Reynolds and Findley Headline Poweshiek County Republican Fund Raiser

Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds spoke to the Poweshiek County Republicans in Montezuma on Friday evening

Montezuma, Iowa- The Poweshiek County Republicans held a fund raising dinner at Memorial Hall in Montezuma with guest speaker Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds.

Mike Mahaffy, former Poweshiek County Attorney said they were able to get the Lt. Governor Reynolds and Brenna Findley there to help raise money for the local party, but it also allowed for a social gathering. “Too many times we have things in politics where all we do is have a bunch of speakers.” Mahaffey said of a normal political gathering. “We wanted to do something that was a little more of a social event.”

Brenna Findley, Legal Counsel to Governor Terry E. Branstad spoke first at Montezuma’s Memorial Hall. She is helping Governor Branstad in the suit to stop the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or Obamacare as it had been coined, with that being the main subject of her speech. Branstad signed onto the lawsuit that is being presented by 25 other states shortly after taking office.

“The Federal Government has no right to force you to buy their brand of health insurance or face IRS penalty,” Findley said early on in her speech to Poweshiek County Republicans. She went on to say that “because we live under a government that is governed by the Constitution. Congress and the Federal Government, they only have the enumerated powers. That means it needs to be in the Constitution, otherwise it is reserved [to] the States and the people,” Findley also said.

Brenna Findley and Guy Vander Linden catch up on recent State House events during the Poweshiek County Republican social event Friday evening

Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds was next to speak. “Taxpayers are just about taxed out, and we need state and government officials working together finding the most cost efficient manor in which we can deliver the services to Iowa. And it’s a collaborative effort and we need help at the local level as well as at the state level,” Reynolds spoke about the Branstad administration efforts.

Reynolds also touched on the lack of a budget at this time, and the negotiations that are underway to get Iowa onto a 2 year budget plan versus the year by year budget that is currently utilized.

Goals in education were also talked about. Getting Iowa back to the leadership position in education in the US was mentioned.

Before the speech, I spoke with Lt. Governor Reynolds about her upcoming trip to China. She is replacing Governor Branstad on the trip while he continues to help negotiate for a budget.

“It’s really an agricultural based trip,” Reynolds said of the group that is heading to China to promote trade. 42 business leaders are accompanying the Lt Governor on the trip which will also include the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture and other representatives. Iowa Workforce Development and Department of Economic Development will also be participating in the trip.

“It’s about building relationships and networking and really talking about how Iowa has tremendous opportunities with China and South Korea,” Reynolds said of the trip.

*Editors Note- Osky News strives for political fairness. We try to attend all Democrat and Republican events when we are notified of them. Any views expressed by the writer in this piece are not necessarily the views of Osky News.*