the complaint was a waste of the Senate’s time.
Senator Pam Jochum, a Democrat from Dubuque, said Bousselot should not have been leading senate review of the bill. “This is not a situation any of us relish or want to be in, but we are,” Jochum said, “and I can assure you I had a sleepless night over all of this.”
Jochum and the other five members of the Senate Ethics Committee voted to notify the group that filed the complaint that no further action will be taken, unless further relevant information is produced by the group that filed it.
“Considering Senator Bousselot’s long standing personal and financial relationship with the CEO of the company that plans to build one of the carbon pipelines and his relationship with a
senior policy advisor to Summit (Carbon) Solutions, Senator Bousselot has at the very least exercised questionable judgment,” Jochum said, “and at worst engaged in the appearance of unethical conduct.”
Six years ago, Bousselot left his job at Bruce Rastetter’s company. Bousselot was also chief of staff for former Governor Terry Branstad, who’s a senior policy advisor on the pipeline project. Bousselot said Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement — the group that filed the complaint — is an extremist organization and he said to allege a senator violated ethics rules by not acting on a bill is “preposterous.”
Senator Cindy Winckler, a Democrat from Davenport, supported the decision to table the complaint related to senate inaction on the carbon pipeline bill. “This is such a difficult situation,” Winckler said, “and it is a high profile issue that we’ve worked on for several years.”
Hugh Espy being escorted from meeting. (RI photo)
None of the Republicans on the Senate Ethics Committee commented on the complaint before joining Democrats to table it. Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement executive director Hugh Espy started asking senators questions after the vote. Senate Ethics Committee chairman Tom Shipley of Nodaway spoke as Espy was escorted out of the room by state troopers.
“Our rules were clear. I stated them. You will go with the trooper,” Shipley said. “We’re done.”
The Senate Ethics Committee also voted to dismiss a complaint against Senator Molly Donahue, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, for Facebook posts that have accused members of “Moms for Liberty” of being terrorists. Jochum said Senator Donahue, like any citizen, has free speech rights.
“If there’s a lesson to learn in all of this, it is that we all need to choose our words very carefully to ensure respect,” Jochum said, “even toward those with whom we disagree.”
Senator Tom Costello, a Republican from Imogene, directed his comments toward Senator Donahue: “She needs to watch she posts and it’d probably be good advice for her just to get off of social media.”
On Sunday, Donahue posted a story about Moms for Liberty, a group that has pushed for removal of certain books from school libraries. Donahue, who is a teacher, again called members of the group terrorists.