Iowans react to Gov. Reynolds' veto
Multiple landowners from Iowa spoke about their anger over the Governor's veto Wednesday on House File 639. The measure would have required additional insurance by companies looking to build, covering damages and operations of a hazardous liquid pipeline.
The bill would have required pipeline companies to hold informational meetings in every county where property rights would be affected. The governor said in a veto letter that the bill combined valid concerns and vague legal standards.
Megan Solma, a fourth-generation farmer from Sioux County, says Reynolds had to contemplate farmers' rights and the summit's rights. 'So she weighed those rights, my rights, and the summit's rights, and she chose the summit. She chose a summit over hundreds of landowners, and she allowed them to trample on our property rights, she said.
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State Representative Steven Holt also took part in the news conference. He said he questions why the governor did not express her concerns over the measure when it was going through the legislative process.
Holt stated, 'Where were her bills? Where were her ideas? If she shares the goal of protecting landowners. That is just a disingenuous statement that is betrayed by the fact that there was a total leadership void from her office over the past three and a half or four years.'
Holt said the fight over protecting property rights is 'Far from over.'
Democratic State Representative J.D. Scholten released a statement on Facebook saying, 'The Iowa Capitol seems like the White House right now, where if you contribute enough money for a Republican campaign, you get your will… I feel bad for all of the pipeline protesters who come to the capitol, day in day out, only to see our governor sell out to corporate interests.'
KCAU spoke with Woodbury County Supervisor and farmer Mark Nelson about his response to the veto.
Nelson said, 'And, you know, it's an issue that 80%, 90% of Iowans just don't view this as an appropriate use of eminent domain. And so it's just really ashamed that the government got it wrong and that the ramifications of this are going to continue to happen, and speed up now, unfortunately.'
Another woodbury county resident, Doyle Turner, told KCAU 9 in a statement, 'The governor landed on the money.' Turner also said that Reynolds had 'plenty of time to work with legislators, but did nothing for four years.'
Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley is asking House GOP lawmakers to sign a petition to reconvene for a special session to override Reynolds' veto.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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