Iowa ALEC Politicians

This is a list of Iowa ALEC Politicians -- Iowa state legislators who are known to be involved in, or previously involved in, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). For a broader list of politicians with known ALEC ties, please see ALEC Politicians. Legislators who have cut ties with ALEC publicly are also listed here.

According to a March 2013 report by Progress Iowa:


 * "In the Iowa State Senate, ALEC membership is voluntary, and each Senator has to proactively pay his or her own dues. However, during the 2011-2012 general assembly, the House of Representatives, under Republican leadership, made the decision to sign up every Representative as an ALEC member, paying their dues with tax dollars. . . . At the beginning of the 2013-2014 general assembly, House Democrats decided to pre-emptively "opt out" of ALEC membership, and sent [a] . . . communication . . . to the Chief Clerk of the House. They received no response, and have not been informed whether their caucus members have joined ALEC against their will[.]"

Please see the report "ALEC Exposed in Iowa" for more information.

ALEC's August 2013 board documents made public by The Guardian in December 2013 listed all members of the Iowa House of Representatives as members of ALEC despite the Democratic members' January 2013 communication. In response, Iowa House Democratic Leader Mark Smith (D-Marshalltown) sent a letter to ALEC in January 2014 saying in part, "ALEC is self-described as a 'voluntary membership organization of state legislators.' As we made clear to the Chief Clerk of the Iowa House on the opening day of session January 14, 2013, no House Democrats have applied to ALEC for membership nor do any of us wish to become members of ALEC. Since none of us have become a 'voluntary member,' I am concerned about how we came to be listed as members." Rep. Smith asked ALEC Executive Director Ron Scheberle to remove the names of Iowa House Democrats from the ALEC membership list, identify who paid their membership dues, and explain why payment of ALEC dues can be made on behalf of a legislator without the legislator’s knowledge or consent.

Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, for his part, responded in a statement saying, "No Democratic member of the Iowa Senate is a member of ALEC. ALEC's claims about all Iowa legislators being members of their organization are deceptive and deceitful."

In response to Rep. Smith's letter, ALEC Executive Director Ron Scheberle provided a letter to The Des Moines Register, saying that the Legislative Services Agency -- the Legislature's nonpartisan administrative office -- pays ALEC dues on behalf of the entire General Assembly. But in an email to the paper, Secretary of the Senate Mike Marshall said that the Legislative Services Agency hadn't paid for any ALEC memberships in more than three years, and when it did in 2011, it had only done so on behalf of 64 House members (and no Senators). The Senate, according to Sen. Marshall, stopped participating in ALEC as a chamber in 2009.

In a statement, Rep. Smith called Scheberle's response letter "just the latest in a pattern of misinformation" but "no surprise from a special interest group with no accountability beyond its corporate funders."

'Below is a partial list of Iowa state representatives that are known to be involved, or previously involved, specifically in ALEC task forces'', as well as a list of Iowa state senators that are now to be involved in, or previously involved in, ALEC more generally. It is a partial list.''' (If you have additional names, please add them with a citation. The names in this original list were verified as of posting.)

Prominent ALEC Alumni Still in Public Office

 * Governor Terry Branstad, ALEC Founding Member and recipient of ALEC's 1996 Pioneer Award
 * U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
 * Congressman Steve King (R-IA)

House of Representatives

 * Rep. Dave Deyoe (R-49), Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Alternate
 * Rep. Greg Forristall (R-22), Education Task Force Member  and Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force
 * Rep. Mary Ann Hanusa (R-16), Education Task Force Member
 * Rep. David Heaton (R-84), Health and Human Services Task Force Member
 * Rep. Mark S. Lofgren (R-91), Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Member
 * Rep. Linda Miller (R-94), ALEC State Chairman and Health and Human Services Task Force Member
 * Rep. Steven Olson (R-97 & Speaker Pro Tempore), Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Member
 * Rep. Dawn E. Pettengill (R-75), Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Member
 * Rep. Thomas R. Sands (R-88), Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Member
 * Rep. Charles Soderberg (R-5), Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Member
 * Rep. Linda Upmeyer (R-54 & Majority Leader), Health and Human Services Task Force Member  and former co-chair
 * Rep. Ralph C. Watts (R-19)

Senate

 * Sen. Sandra H. Greiner (R-39), Public Safety and Elections Task Force Member
 * Sen. Michael E. Gronstal (D-Council Bluffs), renounced ALEC in a statement on behalf of all Democratic members of the Iowa State Senate in January 2014. See Legislators Who Have Cut Ties to ALEC for more.
 * Sen. Hubert Houser (R-11)
 * Sen. Tim L. Kapucian (R-38), Public Safety and Elections Task Force Member
 * Sen. Amy Sinclair (R-14)

Former Representatives

 * Rep. Richard T. Anderson (R-97), International Relations Task Force Member
 * Rep. Richard Arnold (R-72), Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Member
 * Rep. and Speaker of the House Ron Corbett
 * Rep. Betty DeBoef (R-76), Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Alternate , Civil Justice Task Force Alternate
 * Rep. Dwight Dinkla
 * Rep. and Former ALEC State Chair Sandy Greiner
 * Rep. Stewart E. Iverson, Jr. (R-5), International Relations Task Force Member
 * Rep. Dolores Mertz (D), 2011 ALEC William J. Raggio Excellence in Leadership and Outstanding Service Award winner
 * Rep. Brian J. Quirk (D-15), Communications and Technology Task Force Member - told the DesMoines Register in May 2012 that he had cancelled his membership in ALEC. See Legislators Who Have Cut Ties to ALEC for more.
 * Rep. Bob Rafferty
 * Rep. Christopher C. Rants (R-54)
 * Rep. David Schrader
 * Rep. Brent Siegrist

Former Senators

 * Sen. and Former Senate President Mary Kramer
 * Sen. Kim Pearson (R-42), Civil Justice Task Force Member
 * Sen. Donald Redfern
 * Sen. James A. Seymour (R-28), Civil Justice Task Force Member