March 22, 2023 • 34 mins
Iowa Governor, Kim Reynolds has led her state with class since taking office in 2017. In this episode of The Tudor Dixon Podcast she discusses her passion for school choice, meeting with presidential nominees that tour her state, and what it was like having her husband color her hair during the height of the COVID pandemic. Tudor also asks the question everyone wants to know...will Kim Reynolds accept an invite to be somebody's Vice Presidential running mate? The Tudor Dixon Podcast is now on the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Monday, Wednesday, & Friday...visit TudorDixonPodcast.com for more information.
Follow Clay & Buck on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/clayandbuck
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, this is Buck Sexon and you're listening to the
Tunor Dixon Podcast, part of the play Drivers and Buck
Sexton podcast Network. Welcome to the Tutor Dixon Podcast. I'm
Tutor Dixon and super excited to have you join us today.
I love bringing exciting new people into your world, and
today is no different. Although I think many of you
have probably heard great things about Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa,
(00:23):
until you actually spend time with her, you can't really
grasp how incredible she is. There are some folks in
life who make a really strong impression on you right away,
and Governor Reynolds is one of those people for me
because she cared. I know that seems incredibly simple, but
you can actually feel her heart the minute you engage
with her, and I think that's incredibly special. I don't
(00:44):
think I met a single person at her level on
the campaign who immediately offered me their assistance the way
she did. And certainly she's been in the news quite
a bit lately with all of the presidential candidates visiting
her wonderful state, and some people have even floated her
name as a presidential candidate. I know she's not talking
about it or asking for it. But once you get
(01:04):
to know her, you will understand why so many people
find that idea intriguing, and I do myself. I'm honored
to introduce to you the forty third governor of Iowa,
Governor Kim Reynolds, Governor, Welcome to the podcast. Oh hi Tuter.
First of all, congratulations, this is exciting. I'm really happy
to hear that, and it is an honor to be
with you. So thanks for giving media opportunity. Absolutely well,
(01:28):
thank you for coming on. And you do have quite
a few presidential candidates visiting Iowa, so I wanted to
ask you about that, because everyone has a different personality.
It's certainly interesting to have folks like that visit your state.
It kind of confuses things. There's a lot of traffic,
there's a lot of people. So tell me a little
bit about what it's like to host the different candidates. Well,
(01:50):
I love it. First of all, it's you know, we've
done this for quite some time where the first nation
cloccus and it did. Iowans take it very very seriously.
So what I love about Iowa's is there gauge. They're
very knowledgeable on the issues and so we can almost
always guarantee any of the candidates that are considering running
a really good turnout because they want to be able
(02:10):
to look the candidate in the eye, they want to
learn a little bit more about their character. And it's
really great for the candidate as well because it gives
them the chance to really hone their message, to connect
with Iowans, to see what that's like to connect with
somebody that is informed and is asking the right questions.
And so it's fun to start to build relationships. I mean,
(02:32):
we connect it right off. I mean, I loved your passion.
I loved that you were so concerned what had happened
with COVID, to the kids and to the people in Michigan,
the lockdowns, and just so I could say right back
to you, your heart was just was right there. And
so I love the connection and the friendship and the
relationship that we were able to build. But the same
(02:53):
thing happens when you're hosting candidates in the state. You
get to know them and get to learn about kind
of what their vision is and what they're talking about.
And then a lot of times you know the ones
that don't make it through and are the presidential candidate
a lot of times to do they get they're asked
to be a part of the administration and you're able
(03:14):
to connect back out on issues that impact the Iowans
that are the individual that we serve, and so that's
always been a really great opportunity and resource as well.
So it's it's fun, it's we keeps you busy. You know.
We've had Nicky Haley in and we've had times gone
in and I did a day with the Governor DeSantis
and then we had President Trump in on Monday. So
(03:36):
wegistic why sometimes it's a little bit of a challenge,
but but I we love it well. I want people
to know. I mean, I don't know if you're comfortable
with me sharing this, but I'm going to do it anyway.
When I met you, when you're running for governor, you
meet a lot of governors. We went to all the
RGA meetings, the Republican Governors Association meetings. You are now
the chairman of the RGA, but at that point, you
(04:00):
you were just walking through walking past and I had
a friend that introduced me to you, and the thing
that struck me was you immediately said, let me put
my number in your phone. This is really hard. Well,
it's really challenging. You'll come across challenges and when you
need to ask someone about them, call me. And that
just meant so much to me because people don't take
(04:22):
that time. I mean, certainly you are very busy, but
you knew that I was going through something and as
a woman, I know you mentioned that too. You said,
you know there are different challenges you'll face as a woman,
and you were just willing to talk to me about it.
And I have to tell you that meant a lot. Yeah, well,
it's so important too, because there are different challenges and
I didn't have a lot of mentors when I was running,
(04:44):
and so I want to make sure you know that
I'm there for other candidates and I you know, we
want the best candidate running. But I am always trying
to encourage bright, articulate women because the first of all,
I think sometimes they have to be asked. We're just
think we have to know everything before we even and
step into the fray. We have to be perfect, and
it's just not the case. You just step in there
and you're going to be surprised at just the capacity
(05:06):
that you have to do big and bold things. And
so often as I'm traveling the state, I'm watching and observing,
and if I see somebody that I think would just
be a phenomenal candidate or you know, I'll go up
and say, I don't know if you've ever thought about
running before, but I hope you do at some point,
and I would be happy to sit down and talk
(05:27):
to you about it or be a resource. And then
if here's the other thing. And we could never connect,
but we did several times. I just wasn't able to
get up there, but we did connect on phone calls.
But and then to support them when they do make
the decision, you know, to be there and to be
a resource and to be supportive as there once they
(05:49):
do make that decision to step in. Yeah, I think
that I like what you've said there because I think
people look at folks that decide to run and they say,
what makes you think you can do this? There's so
many different aspects to running a state or you know,
even the presidential candidates, why do you think you can
do this? And what you said there is so important
for people to understand when they are looking at different
(06:12):
candidates that you're going to learn along the way, and
it's the people you surround yourself with as well. That's important.
And you were kind of in a unique position because
you were a lieutenant governor and then you were placed
into the position of governor before you ran again. So
you inherited this job when the governor of Iowa was
(06:33):
appointed to be ambassador of China, and so that suddenly
was thrust upon you, and you had a lot of
decisions to make. But you've done such an incredible job.
And I want to go to something that is kind
of controversial across the whole country right now because after COVID.
Coming out of COVID, a lot of parents said, man,
I really want to have a choice in education, and
(06:54):
you are working on school choice in Iowa. You've passed
that in Iowa. Tell me a little bit about that
process and what that was like and how you handle
it when people come up against you and say that
this is not the right choice. Yeah, oh, thank you.
