<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=36EU1V_1FDmnzdU00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=36EU1V_1FDmnzdU00" width="1200" height="600" >DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) - Iowa’s next governor will inherit a state budget surplus and the lowest income tax burden in decades — but Democrat Rob Sand and Republican Zach Lahn both say Iowans still aren’t feeling enough relief in their day-to-day lives.In separate interviews, the two candidates laid out competing visions for affordability, health care and public education, offering voters a side-by-side look at how they’d govern.<h2>Affordability</h2>Sand has made affordability a centerpiece of his campaign, arguing Iowa is falling behind despite the state’s healthier bottom line.“There’s a tremendous amount of things that we can do to make life more affordable in Iowa,” Sand said. “We are 48th for personal income growth on average over the last three years. So if it seems like your friends in other states are doing better than you, it’s because they are.”Sand pointed to a list of proposals he said would lower costs, including capping prices on cheap-to-produce drugs like insulin, importing prescription drugs from Canada and capping utility user fees. He also blamed privatized Medicaid for soaring costs.Lahn pointed to progress already made, while acknowledging more work is needed — particularly on property taxes.“I think looking at property tax relief is still something we need to go further on,” Lahn said. “That’s complicated, of course. Local elections matter a lot for property taxes. But here’s the good news: Iowa’s recently ranked as the number one most affordable state in the country. It doesn’t mean there’s not work to do. There is.”<h2>Medicaid</h2>With 1 in 5 Iowans on Medicaid, Lahn said the system needs reform.“No. 1 with Medicaid, we have a system that is set up and it is largely working,” Lahn said. “Not to say there aren’t efficiencies to be gained.”Lahn said he wants to bar managed care organizations from what’s known as vertical integration — owning both pharmacies and the providers that use them.“I’m looking at the managed care operators to say that, you know, No. 1, no vertical integration,” Lahn said. “You can’t own the pharmacies. You can’t own the providers. We need to make sure that we’re setting that up for long term because that’s the wrong incentive to have.”He also said he wants to lean on artificial intelligence to root out fraud — with a limit.“We need to use AI to the fullest extent to find fraud,” Lahn said. “But you can’t use AI to decline claims. People deserve to hear from an actual human about what’s going on with them.”Sand’s criticism of the current system was more direct, tying privatized Medicaid to both higher costs and lower quality of care.“Privatized Medicaid has driven up costs and it’s resulted in tax increases and at the same time driven down the quality of care,” Sand said.Sand wants to get rid of managed care organizations. He has said he does not want to fully return to the old “fee-for-service” model. Instead, he envisions a managed-care framework run by state employees or nonprofit organizations. <h2>Education</h2>Public education funding has become one of the race’s most contentious flashpoints, with each campaign accusing the other of endangering Iowa’s public schools.Sand pushed back on rhetoric he said has gone too far, without naming Lahn directly on this point.“If they told me to start talking the way that he did and claiming that Marxists are somehow in control of Iowa’s curriculum, I would remind them that they’ve had 10 years of one-party control and that I don’t think that any of them are Marxists,” Sand said. “I’m just not going to talk that way about people. I don’t think that’s helpful. I don’t think it’s productive.”Sand said restoring morale in Iowa classrooms is a priority for him personally, as a public school parent.“We need to have good morale in Iowa public schools to make sure that my boys who are in Iowa public schools as well as everyone else’s are getting taught by people who know that they’re respected,” he said.Lahn defended the state’s spending record while arguing money alone hasn’t solved Iowa’s education problems.“We have increased per-pupil spending since we were number one in the nation in the 90s,” Lahn said. “We’ve increased spending by 50% inflation-adjusted and dropped 27 points. We have an issue with quality and culture. Money is not the only issue we’re facing.”Lahn said any new education spending needs to be targeted, and separately defended education savings accounts as a way to give families more say over where their children attend school.“Parents deserve to have more say where their kids go to school and where their tax dollars are spent,” Lahn said. “My goal is to help our public schools compete and have friendly competition where we’re all growing. Because, ultimately, there’s no public school kid or private school kid. There’s just Iowa kids.”Watch Rob Sand’s full extended interview here:Watch Zach Lahn’s full extended interview here:<h2>What’s Next</h2>Both candidates say voters can expect more detailed policy proposals as the race continues. Sand has pointed supporters to his campaign website for a full list of affordability proposals; Lahn has said he plans further announcements on Medicaid oversight and education spending targets.Both candidates have agreed to a debate hosted by KWQC on Oct. 6. The prime-time debate will air live across the state on 6.3, COZI, and stream online through the KWQC app on Roku and Amazon Fire. It will also stream on KCRG and KTIV’s streaming platforms.The debate will be moderated by TV6’s William Ingalls, Marcia Lense and Matt Christensen. Viewers can suggest questions for the moderators by emailing news@kwqc.com. </div></body>

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DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) - Iowa’s next governor will inherit a state budget surplus and the lowest income tax burden in decades — but Democrat Rob Sand and Republican Zach Lahn both say Iowans still aren’t feeling enough relief in their day-to-day lives. In separate interviews, the two...

Sand, Lahn offer differing visions in KWQC interviews

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DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) - Iowa’s next governor will inherit a state budget surplus and the lowest income tax burden in decades — but Democrat Rob Sand and R

Sand, Lahn offer differing visions in KWQC interviews

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