GOP activists in two Iowa counties are rising to the defense of Republican Senator Doug Campbell of Mason City, one of a dozen senators who refused to vote on budget bills last year until carbon pipeline restrictions were debated in the senate. The legislature’s website shows Campbell has been removed from all five senate committees he served on last year.
John Rosenfeld is chairman of the Cerro Gordo County Republicans — in Senator Campbell’s home county. “He was stripped of his committee assignment on Health and Human Services. He’s a retired pharmacist,” Rosenfeld said during a Radio Iowa interview. “His knowledge is vital not only for the residents of Senate District 30, but also the residents of the state of Iowa.”
The Republican Party of Cerro County has passed a resolution urging Senate Republican Leader Mike Klimesh to reconsider Campbell’s removal from senate committees. The Plymouth County Republican Party — in northwest Iowa — has also passed a resolution accusing Klimesh of what it calls “a brazen act of political retribution” against Campbell.
“Who do you work for, Mr. Klimesh? Do you work for the people of Iowa or do you work for Bruce Rastetter? Answer the question,” Plymouth County Republican Party Chairman Don Kass said during a KSCJ Radio interview. “Let us know who you actually work for because this is outrageous.” Rastetter owns Summit Carbon Solutions, the company planning to build a pipeline to collect carbon from Midwest ethanol plans.
A spokesperson for Senator Klimesh was not immediately available for comment.
Senator Campbell gave a brief speech on the Senate floor yesterday, but did not mention he’d been stripped of all committee assignments. Instead, Campbell quoted from the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution in explaining his opposition to the use of eminent domain for the pipeline. “Citizens of the United States have the rights to free property ownership, not encumbered by unconstitutional government interventions,” Campbell said.
It appears three other senators who pressed for a pipeline bill last year have had changes in their committee assignments, but are still serving on senate committees. Senator David Sires, a Republican from Waterloo, posted a statement on Facebook about his removal from one of the committees he served on last year. Sires said under Senate rules, committee slots can be used as “rewards or punishments” — and “sometimes doing the right thing comes with consequences, but in my book standing up for the constitution and the rights of Iowans is always worth it.”
(Additional reporting by Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)