It's something I feel so passionately about and it was
just underscored after going through COVID. You know, it was
the kids that needed that structure more than anything to
(07:16):
be in the classroom, to have a safe environment to
you know, I mean, they had a parent that was
working to tell them to learn from how It was
just absolutely crazy. And I think even through it all,
I mean even before that, we were working on it,
but parents just had a front row seat to some
of the things that were being taught, even in the
classroom as well. And so I had been working on
(07:37):
school choice for three years. We enhanced charter schools, we
expanded open enrollment, but the school choice bill I got
through the Senate two years in a row, only to
have it held up in the House. And it was
so frustrating because I just we put a lot of
work into it. I traveled the state, and I was
hearing from parents who agreed with the fact that every
(08:01):
parent should have that opportunity, not just those that have
the resources. I mean, you know, they accused me of
not caring about children, but yet it's the individuals that
need it the most that weren't able to take advantage
of it. And so the first thing I did tutor
is I got involved in primaries. And I don't normally
do that, but I was either going to be an enabler. Yeah,
I was going to either be an enabler or I
(08:22):
was going to step in and do what I could
because the chair of the Education Committee in the House
was opposed to it, and he was the one that
was stopping it every year, and so I got involved
in nine primaries. We were successful in eight of the nine.
I'm proud to say that the ninth primary he actually
supported and voted for the bill and probably is one
of the biggest proponents of it this year getting it
(08:46):
across the finish line. But I just ask a simple question,
and it was really focused on that. I said, tell
me your position on school choice, and if you think
that every parent should have that choice, and if they
agreed with that, then I helped in any way that
I could get them across the finish line. And so
we were able to get that done. But the other
thing that I did that I think was really almost
(09:07):
as important. It was more kind of almost a rural
urban issue. I heard from a lot of legislators that
this would destroy their schools and that they wouldn't be
able to compete. And so I spend a lot of
time meeting one on one with those rural superintendents and
I said, I know I'm not going to change your mind.
I get that, but I want to look you in
the eye and I want to tell you that it's
(09:28):
imperative that we have a strong, successful public school system.
This is not going to destroy it. I believe with
all my heart it will elevate education overall. But what
can we do? What are we doing that's inhibiting your
ability to be innovative and to be competitive and to
provide your students with the best possible education. And they
talked a lot about Chapter twelve, which is the regulatory
(09:50):
piece of it. It was shall shall shall shall, and
you know we always add we never take off, and
ask if we would just relieve some of the burdensome
regulations that they have so they can have a little
bit more flexibility. And I said yes, and we did that.
And then the other thing they said is we can't
be competitive, especially in rural Iowa, when it comes to
our teacher salaries. And so we found some existing funds
(10:11):
quite a bit actually was one hundred million dollars that
they were setting on three hundred twenty million overall that
they can actually roll in not into administration, but into
teacher salaries to increase teacher salaries or use it to
hire additional teachers. And I think that also helped some
of my rule. Lawmakers feel a little bit more comfortable
with it, but that is certainly what we hear, especially
(10:35):
in Michigan but across the country, is that if you
pass school choice, that will hurt the public school system.
And so the narrative that they use is that if
you are a pro school choice, then you are anti
public education. I think it's really important that you pointed
that out, that you actually were able to expand conversations
on public ed by talking about school choice. Yeah, and
(10:58):
same thing with the charter. That's a pub best through
the public schools. And I started out with my condition
of the state this year and said, you know this,
the media and the unions drive this hysteria. And you
know when we passed I signed in the law my
third tax cut, Oh my god, state government was going
to collapse. I mean we were going to just destroy education.
The world was going to cease to exist. When I
(11:19):
got the kids back in the classroom and COVID, you know,
I was going to kill the kids. I was going
to kill the teachers. I got obituaries from teachers that
came to me, But mostly it was the unions that
were driving the narrative. And I've been able to point
back to every single we passed collective bargaining reform in
twenty seventeen that really minimized the union's ability. I mean,
(11:40):
they can only negotiate salaries and it's a three percent
or a cost of living race, whichever is lower, and
then they can bargain other things, but those are they
both both sides have to agree. We can't paycheck protection
was a part of it in twenty seventeen, and then
they have to recertify every time they have to renegotiate
a contract. So you were able to kind of eliminate
(12:01):
a lot of that too, But same thing. I mean,
they just all of the same accusations, and I just
went through and kind of highlighted how at each point
we proved it wrong. You know, our economy is growing,
our revenues are higher. Even with a lot of the
you know issues that we're facing from an aggressive administration,
(12:24):
we're still doing really well in Iowa. And so I
just told them once again, we're going to prove the
media wrong. And that's what I think, Tutor, they're so
afraid of is the more states that are doing this,
that narrative that it's going to destroy the public school
system is going to be proved untrue, and then I
don't know what they have after that, because we're going
(12:45):
to be able to demonstrate with data that that's not true. Well,
I think in some cases there is a fear that
if you are a government school you really are guaranteed
that income. You don't have to compete. And so there
are some areas. I mean, I know in Michigan, for sure,
we have some school systems that have been consistently at
about a five percent literacy rate. What is the motivation
(13:09):
to increase that if you don't have any competition? And
I think this is something that Republicans have been trying
to say, but just parents have been trying to say, Well,
if I can't get it higher than five percent, give
me the option to give my child a future. And
that is really key to these kids' lives. If you
can't read, what do you have? Yeah, and it can't
just continue to pass them on. They have no accountability,
(13:32):
there's no transparency. And what other area is competition not
a good thing? To your pointing, I act right, you know,
and so quit being fearful of that. We're going to
help you get in there. But get in there and
you know, and that's the other thing. If they know nothing,
they understand the money. And so now I mean we passed,
you know, said no to critical race theory. We've done
(13:54):
parental rights and we've done all of that. But the
best thing that we can do to the education, as
you know, is to give parents a choice. And as
those kids start to leave, they are going to have
to look at how they're providing that education and either
get in the game or they are not going to
cease to exist. And so they do understand dollars and
(14:15):
they do understand that they're going to have to other
game if they're going to be able to keep the
kids there. So that is just overall, will do more,
I believe, to drive opportunities for these kids and to
just set them up to be successful. That's our future.
You know, you want to give them every opportunity. Let's
take a quick break more with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. Next,
(14:39):
Welcome back to the Tutor Dixon Podcast. We continue our
conversation with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. You definitely have been
about making sure people have choice and people are successful
and that there is opportunity for folks over government. And
so in a way, I would say that you're really
a proponent of smaller government, and you're proving that with
(14:59):
your this proposal that I think is a fifteen hundred
page proposal to reorganize state government but really make governments smaller.
So that scares people for some reason, Whenever we talk
about making government smaller, people start to freak out that
they're going to lose something. Explain, how do you talk
to people about this and assure them that you're not
taking something away, that this will actually give back. Yeah,
(15:23):
it's actually streamlining the whole process. I mean, I feel
sorry for take for example, we started by an MU
and then we codified in the language this year the
Department of Public Health and Human Services, and the amount
of doors that an individual had to go through to
try to get the services, to try to have the
accountability and to be able to serve and was ridiculous.
(15:44):
You know, these individuals, these moms, these dads, you know,
they're trying to survive and trying to put food on
the table and do the best that they can, and
they don't have the time to do that. We had
over a hundred professional licensing functions that were spread over
eleven different agencies. We had one hundred workforce programs that
again were spread over a different one eleven different agencies.
