Iowa CCI Files Ethics Complaint Against State Representative Dean Fisher (R)
Fisher campaigned on vouchers, voted for vouchers, and allegedly seeks to profit from them--but it's much bigger than that...
Representative Dean Fisher is a Republican who represents Iowa House District 53. He is the Chair of the Environmental Protection Committee and serves on the Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Public Safety Committees.
Above District 53 is highlighted.
If you do a Google News search for Fisher, top stories about him include a bill he sponsored in 2020 that would have ended rights for transgender people that died in session; an endorsement of Fisher by Governor Kim Reynolds over State Representative David Maxwell in the primary of 2022 because Fisher supported school vouchers and Maxwell did not; his rejection of an invitation to Grinnell College because of pro-Palestinian activity on campus; criticism of him for perpetuating the Big Lie and threats of gun violence in social media posts; criticism by Democrats about the “embarrassing,” “do-nothing” Environmental Protection Committee that Fisher leads, and his interest in establishing $5 bounties on raccoon tails and little else; and his interest in establishing a new K-8 private Christian school that aims to start classes in Tama County in 2025, which will expand to K-12 soon.
That final item generated the ethics complaint that Iowa CCI filed against him on February 28.
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement has been in operation since 1975. Their website says:
Iowa CCI members create change through grassroots organizing, educating, and mobilizing on issues that impact our communities the most. Together, we work to put people and planet first by stopping factory farms, ending racist policing and anti-immigrant legislation, and winning bold action on climate change, healthcare, and clean water for everyone.
No matter where we come from, where we live, or what we look like, we need policies and an economy that serve the public good, not corporations and the wealthy few who rig the rules in their favor.
The full ethics complaint against Fisher can be found here, but I share the first three paragraphs below:
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI) filed an ethics complaint today against Representative Dean Fisher (R-District 53) with the Chief Clerk of the Iowa House. In the complaint, the group claims Rep. Fisher acted unethically with respect to House Ethics Rules by attempting to cash in on private school vouchers through his Tama Toledo Christian School, a private school he founded and now serves as Board President.
“Representative Fisher has clearly violated Iowa’s House Ethics Rules with his private school,” said Barb Kalbach, Iowa CCI Board President and Adair County family farmer. “First he campaigned on private school vouchers. Then he voted for them. And now he’s trying to cash in on them by using over $900,000 in voucher money to operate the school each year. The House Ethics Committee needs to do its job and take action against Fisher for his ethics violations.”
Iowa CCI is calling for the House Ethics Committee to tell Rep. Fisher he cannot discuss, lobby for, or vote on any future legislation that continues or expands voucher benefits. The statewide group is also calling on the committee to tell all lawmakers they cannot use voucher money for private schools they are associated with or use voucher money to send their children or grandchildren to a private school.
Yesterday afternoon Tim Glaza and Hugh Espey with Iowa CCI joined me on a Zoom call where they explained why the organization filed the ethics complaint.
Tim and Hugh shared their passion for holding our elected representatives accountable, as well as the other work Iowa CCI does. Please view the video above. If you have trouble viewing it, please click here.
Should Fisher, who campaigned on the use of public money for private school vouchers, who was endorsed by Governor Reynolds because he supported vouchers, who voted for vouchers, now profit from vouchers? Iowa CCI thinks not. I agree. No ethical person could.
The House Ethics Committee, which consists of three Republicans and three Democrats, will take the ethics complaint under consideration. A friend who knows far more than I about the interworkings of the Iowa Legislature, tells me that these complaints are often ignored. That they don’t do any good.
She’s probably right. But because Iowa Legislative Republicans don’t take ethics violations seriously, we can thank the media and groups like Iowa CCI who do, and who make the public aware of those violations. This is the power of groups like Iowa CCI.
If you are reading this, your values probably align with those of Iowa CCI. Please consider subscribing to their newsletter, and joining the organization, and if you can afford it, please consider a donation. WE need them fighting for ALL Iowans.
Iowa Republicans want to funnel public money into private hands to fund Christian schools and promote Republican ideology with no accountability (I share more thoughts here). They say they believe in public schools. They don’t. They believe in power, coercion, and bending us to their will to create an authoritarian “Christian” state. Most of their work in the Iowa legislature and in Congress over the past few years does just that.
Fortunately, Iowa Democrats, groups like Iowa CCI, and regular citizens like you and me are fighting back.
Don’t be fooled. These aren’t normal times. It’s not 2015 anymore and we can’t pretend that it is and sleepwalk through the rise of authoritarianism and the end of democracy. This isn’t hyperbole. Listen to what Republican leaders say. Watch what they do. They have come for the reproductive rights of women. They are coming after birth control. They are coming for our public libraries, our public schools, our LGBTQ+ friends and family members, those of different races and faiths, and immigrants. And right now they are rewriting our public school history curriculum to serve their white “Christian” Nationalist ends.
There are two types of Christians in our midst. The first are good people you and I know and love who do their very best to serve their friends and neighbors in the image of Christ. The vast majority of us value what they do.
The second type are “Christians” who use their “faith” to rationalize and justify every wrong, illogical, unethical, and immoral thing they do as being “God’s will,” as Representative Dean Fisher apparently does.
And isn’t it “interesting” that so many of them line their pockets with money as they do so.
Thanks to Iowa CCI for bringing this to our attention. This message came from Tim last night:
Here is a link for people to add their names in support of our complaint. We plan to submit names as an addendum to the Chief Clerk of the House, likely on Weds: Rep. Fisher should not use private school vouchers! | Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement PowerBase (ourpowerbase.net).
Please share it far and wide.
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I signed. Thank you, Bob, for this information. I also appreciate how you separate the Christian folks from the "Christian" people. They could not be more opposite.
If you are interested in learning more of the substance and procedures regarding ethics complaints, see Iowa House Ethics HR 7. There are sections on economic interests and conflict of interest. I served on the Ethics Committees in both chambers, including during two of the more visible controversies (Mingo and Iowa Trust). The latter case did not result in any dramatic vote on the senator in question. The controversy and public involvement helped change some of the laws on gifts. Regarding the case at hand, the bi-partisan ethics committee will decide on how to proceed. However, even if the case is dismissed, constituents or political opponents can insist on greater transparency and accountability from this Representative