Public hearing crowd ‘disrespectful,’ speakers say

Beth Pearson knew when she stepped up to the microphone to speak at Tuesday night’s public hearing on a Democratic tax reform bill that most of the crowd was against her.

“It was apparent you were speaking with a group of people who didn’t agree with you,” said Pearson, who was there testifying in support of the bill on behalf the Iowa Policy Project, a nonpartisan budget and tax research organization. “I don’t know that it was intimidating to speak, but it was a disappointing way to open the hearing – to be booed immediately after speaking. It did feel disrespectful.”

The boisterous crowd, a large majority of which opposed the proposed changes to Iowa’s tax code, gave each of the speakers who voiced support for the proposal the same treatment – boos and hisses. Those who opposed it, such as Iowans for Tax Relief President Ed Failor Jr., received energetic applause.

“I’m aware that people on both sides of this issue care a lot about it, but that’s not really an excuse for disrespect,” Pearson said. “It felt like there was a lot of ill will being directed towards people who were speaking in support of the bill.”

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Shomshor, D-Council Bluffs, issued several warnings asking the crowd to settle down, as House rules prohibit demonstrations of any type from the gallery.

“I was surprised that people refused to quiet down after being asked,” Pearson said. “I understand that if you haven’t been to a public forum before, it might seem natural to express your feelings by cheering the people you agree with. But when it was expressed to the group that it was out of line, I was surprised it continued.”

Lana Ross, executive director of the Iowa Community Action Association, testified about a portion of the bill that would increase the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child and Dependent Care Credit, initiatives supported by Democrats and Republicans alike.

“At the end of my statement, I said I encourage you to support the bill,” Ross said. “When [the spectators] heard that they all started hissing.”

Ross had heard the boos that followed Pearson’s remarks, so she expected a reaction from the crowd when she was done.

“But I did not expect them to hiss, which I think is an inappropriate response,” she said.

An hour into the meeting, House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, ordered that the public had to leave the hearing unless they were signed up to speak, causing an eruption of boos and jeers. Republicans immediately condemned the move, with Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn calling it a “gross display of arrogance,” and Failor calling Murphy a “a jack-booted Nazi.”

“This is not an athletic event where you cheer for the home team and you jeer and boo against people that you don’t agree with,” Murphy said.

John Gilliland, senior vice president of government relations with the Iowa Association of Business and Industry and an opponent of the bill, said the entire situation could have been managed better. He blamed House leadership for immediately telling the audience that if they didn’t settle down they could be expelled from the hearing.

“When folks were told they could be kicked out of the chamber, it put the crowd on edge,” he said. “It really put them in an adversarial role, and it eventually boiled over. “

The people who attend public hearings like this are passionate about the issue being discussed, Gilliland said.  “So it’s natural to have folks expressing those passions. There has to be a better way to manage and minimize that so everyone has a chance to be heard.”

As someone on the receiving end of the crowd’s ire, Pearson said she felt the Speaker acted properly.

“I think the threats made early on to remove people who were being disruptive weren’t being followed up on, which I think gave the group a license to continue,” she said. “So I think the Speaker did what he had to do.”

Ross said public hearings she’s attended in the past have been much more respectful.

“Usually it embodies the belief that we all have opinions and they should all be shared,” she said. “Part of public hearing is listening as much as talking. It’s an opportunity to hear the other side.”

The bill being debated calls for the end of federal deductibility, a part of Iowa’s tax code that deducts federal taxes paid from a person’s adjusted gross income for state tax purposes. The effect is that income subject to state taxes is much lower, which in turn causes the state to institute a higher tax rate in order to generate enough revenue.

The biggest tragedy of the night, though, is that instead of a discussion of tax reform the hearing became a circus, Pearson said.

“It was a very disrespectful atmosphere, and I don’t think it did any service to the public policy debate that was going on,” she said. “The story has become people being ejected rather than a story about why people do or don’t agree with the proposal. As someone who does public policy, I find that unfortunate.”