(16:07):
That's not got good government. There's duplication and every time
there's duplication, there's cost to the taxpayers. And which you know,
it's too big, it's government's too big, it's too expensive,
and it's too fragmented. And so in Iowa, I'm so
proud to say it just passed. So it's on its
way down to my desk. Wonderful. Yeah, we're going to
take the executive branch, which I have control over, had
(16:29):
thirty seven executive branch agencies. Crazy, I mean, we were
bigger than every one of the surrounding states when I
and we're going down to sixteen, So thirty seven down
to sixteen. And we brought it, we brought into consultant
to help us go through this. We've been working on
this since June of last year, so we've been very
(16:52):
strategic and how we did it. But here was the
final kicker when I found out that Illinois, we spent
twenty one hundred dollars more allocated as an expenditure per
capita than Illinois, who is four times our size of
the four times the size of Iowa and not really
known for their conservative budgeting practices. I mean, it was
(17:12):
like underscore, underscore, we are way out of line. And
it had been forty years since we have done a system,
a system wide enterprise review, and so I'm really excited.
It's projected to save and I think this is probably
on the conservative side, about two hundred and fourteen million
dollars over four years, So it will save significant money.
(17:36):
We'll get that back to the taxpayers, and I will
be able to actually have a cabinet meeting where we
can set down and talk about strategies. And so I
know without hesitation that we are going to continue to
streamline because I've seen it happen just in the conversations
that we've had leading up to going from thirty seven
down to sixteen. But oh my goodness, you know, in
(18:00):
the hosteria and the pushback, the you know, the other side,
you know, they were like, I'm controlling, I'm being more controlling.
I'm going I said, I'm going from thirty seven down
to sixteen. I don't know how you can say that.
I can't. It doesn't really exactly. That's the thing you'll
find a way to make it look bad. So but
(18:20):
so now I said, okay, team, I set them down
and I said, we got it done. So now we
got we got to execute. But we've got a really
good plan in place to move that through. And so
I'm really excited. And then just real quick, we just
have too much government overall, and so I knew that
I delete by example, and I needed to get our
house in order before we would start to have that
(18:41):
conversation with our local governments. Because if we want to
be more competitive and continue to reduce the tax burden
on Iowa's we just we can't continue to fund government
at the level that we are. And so hopefully I
can lead by example and go talk to some local
governments and start that process. And I think that people
are getting to know you. And as you talk, especially today,
(19:03):
as that people are listening, they can see that you're
just very reasonable. It's just very easy to talk to you.
It's very easy to understand. And so I really believe
that this is why so many people have floated the
idea of you being on the ticket with someone in
twenty four I mean, just honestly, is that flattering? I mean,
what do you think of that when people say that, Oh, well, okay,
(19:25):
I'm gonna tell you what I think. I mean, I
think it's great for Iowa. So I always come back
to that perspective. It's just doing things like this. It
helps kind of get Iowa on the map. A lot
of times. We're a small state in the heartland of America,
and I feel like I'm up on the Capitol Dome
like just waving my hands, say look at what we're
doing here. We've got great things happening. And you know,
(19:47):
they just tend to talk about the larger states. They
think they about got Texas and Florida, and we have
mimicked so many and lead honestly on so many of
the policies, whether it's selection, integrity reform, or esays you know,
we lad this year and Sarah Sanders is following in Arkansas.
We've got Utah, You've got Greg a lot of people
(20:09):
following suits. So I think it's helping just people take
a look at what we are doing in Iowa. If
that's part of the conversation, I'm okay with that. But
I'm really truly, really focused on what we're doing here.
I got to keep cutting taxes because fifteen of my
governor colleagues have tax cuts in their proposal this year.
(20:30):
So I've got to We've got to come back next
year and continue to look for ways to bring that down.
I'm trying to get to zero. Oh my gosh, and
I think I just read we're Michigan is repealing right
to work? Yeah, yeah, isn't that terrible? It's so sad.
Forty years I mean this has happened. It's been forty
years since. I mean, it's just everybody's heading in the
opposite direction. It's so sad, it's it's terrible. I mean,
(20:54):
we have that, we have you know, they're talking about
taking away immunity for gun stores and gun manufacturers. These
are things that I think that some of these bills
go through and people go, oh, that sounds, you know,
their favorite term common sense to me. But then you
dig in and there's these other crazy things in there.
I mean, imagine, are we going to say that suddenly
(21:16):
the potato chip manufacturers are going to be held liable
if you have a heart attack? Are you going to
say that car manufacturers are going to be held liable
if you have a car accident? I mean this is
some crazy stuff, but this is what they are very
good at twisting it into making people believe that you
have to do this, and so removing right to work
is really going to hurt the state of Michigan. And
(21:38):
I think that Michigan and Iowa are similar. In the
center of the country, it's very Midwestern. You really understand
the average American person and what they need, and so
I think that is also why there's such an attraction
to the state of Iowa. But in Iowa, you're also
very focused on mental health and especially children's mental health.
(21:58):
That to me, I really want to get into with
you because it was a big deal to me. I
watched what my kids went through during the pandemic, and
I tell this story because it was so shocking to me.
I have four girls, and at the end of the pandemic,
you know, we were in Michigan, locked into our homes
and so people. The kids couldn't go out at all.
And I think that because I could go to the
grocery store, I sort of forgot about the fact that
(22:21):
the girls are really trapped together in the house. And
my daughter, my oldest at the time, she was ten,
and I was putting her to bed and she started
crying and I said, what's wrong and she said, Mom,
I think this is what depression feels like. That hit
our kids so much harder than we really ever could understand.
So how are you looking at this differently in Iowa,
(22:43):
because we really as a country need to examine mental
health and our kids mental health. Yeah, especially what we did.
You know, what we did to them, because it was
just self inflicted on them. And that's why we were
one of the first states to get our kids back
in the classroom. And I even you know, I did
it by by order and then I had the legislature
(23:03):
take it up and ran up through the legislature because
I knew that it would have more weight by doing that.
I didn't want to keep the health order going for
any longer than I needed to because they could just
you could, you know, the governors used that as a
way to really hurt the people that they served, to
really let government step into areas that they shouldn't have
(23:24):
done that. But but it's still it's still a need,
even though we got the kids back in and so
I am really it's been a passion of mine from
the very beginning. We work to get a comprehensive adult
mental health reform done. And then I recognized the fact
that we didn't even have a children's health system. And
what I found out is they've been talking about it.
This isn't what they do. They like to talk about
(23:45):
an issue, but never deal with it because then it
goes away, you know. So they've been talking for twenty
years about standing up a children's mental health system, and
I put a task force together. It gave them one
hundred days, asked them to to figure out how we
can stand up a system so we have a continuum
of care and hopefully we can get these kids the
(24:07):
services that they need early on so that they can
have every opportunity to have a healthy and a happy life.
And we were able. So we gave the recommendations and
then I put it in bill form again and took
it through the legislature to give Iowan's the opportunity to
weigh in and to make sure that everybody was heard.
(24:29):
And we were able to stand that up. And I
want to tell you, which just doesn't happen very often.
It passed unanimously in the Iowa legislature in both chambers.
So I'm very proud of that too, but we've also
we've provided mental health parity for telehealth, which was really important.
We made our schools a site of service and what
(24:51):
that means is they can provide on site professionals and
they can get reimbursed for it that something that wasn't
done and so we have some therapist or they can
use telehealth to either one. But it's really been a
really positive thing, not only for the kids but for
the teachers and the families because the families are comfortable
(25:14):
going to a school and so and we're able to
meet all the hippop so our mom and dad involved
in that, because I think that's been for sure. Oh no, no, no,
for sure, we were very very they're driving it, they're
the ones that are and not all of them have it.
