ROCHESTER, Minn. — Make Minnesota Iowa? That’s the plan of an Iowa state senator.
Iowa state Sen. Mike Bousselot, R-Ankeny. (Courtesy of the State of Iowa via Forum News Service)
Sen. Mike Bousselot, R-Ankeny, said he will introduce a bill in the Iowa General Assembly to purchase the bottom nine counties of Minnesota and make them part of Iowa.
On X, formerly Twitter, he posted: “Make Minnesota Iowa Again! Our new Iowans, former MN residents, will have lower income, sales, business taxes. A more farm friendly state. And a better managed state. Gov. (Tim) Walz may say it’s just ‘rocks and cows’ but we see opportunity!”
The “rocks and cows” reference goes back to a statement made by Walz in 2017 where he referred to predominately Republican and rural Minnesota as “mostly rocks and cows.”
Austin, Minn. mayor weighs in
Not so fast, said Austin Mayor Steve King.
Austin, Minn. Mayor Steve King. (Courtesy of the City of Austin via Forum News Service)
“Taking out the ability to cheer for the Vikings and not having a pro football team? I’d be opposed,” said King, who said the last two weeks as a Vikings fan have been hard enough without adding this nonsense to the mix. “I’m not eager to join Iowa. We’ve got a good thing going in Minnesota.”
He added he also would miss having the Twins as a home-state team.
“I can’t possibly know a life without being stressed and attached to the Minnesota Vikings,” King said.
Nine counties
The nine counties along the border with Iowa — the nine Bousselot hopes to purchase — are from west to east are Rock, Nobles, Jackson, Martin, Faribault, Freeborn, Mower, Fillmore and Houston.
So, Olmsted County and Rochester would safely stay in Minnesota. However, cities such as Austin, Worthington, Albert Lea and Preston would all become part of Iowa under Bousselot’s plan. The city of Chatfield would be split between the two states, with half the town currently in Fillmore County and half currently in Olmsted County.
As for the Solomon-like solution of splitting his city in half, Chatfield Mayor John McBroom said absolutely not. “No. It would be a disaster. There’s no reason for it.”
Born and raised in Fillmore County, McBroom said Minnesota has always been home. He suspects that Bousselot’s comments come from a desire to see his name in the media.
“I suspect he’s throwing that out there like Trump about (buying) Greenland,” McBroom said. “Come on. Let’s stop this.”
Politics
One byproduct of such a change — those nine counties becoming Iowan — could be a shift in politics in both states.
The Republican Party has a sizable lead in governance in the Hawkeye State. The Iowa Senate is 34-16 in favor of the GOP, while the Iowa House of Representatives has a 64-36 GOP lead in that branch of the Iowa Assembly. Iowa is led by GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds, who was re-elected to her second term in 2022.
Iowa would become more Republican with the purchase. House District 26B, which lies entirely within the nine-county area, is represented by Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston. Other House districts that are part of the nine counties include House districts 23A and 23B, 22A, 21B and 21A. Those districts are represented by Republicans Joe Shomacker (21A), Marj Fogelman (21B), Bjorn Olson (22A), Peggy Bennett (23A) and Patricia Mueller (23B).
Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston (Courtesy of Minnesota House)
Meanwhile, Minnesota, where the GOP currently has a one-seat majority in the House while the Senate is evenly divided, would likely become much more left-leaning.
Davids, R-Preston, said while he has a lot of family ties to Iowa, he’d prefer to remain in Minnesota. Still, he can see the appeal.
“I’m a Minnesotan, but a lot of people would save a lot of money if they were paying Iowa taxes instead of Minnesota taxes,” said Davids, who is chairman of the House Tax Committee. Davids pointed to other examples of governance where Iowa — in his opinion — is better than Minnesota.
He said cousins in Iowa were shocked that state lawmakers could boycott their jobs as they did on Tuesday. Iowa’s handling of the COVID pandemic was better, he said. He said Iowa would never have blown through an $18 billion surplus and then raised taxes. Add to that the hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud under Gov. Tim Walz, and Iowa does look pretty good, he added.
“I get along with Tim just fine, but Kim Reynolds is a leader,” Davids said of Iowa’s Republican governor.
Still, he’d like to keep southern Minnesota intact and work across the aisle to fix tax issues — something highlighted by Bousselot — in Minnesota.
“I can’t defend Minnesota’s tax policies for the business climate,” he said. “But I’m working with (DFL) Sen. Ann Rest. She’s the chair of the tax committee in the Senate. She gets it.”
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