Former Iowa Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge is running against three men in the Democratic race for U.S. Senate.
But, her name recognition and fundraising ability make her the favorite in the eyes of a lot of political analysts.
She spent her earlier career as a nurse and has an understanding of the health care system that most people don’t.
Judge says the Affordable Care Act needs work during an appearance on 4 the Record.
“I think the Affordable Care Act took us a long way to where we need to go,” said former Iowa Lt. Governor Patty Judge. “There are some rough spots in the legislation. The answer is not to destroy it, to get rid of it. The answer is to improve it.”
Judge specifically identified getting the cost of prescription drugs under control and maintaining reasonable insurance premium costs as changes the Affordable Care Act needs.
There’s a political fight playing out in Iowa over the Bakken Pipeline. Some farmers and other landowners don’t want it running through their property.
“I have not supported the Bakken Pipeline,” Judge said. “We need to concentrate on moving away from petroleum products and fossil fuels and try to get cleaner energy in this country. Iowa has been a leader in our wind energy projects and solar energy and ethanol.”
Another battle in Iowa is over water and farming. You can’t have farming without water, but one issue has the two at odds.
That is the clean water rule defined by the Environmental Protection Agency also known as the Waters of the United States. The rule subjects farmland to federal regulation to meet safety standards for small and temporary bodies of water.
Corporate farms oppose this.
Both Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst oppose this as a federal overreach.
The Des Moines Water Works is suing rural water districts for contributing to runoff pollution.
Judge’s Democratic rivals criticize her for belonging to a non-profit that opposes the lawsuit. Judge defends opposing the lawsuit.
“I do not believe that moves us forward at all,” Judge said.
The former lieutenant governor points to a constitutional amendment Iowa passed in 2010 to create a conservation trust fund to create a path to cleaning up the water in the state. Judge says the legislature failed to raise the sales tax to fill the fund.
“It sits empty and not used,” Judge said. “It is my opinion that that is what needs to be done. We need to pass that legislation. We need to start filling the fund, put together a comprehensive program, a program that has measurable metrics included as research. Kicking the can down the road for another year or two or five simply isn’t good enough.”
Another area where Judge’s Democratic opponents come after her for is her record in the Iowa State Senate. It involves House File 519 adopted in 1995 and particularly Section 657.11 is the most controversial. The legislation dealt with nuisance and manure concerns for large livestock operations, notably hog farms.
People living near them worry about hazardous issues. The law puts a heavy burden on neighbors to prove their claims that farming operations are a nuisance or operating negligently.
Judge chaired the Senate Agricultural Committee at the time and supported an early version that passed the State Senate. But, she ultimately voted against the final version.
However, a recent article noted that Judge stands by technological improvements that should reduce any real concerns. Judge doesn’t recall her comments about technology.
“I don’t have a clue,” Judge said. “I know about 519. It did not offer us the protections that we needed to have against an industry that was rapidly changing and growing.”
Judge says she does not believe that technological advancements make the environmental concerns a moot issue.
“I may have said that the technology is better today than it was 10 or 15 years ago, but that doesn’t mean the technology is perfect,” Judge said. “It means that we have to continue to work to try to do things better and to be more environmentally conscious.”
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