But it's an option, it's it's it's gone very well
in the schools that we've been able to do it.
(25:36):
And then just mis spent just some training, some put
some dollars into training teachers so that they can identify
the early warning signs. But yeah, so then we go
to the other side of how they've kind of trying
to take parents out of the child's education and on
one of the decisions that are being made on that
a parent should be making. And so this year we're
putting in all kinds of protections to make sure that
(25:58):
that's not happening as well. And we did that with
the Mental health peace too. It has to be driven
by the parent, it can't be driven by the schools.
So the last thing I want to go over really
quick with you is Republican Governor's Association because one of
the things you said at the beginning was when someone's running,
(26:19):
you know they can talk to other people. They're not
doing this alone. And that was what I thought was
so fascinating when I was running, because here we were
able to meet and there's so much access. The governors
at those meetings are so willing to sit and talk
to you. That to me was amazing to think that
these people who are so powerful are willing to sit
with you and say what questions do you have? And
(26:40):
so when I was talking to folks across the state
of Michigan and they were saying, how was it that
these Red states were doing different things during COVID, I
was able to say, Hey, I've talked to these governors
and they were talking, they were communicating, so tell us
a little bit about that, because I think people think
everybody is doing this on their own and not communicating.
(27:01):
But the Republican governors really do talk and we're making
decisions together about a lot of these things. Such a
tight knit organization, organization. And to your point, you know,
I've got the cell phones of all of them, So
not only during COVID, and I mean these were long days.
I was out of the State Emergency Operations Center. We
started there early in the morning and worked late in
(27:22):
to night and to the night, and I would either
take the call there or when I got home or
on the way home. But at least twice a week
we would do a late night conference call. I would
say probably around eight o'clock a lot of times because
all the governors were doing press conference, are still working
on things. Maybe sometimes seven thirty or eight. A lot
of times too. We would be on the phone for
an hour and a half to two hours, and you know,
(27:44):
it was just it was hitting different stages at different
times and different parts of the country, and to be
able to get their feedback on what they were seeing,
the data that they were collecting, where they were finding
testing supplies, how they were standing up testing opportunities how
we were keeping you know, and I we produced ten
percent of the nation's food supply, and so it was
(28:05):
impairing that I kept my processing plans up and going.
But I wanted the employees to know that they were
in a safe environment. So I needed some way to test,
you know, so that when they went in they felt
comfortable and safe to be able to keep it open
and to keep the food supply chain moving. But it
was invaluable to be able to have that resource, to
(28:27):
have that open conversation, and you know, where you could
it was safe zone too, you could be really honest
about what you were seeing and what was working and
what wasn't and so and that's just that's just typical.
We'd do it with the what's happening at the southern border.
You know, I have so much respect for Governor Abbott
(28:47):
and then Governor Ducey, you know, trying to lead a
state at the same time where your border is open
and you just have millions of illegal migrants coming across
the border, the drugs, the human trafficking. I mean, I
don't even know how you know, good team, you said
it earlier. You better surround yourself with the best and
the brightest, but to be able to help with them,
(29:08):
and we sent law enforcement down We've had our National
Guard down there. But a lot of coordination with all
the governors from that perspective as well. And just even
if you've got a question about an issue that you're
working on, you know, I would Pete Rickets. I would
pick up the phone and I would say, Pete, how
are you handling? And we worked really closely during COVID
(29:31):
because we're so connected with the Omaha and the Council
Bluffs area, and so we didn't want to make decisions
that would you know, hurt his residence or mind because
we were so connected. So our chief oft staff and
Pete and I were a lot of times just hey,
this is I'm thinking about I'm going to open the
restaurants back up. This is wrong. We've got to put
(29:51):
our trust in the same thing. And just to kind
of time it so that we were moving forward. I
love this. I just have to interrupt because I love
the because I think that people listen to what the
media was saying. And you have the media coming out
and saying, oh, Governor Kemp is going to kill everybody.
Abbott's going to kill everybody. This is outrageous. Florida is
(30:12):
going to kill everybody. And there was no discussion that
these were actually data filled conversations about what actually was happening.
The people who were in charge managing this were having
those conversations back and forth. It was not willy nilly
discussions of let's see if we open restaurants. What happened?
You were watching every state and how this was moving
(30:34):
across the country. And I think that's something people really
have never heard. Yeah, no, honestly. And then even when
we brought in the test Iowa, the new program that
we were able to do. It had a robust data collection.
I could tell you down to the zip code where
we was starting to see a flare up and then
we could get in front of it quicker and just
to be able to share that conversation or to have
it start on the east and the west coast and
(30:55):
then kind of move in and then it went across
and you know, I mean just the steria driven by
the media, you know, And we did a daily press
conference and we were just honest with Iowans, here's where
we're at, and here's what we're seeing, and this is
what we're doing. And you know, I have people to
this day, tutor. No matter where I go, I have
(31:17):
just people come up and say, I never missed your
press conference. We went through it together. We would stop
everything and tune in, and you know, I got choked
up at one of them. It must have been some
really bad data. And I was so mad at myself
when I got done with the press conference, because I
(31:37):
felt like they needed to see their governor be strong
and to be able to deal with this, and I
felt like I had let Iowan's down, and I had
just the opposite. I had people calling in, sending tech
sending emails and just saying, we recognized at that point
that you were in Iowa, just like we were going
through this together, and you're making the best decisions that
(32:02):
you can make based on the data that you have.
So you'll appreciate this because that wasn't the case with
your governor at the time. But this isn't my this
isn't my natural hair color. So you know, when the
salons were shut down and I said to my husband,
I said, keV, you're not to color my hair. I said,
I can't. You know, the stripe is getting whiter and whiter.
(32:24):
And you know, I'm not going to break a rule.
I'm not going to do something. You know, I'm obliged
by the same rules. And so boy he went down
and he googled it and like a YouTube, and he
had gloves in the dish and we got the stuff
and and so as he's trying to do it, I said, Okay,
now here's the bad news, Kevin. I am going to
have to take a picture of you post it because
(32:45):
otherwise I really will believe that I didn't have you
do my hair. My number one post of all times
of anything I've done was the fact that my husband
agreed to color my hair and then let me take
a picture of him and post it on Facebook. But
you know, I think Iowan's knew that I was putting
my trust in them, and if I did something, it
(33:06):
was it was based on the unknown at the time.
But bye, guysh whatever I did, I I was going
to live under the same rules that I was asking
them to do so anyway, and that's why they put
That's why they put their trust in you. And honestly,
I know this is a sensitive subject, but that is
why so many people have their eyes on you. Right now,
(33:28):
and we're just watching to see what you do next,
because I know you really care and I know you're
really looking for the right solution. And I just love
that you said I had a task force to put
together and gave them a hundred days. And that's the
type of thing that we want to hear. You have
the team, you have, the people working on the stuff.
That's what makes you so unique. And the fact that
you can connect emotionally, the fact that you can share
(33:51):
a picture like that, that is truly being an American
and that's why we love you. So I just want
you to know that I appreciate what you've done, I
appreciate knowing you, and I'm so thankful that you joined
me today on this podcast. Thank you and right back
at you, so you keep being you, keep doing you,
and just best of luck on your podcast. I know
(34:11):
it's going to be a huge success. So thanks for
giving me the opportunity. Governor Kim Reynolds, thank you all
for joining us today on the Tutor Dickson Podcast. For
this episode and others, go to Tutor Dickson podcast dot com.
