Branstad spreads his message, gets an earful at Hampton town hall meeting

     Local residents packed into the Center One meeting room in Hampton on Aug. 27 where they heard from Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad on state issues and peppered him with questions on a variety of topics.

     Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds made the visit to Hampton last week as part of their tour of the state's 99 counties.

     The goal of the tour, he said, was to update the citizens on progress his administration has made on a several issues he highlighted when he was elected. The governor also listened to locals and answered questions as best he could.

     "I want to thank you all for joining us here. I am pleased to be back in Franklin County, and I appreciate the opportunity to report to you what's going on in the state of Iowa," Branstad began. "Last January, when I had the honor of giving the condition of the state address to the joint session of the Iowa legislature, I laid out a very focused but ambitious agenda. The goals were to reduce property taxes for all classes or property; restore a leadership position for Iowa's education system; and make Iowa the healthiest state in the nation by expanding access to physicians and healthcare."

Read the full article in the Sept. 4 edition of the Hampton Chronicle.