By Mari Ratke
Mike Schnoes, a native of Paullina, Iowa and now a rural Sutherland resident has tossed his hat for Iowa House District 5 into the proverbial ring. District 5 covers Osceola, O’Brien and the eastern half of Cherokee Counties, plus Liberty Township, Cherokee County and Scott, Elk, Nokomis, and Maple Valley Townships in Buena Vista County.
Schnoes has followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, taking up education as his occupation. He is a teacher at Alta-Aurelia School District and served in that capacity for 5 years. He is the 6th generation in O’Brien County. His settler grandparents were both veterinarians, the first in O’Brien County and shocking for a female during that time in history.
Schnoes is running as a Republican, but says, “The best person should win.” Contrasting his platform against Dieken, Schnoes says he is running on a broader set of issues than the current representative.
The broad category of Schnoes’ platform is civil rights rights and reintroducing educational standards “taken away from school districts by previous legislation.”
Schnoes believes strongly that there is a place for abortion rights. He identifies the life of the mother and issues of young girls and non-consensual sex and times for abortion care to be an option to the family. He contrasts that against Dieken’s total abortion ban position. He is commited to the belief that the difficult decision of reproductive care is most appropriately decided by the family, a spiritual leader and a physician. “It should not be the state’s decision.”
Senator Lynn Evans sponsored SF397 which survived the subcommittee and recieved a recommendation for passage. SF397 gives additional parental rights when paternity is in question. This includes the state and certain additional interested parties. Only a mother can request a DNA test under current law. Schnoes cites statistics in which an individual believing themselves to be a biological parent and is not actually the biological parent. He cites research noting this number reaches as high as 4-7%, with others believing this statistic reaches a full 10%.
Another parental civil right that Schnoes is passionate about is parental kidnapping. He explains how Iowa’s law does not address the circumstance. When an unmarried couple shares a child, one parent can bring the child into the state. The state can require support from the parent not in the state. That parent cannot fight without the financial means to do so, which is most of the time. Schnoes also outlined a similar scenario with one parent taking the child out of state. Schnoes says other states have codified this act as a misdemeanor. In the case of domestic abuse an exception should be applied, according to Schnoes, “within a limited number of days.”
Schnoes proposes that a custody agreement must be in place for child support to be ordered if filed in Iowa. He adds that if a child and parent are outside of Iowa they must return to Iowa to establish and enforce child support, insurance and visitation.
Grandparent rights are part of Schnoes’ concern where visitation and custody become an issue.
One educational standard Schnoes spoke about regards student attendance. At one point in time a school district could strip a student of their driver’s license if they have excessive and unexcused absences. The state ended the policy 2-3 years ago. Today, the only option a school district has to enforce attendance is to hand over a truancy to the county attorney. Schnoes is advocating for the return of that policy.
He also advocates a change to school funding. He would like to see school districts have more local control over how the funds they do receive get spent. He’s also clear that state funding giving 2-3% annual funding increases for salary increases is not sufficient.
Public funding for private interests is another circumstance that Schnoes wants to see end. He explained a private lake funded through public dollars because its only access is from a public river access.
The primary election is June 4, 2024 for the Iowa House of Representatives.