You can subscribe right there. Join me next time on
the Tutor Dixson Podcast. And have a great day.
Hey, this is Buck Sexon and you're listening to the
Tunor Dixon Podcast, part of the play Drivers and Buck
Sexton podcast Network. Welcome to the Tutor Dixon Podcast. I'm
Tutor Dixon and super excited to have you join us today.
I love bringing exciting new people into your world, and
today is no different. Although I think many of you
have probably heard great things about Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa,
(00:23):
until you actually spend time with her, you can't really
grasp how incredible she is. There are some folks in
life who make a really strong impression on you right away,
and Governor Reynolds is one of those people for me
because she cared. I know that seems incredibly simple, but
you can actually feel her heart the minute you engage
with her, and I think that's incredibly special. I don't
(00:44):
think I met a single person at her level on
the campaign who immediately offered me their assistance the way
she did. And certainly she's been in the news quite
a bit lately with all of the presidential candidates visiting
her wonderful state, and some people have even floated her
name as a presidential candidate. I know she's not talking
about it or asking for it. But once you get
(01:04):
to know her, you will understand why so many people
find that idea intriguing, and I do myself. I'm honored
to introduce to you the forty third governor of Iowa,
Governor Kim Reynolds, Governor, Welcome to the podcast. Oh hi Tuter.
First of all, congratulations, this is exciting. I'm really happy
to hear that, and it is an honor to be
with you. So thanks for giving media opportunity. Absolutely well,
(01:28):
thank you for coming on. And you do have quite
a few presidential candidates visiting Iowa, so I wanted to
ask you about that, because everyone has a different personality.
It's certainly interesting to have folks like that visit your state.
It kind of confuses things. There's a lot of traffic,
there's a lot of people. So tell me a little
bit about what it's like to host the different candidates. Well,
(01:50):
I love it. First of all, it's you know, we've
done this for quite some time where the first nation
cloccus and it did. Iowans take it very very seriously.
So what I love about Iowa's is there gauge. They're
very knowledgeable on the issues and so we can almost
always guarantee any of the candidates that are considering running
a really good turnout because they want to be able
(02:10):
to look the candidate in the eye, they want to
learn a little bit more about their character. And it's
really great for the candidate as well because it gives
them the chance to really hone their message, to connect
with Iowans, to see what that's like to connect with
somebody that is informed and is asking the right questions.
And so it's fun to start to build relationships. I mean,
(02:32):
we connect it right off. I mean, I loved your passion.
I loved that you were so concerned what had happened
with COVID, to the kids and to the people in Michigan,
the lockdowns, and just so I could say right back
to you, your heart was just was right there. And
so I love the connection and the friendship and the
relationship that we were able to build. But the same
(02:53):
thing happens when you're hosting candidates in the state. You
get to know them and get to learn about kind
of what their vision is and what they're talking about.
And then a lot of times you know the ones
that don't make it through and are the presidential candidate
a lot of times to do they get they're asked
to be a part of the administration and you're able
(03:14):
to connect back out on issues that impact the Iowans
that are the individual that we serve, and so that's
always been a really great opportunity and resource as well.
So it's it's fun, it's we keeps you busy. You know.
We've had Nicky Haley in and we've had times gone
in and I did a day with the Governor DeSantis
and then we had President Trump in on Monday. So
(03:36):
wegistic why sometimes it's a little bit of a challenge,
but but I we love it well. I want people
to know. I mean, I don't know if you're comfortable
with me sharing this, but I'm going to do it anyway.
When I met you, when you're running for governor, you
meet a lot of governors. We went to all the
RGA meetings, the Republican Governors Association meetings. You are now
the chairman of the RGA, but at that point, you
(04:00):
you were just walking through walking past and I had
a friend that introduced me to you, and the thing
that struck me was you immediately said, let me put
my number in your phone. This is really hard. Well,
it's really challenging. You'll come across challenges and when you
need to ask someone about them, call me. And that
just meant so much to me because people don't take
(04:22):
that time. I mean, certainly you are very busy, but
you knew that I was going through something and as
a woman, I know you mentioned that too. You said,
you know there are different challenges you'll face as a woman,
and you were just willing to talk to me about it.
And I have to tell you that meant a lot. Yeah, well,
it's so important too, because there are different challenges and
I didn't have a lot of mentors when I was running,
(04:44):
and so I want to make sure you know that
I'm there for other candidates and I you know, we
want the best candidate running. But I am always trying
to encourage bright, articulate women because the first of all,
I think sometimes they have to be asked. We're just
think we have to know everything before we even and
step into the fray. We have to be perfect, and
it's just not the case. You just step in there
and you're going to be surprised at just the capacity
(05:06):
that you have to do big and bold things. And
so often as I'm traveling the state, I'm watching and observing,
and if I see somebody that I think would just
be a phenomenal candidate or you know, I'll go up
and say, I don't know if you've ever thought about
running before, but I hope you do at some point,
and I would be happy to sit down and talk
(05:27):
to you about it or be a resource. And then
if here's the other thing. And we could never connect,
but we did several times. I just wasn't able to
get up there, but we did connect on phone calls.
But and then to support them when they do make
the decision, you know, to be there and to be
a resource and to be supportive as there once they
(05:49):
do make that decision to step in. Yeah, I think
that I like what you've said there because I think
people look at folks that decide to run and they say,
what makes you think you can do this? There's so
many different aspects to running a state or you know,
even the presidential candidates, why do you think you can
do this? And what you said there is so important
for people to understand when they are looking at different
(06:12):
candidates that you're going to learn along the way, and
it's the people you surround yourself with as well. That's important.
And you were kind of in a unique position because
you were a lieutenant governor and then you were placed
into the position of governor before you ran again. So
you inherited this job when the governor of Iowa was
(06:33):
appointed to be ambassador of China, and so that suddenly
was thrust upon you, and you had a lot of
decisions to make. But you've done such an incredible job.
And I want to go to something that is kind
of controversial across the whole country right now because after COVID.
Coming out of COVID, a lot of parents said, man,
I really want to have a choice in education, and
(06:54):
you are working on school choice in Iowa. You've passed
that in Iowa. Tell me a little bit about that
process and what that was like and how you handle
it when people come up against you and say that
this is not the right choice. Yeah, oh, thank you.
It's something I feel so passionately about and it was
just underscored after going through COVID. You know, it was
the kids that needed that structure more than anything to
(07:16):
be in the classroom, to have a safe environment to
you know, I mean, they had a parent that was
working to tell them to learn from how It was
just absolutely crazy. And I think even through it all,
I mean even before that, we were working on it,
but parents just had a front row seat to some
of the things that were being taught, even in the
classroom as well. And so I had been working on
(07:37):
school choice for three years. We enhanced charter schools, we
expanded open enrollment, but the school choice bill I got
through the Senate two years in a row, only to
have it held up in the House. And it was
so frustrating because I just we put a lot of
work into it. I traveled the state, and I was
hearing from parents who agreed with the fact that every
(08:01):
parent should have that opportunity, not just those that have
the resources. I mean, you know, they accused me of
not caring about children, but yet it's the individuals that
need it the most that weren't able to take advantage
of it. And so the first thing I did tutor
is I got involved in primaries. And I don't normally
do that, but I was either going to be an enabler. Yeah,
I was going to either be an enabler or I
(08:22):
was going to step in and do what I could
because the chair of the Education Committee in the House
was opposed to it, and he was the one that
was stopping it every year, and so I got involved
in nine primaries. We were successful in eight of the nine.
