Des Moines Register Reporter Jason Clayworth provided an accurate headline:

BREAKING NEWS: Hundreds of Iowans thrown out of public meeting

Unfortunately his opening sentence was not fully accurate. He said “More than 500 people who are upset with a plan to change Iowa’s tax laws were cleared from a hearing tonight at the Iowa House after they interrupted multiple times.”

The word interrupted means “to break the continuity or uniformity of”.   I was in attendance in the gallery and amongst those removed.  The vast majority of the crowd applauded speakers opposed to House File 807, which eliminates Federal deductibility.  There were a few cases early in the proceeding where a smattering of “boos” or “shout outs” occured against speakers supporting the measure.  House Speaker Murphy cracked when a young college student brought the crowd to it’s feet. 

In no way did the participation by the crowd “interrupt” the proceedings.  I can’t think of one occurence where the next speaker had to wait for the crowd to quiet.  In fact, if anything interrupted the process, it was the removal of 500 taxpayers from the House chamber.   Understandably all of these folks were very very upset.  I felt sorry for the state troopers who were duty bound to enforce this arrogant order.  Thomas Jefferson said “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”.  We did not go silently.

I was impressed by the many self employed individuals and small business owners who spoke so passionately and credibly against this terrible proposal. 

Iowa House members will be taking the measure up for a vote on Thursday, April 2.  When I spoke with a House Member last night he said there were about 52 votes in favor of the measure.  I believe that 50 are required to pass the bill.  You can truly make a difference by contacting your representative today and letting them know where you stand.  If you don’t know who your representative is, go to this link:

http://www.taxrelief.org/legislators

I’m confident that last night’s attendance at the public hearing, along with the great speakers, had some impact on the minds of any wavering legislators.  We need your help to make the final push to stop this bill from passing.

John Bloom