The League of Women Voters of Sioux City held a legislative forum on Saturday for legislators to speak with community members about concerns they may have.
All six legislators were in attendance, including Jacob Bossman, Bob Henderson, and Catelin Drey.
During the forum the legislators discussed public health, data centers, and education.
When asked about their thoughts on the Education Savings Account, Representative Jacob Bossman said, “Well we increased the ESA 2 percent this year; it’s $106 million new dollars, $3.89 billion —it’s almost 4 billion in money going to public schools across the state.”
Scholten said that the ESA bill is the most fiscally irresponsible that the Iowa legislature has ever passed.
Eventually, the conversation of ESAs was brought back to the legislators.
Laurie Dougherty, director of enrollment for Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools, said, “Where you live should not dictate what school you go to. We're not against our public schools in Sioux City. We’re rooting for them, we want them to do well. We all need good public schools.”
She said that private schools are another option for students who need it.
The other legislators mentioned that public schools receive funds when accepting special needs students, while private schools aren't always provided that financial support for their students.
Additionally, there was discussion about how data centers will impact public health and water quality and quantity.
All six legislators agreed that further research should be conducted for data centers regarding water and energy usage.
Senator Kevin Alons noted data centers do not have to use water to cool down the systems, that there are more options to cool them down, and he would like to see the conversation around data centers continue.
Senator Caitlen Drey mentioned that Democrats from the Senate introduced 16 bills regarding water quality, and none of them were picked up. Drey expressed her frustration with the lack of focus on actual issues when talking about what a data center might do to our water quality.