I'm proud to say that the ninth primary he actually
supported and voted for the bill and probably is one
of the biggest proponents of it this year getting it
(08:46):
across the finish line. But I just ask a simple question,
and it was really focused on that. I said, tell
me your position on school choice, and if you think
that every parent should have that choice, and if they
agreed with that, then I helped in any way that
I could get them across the finish line. And so
we were able to get that done. But the other
thing that I did that I think was really almost
(09:07):
as important. It was more kind of almost a rural
urban issue. I heard from a lot of legislators that
this would destroy their schools and that they wouldn't be
able to compete. And so I spend a lot of
time meeting one on one with those rural superintendents and
I said, I know I'm not going to change your mind.
I get that, but I want to look you in
the eye and I want to tell you that it's
(09:28):
imperative that we have a strong, successful public school system.
This is not going to destroy it. I believe with
all my heart it will elevate education overall. But what
can we do? What are we doing that's inhibiting your
ability to be innovative and to be competitive and to
provide your students with the best possible education. And they
talked a lot about Chapter twelve, which is the regulatory
(09:50):
piece of it. It was shall shall shall shall, and
you know we always add we never take off, and
ask if we would just relieve some of the burdensome
regulations that they have so they can have a little
bit more flexibility. And I said yes, and we did that.
And then the other thing they said is we can't
be competitive, especially in rural Iowa, when it comes to
our teacher salaries. And so we found some existing funds
(10:11):
quite a bit actually was one hundred million dollars that
they were setting on three hundred twenty million overall that
they can actually roll in not into administration, but into
teacher salaries to increase teacher salaries or use it to
hire additional teachers. And I think that also helped some
of my rule. Lawmakers feel a little bit more comfortable
with it, but that is certainly what we hear, especially
(10:35):
in Michigan but across the country, is that if you
pass school choice, that will hurt the public school system.
And so the narrative that they use is that if
you are a pro school choice, then you are anti
public education. I think it's really important that you pointed
that out, that you actually were able to expand conversations
on public ed by talking about school choice. Yeah, and
(10:58):
same thing with the charter. That's a pub best through
the public schools. And I started out with my condition
of the state this year and said, you know this,
the media and the unions drive this hysteria. And you
know when we passed I signed in the law my
third tax cut, Oh my god, state government was going
to collapse. I mean we were going to just destroy education.
The world was going to cease to exist. When I
(11:19):
got the kids back in the classroom and COVID, you know,
I was going to kill the kids. I was going
to kill the teachers. I got obituaries from teachers that
came to me, But mostly it was the unions that
were driving the narrative. And I've been able to point
back to every single we passed collective bargaining reform in
twenty seventeen that really minimized the union's ability. I mean,
(11:40):
they can only negotiate salaries and it's a three percent
or a cost of living race, whichever is lower, and
then they can bargain other things, but those are they
both both sides have to agree. We can't paycheck protection
was a part of it in twenty seventeen, and then
they have to recertify every time they have to renegotiate
a contract. So you were able to kind of eliminate
(12:01):
a lot of that too, But same thing. I mean,
they just all of the same accusations, and I just
went through and kind of highlighted how at each point
we proved it wrong. You know, our economy is growing,
our revenues are higher. Even with a lot of the
you know issues that we're facing from an aggressive administration,
(12:24):
we're still doing really well in Iowa. And so I
just told them once again, we're going to prove the
media wrong. And that's what I think, Tutor, they're so
afraid of is the more states that are doing this,
that narrative that it's going to destroy the public school
system is going to be proved untrue, and then I
don't know what they have after that, because we're going
(12:45):
to be able to demonstrate with data that that's not true. Well,
I think in some cases there is a fear that
if you are a government school you really are guaranteed
that income. You don't have to compete. And so there
are some areas. I mean, I know in Michigan, for sure,
we have some school systems that have been consistently at
about a five percent literacy rate. What is the motivation
(13:09):
to increase that if you don't have any competition? And
I think this is something that Republicans have been trying
to say, but just parents have been trying to say, Well,
if I can't get it higher than five percent, give
me the option to give my child a future. And
that is really key to these kids' lives. If you
can't read, what do you have? Yeah, and it can't
just continue to pass them on. They have no accountability,
(13:32):
there's no transparency. And what other area is competition not
a good thing? To your pointing, I act right, you know,
and so quit being fearful of that. We're going to
help you get in there. But get in there and
you know, and that's the other thing. If they know nothing,
they understand the money. And so now I mean we passed,
you know, said no to critical race theory. We've done
(13:54):
parental rights and we've done all of that. But the
best thing that we can do to the education, as
you know, is to give parents a choice. And as
those kids start to leave, they are going to have
to look at how they're providing that education and either
get in the game or they are not going to
cease to exist. And so they do understand dollars and
(14:15):
they do understand that they're going to have to other
game if they're going to be able to keep the
kids there. So that is just overall, will do more,
I believe, to drive opportunities for these kids and to
just set them up to be successful. That's our future.
You know, you want to give them every opportunity. Let's
take a quick break more with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. Next,
(14:39):
Welcome back to the Tutor Dixon Podcast. We continue our
conversation with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. You definitely have been
about making sure people have choice and people are successful
and that there is opportunity for folks over government. And
so in a way, I would say that you're really
a proponent of smaller government, and you're proving that with
(14:59):
your this proposal that I think is a fifteen hundred
page proposal to reorganize state government but really make governments smaller.
So that scares people for some reason, Whenever we talk
about making government smaller, people start to freak out that
they're going to lose something. Explain, how do you talk
to people about this and assure them that you're not
taking something away, that this will actually give back. Yeah,
(15:23):
it's actually streamlining the whole process. I mean, I feel
sorry for take for example, we started by an MU
and then we codified in the language this year the
Department of Public Health and Human Services, and the amount
of doors that an individual had to go through to
try to get the services, to try to have the
accountability and to be able to serve and was ridiculous.
(15:44):
You know, these individuals, these moms, these dads, you know,
they're trying to survive and trying to put food on
the table and do the best that they can, and
they don't have the time to do that. We had
over a hundred professional licensing functions that were spread over
eleven different agencies. We had one hundred workforce programs that
again were spread over a different one eleven different agencies.
(16:07):
That's not got good government. There's duplication and every time
there's duplication, there's cost to the taxpayers. And which you know,
it's too big, it's government's too big, it's too expensive,
and it's too fragmented. And so in Iowa, I'm so
proud to say it just passed. So it's on its
way down to my desk. Wonderful. Yeah, we're going to
take the executive branch, which I have control over, had
(16:29):
thirty seven executive branch agencies. Crazy, I mean, we were
bigger than every one of the surrounding states when I
and we're going down to sixteen, So thirty seven down
to sixteen. And we brought it, we brought into consultant
to help us go through this. We've been working on
this since June of last year, so we've been very
(16:52):
strategic and how we did it. But here was the
final kicker when I found out that Illinois, we spent
twenty one hundred dollars more allocated as an expenditure per
capita than Illinois, who is four times our size of
the four times the size of Iowa and not really
known for their conservative budgeting practices. I mean, it was
(17:12):
like underscore, underscore, we are way out of line. And
it had been forty years since we have done a system,
a system wide enterprise review, and so I'm really excited.
