Des Moines, Iowa (RI) — Could a trip to Worthington from our area end up being an in-state trip? If one central Iowa lawmaker gets what he is proposing, that will be the case.
State Senator Mike Bousselot, a Republican from Ankeny, is sponsoring a bill that would start the process of the State of Iowa buying the southern tier of southern Minnesota counties.
Most of the state of Minnesota (as well as what is now east-river South and North Dakota) was part of Iowa Territory for eight years, from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846.
The nine Minnesota counties included in the proposal are Rock, Nobles, Jackson, Martin, Faribault, Freeborn, Mower, Fillmore, and Houston
Bousselot is an attorney who was former Governor Terry Branstad’s chief of staff. He’s now operating a real estate business, but isn’t suggesting how much the State of Iowa would pay Minnesota for those counties.
Bousselot, who is chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, says it’s a very serious proposal.
Democrats like House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst say buying part of Minnesota would be an inappropriate use of Iowa tax dollars.
Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner says Iowa lawmakers have enough to do for the people in Iowa’s existing 99 counties. Changing state borders requires an act of Congress. Bousselot notes it was last done in 1961, when Minnesota agreed to cede land to North Dakota because of a change in the course of the Red River of the North. Bousselot suggests there would be “immediate agricultural investment” in those nine counties if they become part of Iowa.
LuVerne, Iowa, was founded in 1880 and sits on the border of Kossuth and Humbolt Counties. It was named after Luverne, Minnesota, which is in the southwest corner of the state to our north. It would take over two and a half hours to drive from LuVerne, Iowa, to Luverne, Minnesota, which is part of the Sioux Falls, South Dakota metro.