Rob Sand Talks About Costs, Corruption, and Cancer on Town Hall Tour Trail

DES MOINES, IA — This week, Rob Sand continued his annual 100 Town Hall Tour, and everywhere he goes, he hears the same three things over and over again: costs, corruption, and cancer. After ten years of one-party control, Iowans are ready to turn the page and elect a governor who will roll up their sleeves and get to work tackling Iowa’s toughest issues. He’s turned those conversations into a clear plan to lower costs, make government more accountable, and take on Iowa’s cancer crisis — and he’s ready to get to work on day one.

Learn more about Rob’s policy plans on costs, corruption, and cancer.

Learn more about Rob’s latest 100 Town Hall Tour stops below:

Albia TV:

WGEM: Rob Sand makes stop at town hall in Fort Madison

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand hosted a town hall meeting in Fort Madison.
“I’ve been in Fort Madison every year for town halls. Keokuk, as well,” Sand said.
“If I get elected, I will be working with the Republican legislature. I don’t have a problem with that. I think, actually, that divided government is good. It helps us have checks and balances,” Sand added.

Adair County Free Press: Sand pushes togetherness during Greenfield town hall

Rob Sand visited Greenfield Monday afternoon, speaking to a good-sized crowd inside The Gathering Place. He is on his 100 Town Halls tour, making his case to voters that he should become Iowa’s next governor.
“We solve the world’s problems and don’t take party affiliation on the way in the door,” Sand said. “I want our independent voters to have more of a voice and I want us to have term limits and age limits. I want us to have a ban on stock trading for those holding public office and mandatory prison time for people who steal from taxpayers. That’s what I mean when I say I want an Iowa that is not redder or bluer but better and truer.”
The discussion also touched on state budgeting and the use of Iowa’s budget surplus. Sand talked about educational savings accounts and said companies seeking to build data centers should pay their full share of taxes as potential areas where state spending or revenue policies could be changed.
“Bottom line, this I know: Everyone in the state of Iowa — it doesn’t matter if they’re a Democrat, Independent or Republican — they don’t send their kids or grandkids to school in the morning telling them to be blue or be red. Can you imagine? We have political leaders in both political parties that somehow think saying be red or be blue is supposed to excite us. Instead, no, when we send our kids to school we tell them to be good, do your best, tell the truth, respect your teacher, be kind. Those aren’t values that belong to one private club or another. They belong to the whole state of Iowa.”

Ottumwa Courier: Health concerns take focus at Sand town hall in Albia

About 40 people attended Tuesday’s town hall with Rob Sand, the Democratic nominee for Iowa governor. One would-be attendee didn’t make it.
“We have a very good friend who should be sitting right here and was registered for this town hall,” an attendee said. “He’s in the Albia hospital right now with stage four lung cancer. Never smoked a day in his life. What are you going to do to help solve this problem?”
An electrician representing IBEW Local 13 asked how Sand would keep tradespeople from leaving for higher wages in Illinois. Sand cited Iowa’s 48th-place ranking in personal income growth over the past three years and endorsed project labor agreements and stronger enforcement of contractor licensing laws.
Before the town hall, Sand also discussed the state’s economic rankings and $1.3 billion annual budget deficit. He criticized federal trade and biofuel policies, saying a dispute with Canada affects about 30% of Iowa’s exports and that small refinery exemptions have harmed agriculture.
Sand said data centers should pay full taxes and the costs of upgrading the electrical grid.

Southeast Iowa Union: Rob Sand campaigns in Henry County

Democratic candidate for Iowa governor Rob Sand spoke in Mt. Pleasant on Tuesday during a town hall event at the Belle Center.
In an audience participation exercise he has repeated at events across the state during his campaign, Sand asked for Democrats, Republicans, and independent voters to raise their hands before directing other audience members to applaud them. As he took questions after concluding his remarks, Sand handed his microphone to some of those who had raised their hands as Republicans, another attempt to display the bipartisanship his campaign has made central to its messaging he has repeated at his events.
During a press conference before the event, Sand said that in order to attract young people to rural Iowa he would support increased funding for local and regional food systems in order to increase opportunities for young people interested in beginning farming. Additionally, Sand said that, if elected, he would issue an executive order allowing some state employees to work remotely anywhere in the state rather than in office in Des Moines.
“If you have a state job, paid for with the state’s tax dollars, and you can do it just as well from Henry County or Winneshiek County as you can from Des Moines, than we should let you do that,” Sand said.

Pen City Current: Sand revs up base in Fort Madison

An auditor through and through, Democratic candidate Rob Sand wants to be a government watchdog for the people as Governor. “I’m happy to piss off powerful people in either political party as your state auditor. I’d love to continue to piss them off as we go,” Sand said.
On Tuesday afternoon at The Pavilion along Fort Madison’s picturesque and hazy riverfront, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand addressed concerns regarding data centers, cancer rates, the privatization of Medicaid, and education funding, after discussing his background as the state auditor.
“We should not be subsidizing the profits of these for-profit MCOs that are running them. In fact, the legislature and the governor just raised your taxes last year to maintain private Medicaid. I think that’s wrong,” said Sand, who later said after the privatization of Medicaid, the illegal denials of care went up by 500 percent.
He said we have a $1.3 billion deficit, and with two or three years of our surplus and our current trade war with Canada taking 30 percent of Iowa exports, we should not give school vouchers to the wealthiest people in the state of Iowa when we are already writing an easy check to send their kids to a private school.

Times Citizen: Rob Sand at ECC: ‘Not redder or bluer, better and truer’

“I think our political system is broken, largely because it’s run by two private clubs,” Rob Sand said. “I think that there’s a lot of people in the leadership of both of those private clubs who are more interested in beating up each other than they are in actually solving our problems. They’ve also realized that solving problems is hard. You’ve got to read things and learn stuff. You’ve got to talk to people that you don’t like.
Sand said that the state gives $300,000,000 a year to private schools and that the only thing they aren’t allowed to spend that money on is rebates.
He noted that, while public schools get yearly audits, private schools do not, and argued that it was inevitable money would be wasted. Sand argued that “school choice” should be for everyone, meaning private schools should not be allowed to pick and choose which students they accept, saying, “If you take public money, you take the public.” Sand also advocated limits on tuition increases and restricting wealthy families from receiving vouchers.
Stenzel said that Republicans don’t want to raise taxes, but that they will have to, whether they like it or not, because of the state’s $1.3 billion yearly deficit. Sand said the current Iowa government has no plan on what to do when the money runs out, calling it a “fiscal time bomb.” Sand argued that, if Iowa started addressing water quality seriously in 2010, we wouldn’t have the high cancer rates we’re seeing now.