By Susan Thompson | Lake Panorama Times
John Rutledge
Q: How does legislative advocacy fit into LPA’s overall strategy as an association?
A: Fostering Lake Panorama’s overall success requires a great deal of hard work by our staff, volunteers, committees and board of directors. While some of the work we do is very visible to the membership, other elements take place behind the scenes. The most notable and impactful behind-the-scenes effort is LPA’s legislative advocacy work at the State Legislature.
LPA contracts with a lobbying firm for day-to-day representation at the Capitol, and I supplement their work by being personally involved in legislator meetings and bill reviews. Other members of our staff and legal team are engaged from time to time as we encounter specific topics.
Q: What topics does Lake Panorama advocate for at the state level?
A: Lake Panorama narrowly limits our efforts to select topics that impact LPA and the Lake Panorama Rural Improvement Zone (RIZ). On the LPA side, our focus falls into two categories. First, we watch anything that impacts Water Navigation Regulations (boating regulations), which is found under Iowa Code 462A. Any changes to this section can directly impact how members recreate on the waters of Lake Panorama and the authority the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has over member use of the lake.
The second LPA item we monitor is anything to do with property owner associations and homeowner associations (HOAs). Although Lake Panorama feels like a small city, we are, in fact, a very large HOA under Iowa Law. This is relevant as changes to Iowa HOA Law have the potential to interfere with LPA’s authority on topics like building codes and our rules and regulations. HOA bills can span a variety of different code sections, which can make tracking these a little more tedious.
RIZ concerns are largely limited to Iowa Code Section 357H (RIZ Law) and Iowa Code Section 403.19 (Tax Increment Financing – TIF Law). While this may sound like a short list of items to watch, bills addressing Section 403.19 can be very contentious. Additionally, the mechanics of TIF Law are highly complex, which makes these the most technically demanding of all topics we monitor. TIF Law is frequently described as having a lot of moving parts, which is both true and a huge understatement.
Q: Are there topics LPA intentionally avoids during the legislative session? If so, why?
A: Absolutely. While there are some exceptions, LPA generally avoids any topics that aren’t related to HOA governance, boating governance, RIZ Law and TIF Law. We intentionally limit ourselves to these topics for several reasons.
First and foremost, we can be a more potent advocate when we focus on three or four topics rather than a dozen. There is a lot of competition to get face time with legislators, and we want to be sure we are using those opportunities to discuss our top priorities rather than issues about which we are only moderately interested. Each session, we’re lucky if we get to take one or two bites out of the apple. If we try to eat the whole thing, we’re likely to end up with nothing.
Second, we have to keep in mind LPA represents the will of the membership. When it comes to advocating for the protection of RIZ, we can advocate with confidence that 99% of the membership is in alignment with our messaging on this topic. If we allow ourselves to stray into secondary or tertiary issues, we run the risk of advocating for positions that align with only 50% or 60% of our membership. It is important to remember LPA is not a lobbying entity but instead a subject matter expert on issues that directly affect LPA and RIZ.
Q: Why doesn’t LPA provide more updates to the membership throughout
the session?
A: The social network of the Lake Panorama membership is amazing, but its reach creates practical challenges when it comes to updating the membership on things like legislative strategy. To be completely honest, it’s impossible to execute a confidential strategy if we share that strategy with thousands of members.
One of the best examples I can offer is the difference between killing a bill and achieving an amendment on a bill. There have been occasions when a negative bill is filed, and we receive a lot of concerned feedback from the membership. The feedback usually includes questions as to why LPA isn’t notifying the membership to undertake a letter-writing campaign to kill the bill. The answer to this is almost always the same.
When a bad bill is filed, we reach out to the legislators and express our concerns. Frequently, the negative impact to LPA is unintended and the legislators are willing to work with us for a corrective amendment. Pressuring those same legislators is not only unnecessary but runs the risk of unnecessarily offending them.
Q: Closing thoughts?
A: 2025 was a very intense legislative session, with bills being filed on several of our issues. It is our expectation 2026 will continue to demand a lot of effort and time from our team, as bills are presented to reform TIF and HOA governance. Please know we will be in touch if a membership-wide effort is needed to communicate our concerns about a specific bill or amendment. But, otherwise, please know we are working feverishly behind the scenes to advocate for Lake Panorama’s continued prosperity.