It's projected to save and I think this is probably
on the conservative side, about two hundred and fourteen million
dollars over four years, So it will save significant money.
(17:36):
We'll get that back to the taxpayers, and I will
be able to actually have a cabinet meeting where we
can set down and talk about strategies. And so I
know without hesitation that we are going to continue to
streamline because I've seen it happen just in the conversations
that we've had leading up to going from thirty seven
down to sixteen. But oh my goodness, you know, in
(18:00):
the hosteria and the pushback, the you know, the other side,
you know, they were like, I'm controlling, I'm being more controlling.
I'm going I said, I'm going from thirty seven down
to sixteen. I don't know how you can say that.
I can't. It doesn't really exactly. That's the thing you'll
find a way to make it look bad. So but
(18:20):
so now I said, okay, team, I set them down
and I said, we got it done. So now we
got we got to execute. But we've got a really
good plan in place to move that through. And so
I'm really excited. And then just real quick, we just
have too much government overall, and so I knew that
I delete by example, and I needed to get our
house in order before we would start to have that
(18:41):
conversation with our local governments. Because if we want to
be more competitive and continue to reduce the tax burden
on Iowa's we just we can't continue to fund government
at the level that we are. And so hopefully I
can lead by example and go talk to some local
governments and start that process. And I think that people
are getting to know you. And as you talk, especially today,
(19:03):
as that people are listening, they can see that you're
just very reasonable. It's just very easy to talk to you.
It's very easy to understand. And so I really believe
that this is why so many people have floated the
idea of you being on the ticket with someone in
twenty four I mean, just honestly, is that flattering? I mean,
what do you think of that when people say that, Oh, well, okay,
(19:25):
I'm gonna tell you what I think. I mean, I
think it's great for Iowa. So I always come back
to that perspective. It's just doing things like this. It
helps kind of get Iowa on the map. A lot
of times. We're a small state in the heartland of America,
and I feel like I'm up on the Capitol Dome
like just waving my hands, say look at what we're
doing here. We've got great things happening. And you know,
(19:47):
they just tend to talk about the larger states. They
think they about got Texas and Florida, and we have
mimicked so many and lead honestly on so many of
the policies, whether it's selection, integrity reform, or esays you know,
we lad this year and Sarah Sanders is following in Arkansas.
We've got Utah, You've got Greg a lot of people
(20:09):
following suits. So I think it's helping just people take
a look at what we are doing in Iowa. If
that's part of the conversation, I'm okay with that. But
I'm really truly, really focused on what we're doing here.
I got to keep cutting taxes because fifteen of my
governor colleagues have tax cuts in their proposal this year.
(20:30):
So I've got to We've got to come back next
year and continue to look for ways to bring that down.
I'm trying to get to zero. Oh my gosh, and
I think I just read we're Michigan is repealing right
to work? Yeah, yeah, isn't that terrible? It's so sad.
Forty years I mean this has happened. It's been forty
years since. I mean, it's just everybody's heading in the
opposite direction. It's so sad, it's it's terrible. I mean,
(20:54):
we have that, we have you know, they're talking about
taking away immunity for gun stores and gun manufacturers. These
are things that I think that some of these bills
go through and people go, oh, that sounds, you know,
their favorite term common sense to me. But then you
dig in and there's these other crazy things in there.
I mean, imagine, are we going to say that suddenly
(21:16):
the potato chip manufacturers are going to be held liable
if you have a heart attack? Are you going to
say that car manufacturers are going to be held liable
if you have a car accident? I mean this is
some crazy stuff, but this is what they are very
good at twisting it into making people believe that you
have to do this, and so removing right to work
is really going to hurt the state of Michigan. And
(21:38):
I think that Michigan and Iowa are similar. In the
center of the country, it's very Midwestern. You really understand
the average American person and what they need, and so
I think that is also why there's such an attraction
to the state of Iowa. But in Iowa, you're also
very focused on mental health and especially children's mental health.
(21:58):
That to me, I really want to get into with
you because it was a big deal to me. I
watched what my kids went through during the pandemic, and
I tell this story because it was so shocking to me.
I have four girls, and at the end of the pandemic,
you know, we were in Michigan, locked into our homes
and so people. The kids couldn't go out at all.
And I think that because I could go to the
grocery store, I sort of forgot about the fact that
(22:21):
the girls are really trapped together in the house. And
my daughter, my oldest at the time, she was ten,
and I was putting her to bed and she started
crying and I said, what's wrong and she said, Mom,
I think this is what depression feels like. That hit
our kids so much harder than we really ever could understand.
So how are you looking at this differently in Iowa,
(22:43):
because we really as a country need to examine mental
health and our kids mental health. Yeah, especially what we did.
You know, what we did to them, because it was
just self inflicted on them. And that's why we were
one of the first states to get our kids back
in the classroom. And I even you know, I did
it by by order and then I had the legislature
(23:03):
take it up and ran up through the legislature because
I knew that it would have more weight by doing that.
I didn't want to keep the health order going for
any longer than I needed to because they could just
you could, you know, the governors used that as a
way to really hurt the people that they served, to
really let government step into areas that they shouldn't have
(23:24):
done that. But but it's still it's still a need,
even though we got the kids back in and so
I am really it's been a passion of mine from
the very beginning. We work to get a comprehensive adult
mental health reform done. And then I recognized the fact
that we didn't even have a children's health system. And
what I found out is they've been talking about it.
This isn't what they do. They like to talk about
(23:45):
an issue, but never deal with it because then it
goes away, you know. So they've been talking for twenty
years about standing up a children's mental health system, and
I put a task force together. It gave them one
hundred days, asked them to to figure out how we
can stand up a system so we have a continuum
of care and hopefully we can get these kids the
(24:07):
services that they need early on so that they can
have every opportunity to have a healthy and a happy life.
And we were able. So we gave the recommendations and
then I put it in bill form again and took
it through the legislature to give Iowan's the opportunity to
weigh in and to make sure that everybody was heard.
(24:29):
And we were able to stand that up. And I
want to tell you, which just doesn't happen very often.
It passed unanimously in the Iowa legislature in both chambers.
So I'm very proud of that too, but we've also
we've provided mental health parity for telehealth, which was really important.
We made our schools a site of service and what
(24:51):
that means is they can provide on site professionals and
they can get reimbursed for it that something that wasn't
done and so we have some therapist or they can
use telehealth to either one. But it's really been a
really positive thing, not only for the kids but for
the teachers and the families because the families are comfortable
(25:14):
going to a school and so and we're able to
meet all the hippop so our mom and dad involved
in that, because I think that's been for sure. Oh no, no, no,
for sure, we were very very they're driving it, they're
the ones that are and not all of them have it.
But it's an option, it's it's it's gone very well
in the schools that we've been able to do it.
(25:36):
And then just mis spent just some training, some put
some dollars into training teachers so that they can identify
the early warning signs. But yeah, so then we go
to the other side of how they've kind of trying
to take parents out of the child's education and on
one of the decisions that are being made on that
a parent should be making. And so this year we're
putting in all kinds of protections to make sure that
(25:58):
that's not happening as well. And we did that with
the Mental health peace too. It has to be driven
by the parent, it can't be driven by the schools.
