Fighting for
everyday Iowans.
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the difference.
Meet Shawn Ellerbroek
Shawn Ellerbroek brings his passion for education and community to his campaign for Iowa House of Representatives District 57. With over two decades of experience as a biochemistry professor, Ellerbroek is deeply committed to shaping policies that prioritize water quality, reduce cancer rates, produce a common-sense balanced state budget, protect and improve rural public education, and provide affordable and accessible healthcare for all Iowans.
Shawn is a life-long Iowan who has raised three children in Waverly with his wife, Angie. His service as President of the Waverly-Shell Rock School Board and career in cancer research give him a profound understanding of many of the key issues facing Iowans. The Shawn for Iowa platform emphasizes being present in the community, listening and inclusive governance, and evidence-based decision-making that fosters a brighter, more equitable future for all Iowans.
Water Quality
There are two outstanding concerns about Iowa water: its poor quality and no understanding of how much or little of it exists under our feet. We are experiencing unprecedented concentrations of nitrates, PFAS, chemicals, and coliform bacteria in our waterways. These substances are polluting our drinking and recreational waters and likely contributing to our nation-leading rise in cancer rates. We need legislation that supports more inclusive rural water well surveillance and treatment, fully funds real-time water monitoring efforts to track safety and success of nutrient reduction efforts, requires water treatment facilities to create plans to protect municipal water supplies, and properly tracks and enforces waste management activity.
Iowa farmers are being squeezed by high production costs and closed markets. We need to help them in their work to use the least amount of chemicals possible for their economic bottom line and our health. We also need to keep those chemicals and waste from reaching our taps and recreational waterways. Current nutrient reduction approaches, such as buffer strip implementation and cover crops, have been insufficient in reducing nutrient release across the state in large part because of cost, time, and resource impediments.
Water quality and its connection to agricultural practices are, understandably, of high concern to Iowans. Many Iowa farmers are adopting conservation approaches as they can. To do better, we must partner with farmers to give them more resources to install edge-of-field practices like bioreactors and wetlands to filter water. We can start with increased availability of forgivable implementation loans and free access to land-specific nutrient reduction plans. The cost of this could be off-set by enforcing existing regulations, raising the incredibly low $10K fines for environmental negligence, and funding IWILL that Iowans voted yes on over a decade ago. And many of us can pitch in by limiting chemical application in our own backyards.
We still have no idea how much water Iowa has in its aquifers. With water-consuming industries like data centers, ethanol plants, and carbon capture pipelines being proposed, discussed, or in the case of the latter forced upon us, we have to recognize the serious negative consequences of over permitting. The last time Iowa updated its comprehensive water plan was 1985, when the Bears won the Super Bowl. Let's figure out what we have for water and how we want to use and protect it.
Lower Cancer Rates
Cancer often takes years to develop. Even if we magically mitigated cancer drivers today, high cancer rates will be with us for years to come. We cannot wait; future generations need action now. Unfortunately, the legislature has been slow to understand and respond, even proposing bills that protect the chemical companies. If elected, protecting Iowans, not big corporations, will be my priority.
Lots of folks blame agrochemicals. And yes – they contribute. But we Iowans also have too many behavior-associated cancers, including lung, colorectal, breast, and melanoma. Smoking, drinking, failure to protect from UV-light, poor diet, and not enough exercise all contribute to those high rates. We have to invest in early detection and prevention. Steps include increased access to mental health counseling, mandatory radon mitigation in new home builds, tax credits for radon mitigation, increased access to HPV vaccines, farm produce-to-table programs, and empower Iowans through healthy behavior linked to employer-sponsored wellness programs and specialized health tax credits. We can offset some of this cost through increased taxation of alcohol, tobacco and revenue from legalization of recreational marijuana - which doesn’t require smoking. The state will also appreciate savings from reduced health costs associated with a healthier Iowa.
We have ample evidence that nitrates, PFAS, herbicides, and pesticides cause cancer growth and likely work in synergy with each other and behavior-associated carcinogens. We have to change the system of mono agriculture in Iowa for the health of both our economy and Iowans themselves. Breaking from a constant corn/bean rotation means less agrochemical use, reduced carcinogen exposure for Iowans, and lowering of our nation-leading cancer rates.
To start, corn to ethanol is not green; we should grow crops for food, not tailpipes. I get that corn-ethanol offers some market stability, but Iowa needs to subsidize market development for alternative crops, including small grains, and severely limit foreign ownership of meat processing plants. We have to change the fact that a small number of corporations are controlling everything from seed to fertilizer to ethanol plants to the proposed carbon capture pipelines. They are creating thin volatile profit margins for our farmers which limit their time, resources, and energy for sustained conservation practices.
Iowa’s current agricultural system enforces maximum per acre yields (buy their seed and use their chemicals). Big Ag businesses are getting richer while we get sicker. We have too many young people getting cancer, and Iowa is number one in key cancers not linked to behavior – leukemia and Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. And it is not just cancer – other diseases including Parkinson’s are on the rise and linked to agrochemicals. We can start by limiting vertical integration by corporations and creating and enforcing antitrust laws to break up monopolistic pricing. Iowa should empower the DNR to enforce existing regulations, require proper aerial application through reasonable fine enforcement and robust damage compensation for over spraying, and clean up our water through partnership practices I mention under water quality.
Budget - Yours and the State's
The legislature in Des Moines doesn’t have a plan to fix the damage they have done to our economy and budget. They’ve accelerated the installment of a 3.8% flat tax. When combined with a nation-lagging economy, the result is a huge loss of income for the state. Inevitably, the state has been running billion dollar deficits. The only reason this has not triggered default is Iowa is using its savings account to balance its ledger.
That savings account wasn’t built on over-taxing, it was a product of one-time federal stimulus money. And we know the surplus budget is being used faster than anticipated – meaning the state is heading towards a Kansas-size financial crisis. This means reduced support for schools, Medicaid, infrastructure, food assistance programs, and public safety. The services many Iowans depend on.
Which makes it an interesting time to tackle property taxes, but here we are. To be crystal clear, our property tax system and results are also of their own making, as the republican party has controlled everything for a decade. And their actions have consequences. For example, the legislature’s refusal to fund public school properly has put pressure on local school districts to levy additional tax so they can operate in a world of increased requirements, inflation, and runaway insurance costs. Watch out Iowa - as we put forth property tax revision, with growth caps, the squeeze will especially be felt in local services – including those associated with our safety.
What a mess. And as the legislature moves forward in a world of budget deficit, we are seeing more and more pieces of regressive legislation: tax on gas, increase taxes passed on to insurance premium and renters, sales tax hikes. They are giving tax cuts that favor the wealthiest among us, including corporations, and asking the average Iowans to pay the difference.
This is not a tax and spend shout out. This is a tax and balance the budget and fully fund public schools cry out. We have to return to a progressive tax system that gives the state the opportunity to balance their budget. Once we have a balanced budget, we can work on sustainable property tax relief focused on seniors on set income and new-time buyers without destroying local municipalities ability to run things like fire, and police departments.
Recent reports indicate that over half of Iowa's college graduates leave the state to live and work elsewhere. Iowa House Republicans recently said we are “over educating Iowans”. That is crap; we are failing them. Young Iowans do not want to stay and get cancer with limited job prospects while seeing their rights and beliefs attacked. And companies don’t want to come to a state running billion dollar deficits, that cannot support infrastructure needs, and cannot promise a pool of skilled workers because they are leaving or sick. For the long-term health of our budget and economy, we must address Iowa's cancer and water quality issues and fund public education and critical services that will make Iowa graduates want to plant roots in our state.
Shawn for Iowa Endorsements