So the last thing I want to go over really
quick with you is Republican Governor's Association because one of
the things you said at the beginning was when someone's running,
(26:19):
you know they can talk to other people. They're not
doing this alone. And that was what I thought was
so fascinating when I was running, because here we were
able to meet and there's so much access. The governors
at those meetings are so willing to sit and talk
to you. That to me was amazing to think that
these people who are so powerful are willing to sit
with you and say what questions do you have? And
(26:40):
so when I was talking to folks across the state
of Michigan and they were saying, how was it that
these Red states were doing different things during COVID, I
was able to say, Hey, I've talked to these governors
and they were talking, they were communicating, so tell us
a little bit about that, because I think people think
everybody is doing this on their own and not communicating.
(27:01):
But the Republican governors really do talk and we're making
decisions together about a lot of these things. Such a
tight knit organization, organization. And to your point, you know,
I've got the cell phones of all of them, So
not only during COVID, and I mean these were long days.
I was out of the State Emergency Operations Center. We
started there early in the morning and worked late in
(27:22):
to night and to the night, and I would either
take the call there or when I got home or
on the way home. But at least twice a week
we would do a late night conference call. I would
say probably around eight o'clock a lot of times because
all the governors were doing press conference, are still working
on things. Maybe sometimes seven thirty or eight. A lot
of times too. We would be on the phone for
an hour and a half to two hours, and you know,
(27:44):
it was just it was hitting different stages at different
times and different parts of the country, and to be
able to get their feedback on what they were seeing,
the data that they were collecting, where they were finding
testing supplies, how they were standing up testing opportunities how
we were keeping you know, and I we produced ten
percent of the nation's food supply, and so it was
(28:05):
impairing that I kept my processing plans up and going.
But I wanted the employees to know that they were
in a safe environment. So I needed some way to test,
you know, so that when they went in they felt
comfortable and safe to be able to keep it open
and to keep the food supply chain moving. But it
was invaluable to be able to have that resource, to
(28:27):
have that open conversation, and you know, where you could
it was safe zone too, you could be really honest
about what you were seeing and what was working and
what wasn't and so and that's just that's just typical.
We'd do it with the what's happening at the southern border.
You know, I have so much respect for Governor Abbott
(28:47):
and then Governor Ducey, you know, trying to lead a
state at the same time where your border is open
and you just have millions of illegal migrants coming across
the border, the drugs, the human trafficking. I mean, I
don't even know how you know, good team, you said
it earlier. You better surround yourself with the best and
the brightest, but to be able to help with them,
(29:08):
and we sent law enforcement down We've had our National
Guard down there. But a lot of coordination with all
the governors from that perspective as well. And just even
if you've got a question about an issue that you're
working on, you know, I would Pete Rickets. I would
pick up the phone and I would say, Pete, how
are you handling? And we worked really closely during COVID
(29:31):
because we're so connected with the Omaha and the Council
Bluffs area, and so we didn't want to make decisions
that would you know, hurt his residence or mind because
we were so connected. So our chief oft staff and
Pete and I were a lot of times just hey,
this is I'm thinking about I'm going to open the
restaurants back up. This is wrong. We've got to put
(29:51):
our trust in the same thing. And just to kind
of time it so that we were moving forward. I
love this. I just have to interrupt because I love
the because I think that people listen to what the
media was saying. And you have the media coming out
and saying, oh, Governor Kemp is going to kill everybody.
Abbott's going to kill everybody. This is outrageous. Florida is
(30:12):
going to kill everybody. And there was no discussion that
these were actually data filled conversations about what actually was happening.
The people who were in charge managing this were having
those conversations back and forth. It was not willy nilly
discussions of let's see if we open restaurants. What happened?
You were watching every state and how this was moving
(30:34):
across the country. And I think that's something people really
have never heard. Yeah, no, honestly. And then even when
we brought in the test Iowa, the new program that
we were able to do. It had a robust data collection.
I could tell you down to the zip code where
we was starting to see a flare up and then
we could get in front of it quicker and just
to be able to share that conversation or to have
it start on the east and the west coast and
(30:55):
then kind of move in and then it went across
and you know, I mean just the steria driven by
the media, you know, And we did a daily press
conference and we were just honest with Iowans, here's where
we're at, and here's what we're seeing, and this is
what we're doing. And you know, I have people to
this day, tutor. No matter where I go, I have
(31:17):
just people come up and say, I never missed your
press conference. We went through it together. We would stop
everything and tune in, and you know, I got choked
up at one of them. It must have been some
really bad data. And I was so mad at myself
when I got done with the press conference, because I
(31:37):
felt like they needed to see their governor be strong
and to be able to deal with this, and I
felt like I had let Iowan's down, and I had
just the opposite. I had people calling in, sending tech
sending emails and just saying, we recognized at that point
that you were in Iowa, just like we were going
through this together, and you're making the best decisions that
(32:02):
you can make based on the data that you have.
So you'll appreciate this because that wasn't the case with
your governor at the time. But this isn't my this
isn't my natural hair color. So you know, when the
salons were shut down and I said to my husband,
I said, keV, you're not to color my hair. I said,
I can't. You know, the stripe is getting whiter and whiter.
(32:24):
And you know, I'm not going to break a rule.
I'm not going to do something. You know, I'm obliged
by the same rules. And so boy he went down
and he googled it and like a YouTube, and he
had gloves in the dish and we got the stuff
and and so as he's trying to do it, I said, Okay,
now here's the bad news, Kevin. I am going to
have to take a picture of you post it because
(32:45):
otherwise I really will believe that I didn't have you
do my hair. My number one post of all times
of anything I've done was the fact that my husband
agreed to color my hair and then let me take
a picture of him and post it on Facebook. But
you know, I think Iowan's knew that I was putting
my trust in them, and if I did something, it
(33:06):
was it was based on the unknown at the time.
But bye, guysh whatever I did, I I was going
to live under the same rules that I was asking
them to do so anyway, and that's why they put
That's why they put their trust in you. And honestly,
I know this is a sensitive subject, but that is
why so many people have their eyes on you. Right now,
(33:28):
and we're just watching to see what you do next,
because I know you really care and I know you're
really looking for the right solution. And I just love
that you said I had a task force to put
together and gave them a hundred days. And that's the
type of thing that we want to hear. You have
the team, you have, the people working on the stuff.
That's what makes you so unique. And the fact that
you can connect emotionally, the fact that you can share
(33:51):
a picture like that, that is truly being an American
and that's why we love you. So I just want
you to know that I appreciate what you've done, I
appreciate knowing you, and I'm so thankful that you joined
me today on this podcast. Thank you and right back
at you, so you keep being you, keep doing you,
and just best of luck on your podcast. I know
(34:11):
it's going to be a huge success. So thanks for
giving me the opportunity. Governor Kim Reynolds, thank you all
for joining us today on the Tutor Dickson Podcast. For
this episode and others, go to Tutor Dickson podcast dot com.
You can subscribe right there. Join me next time on
the Tutor Dixson Podcast. And have a great day.
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show News
Hosts And Creators
Clay Travis
Buck Sexton
Show Links
WebsiteNewsletterPopular Podcasts
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com