Iowa Sovereignty
Finance, Housing, and Justice for the People
by Sondra Wilson. July 2025

Iowa stands at a crossroads. For too long, outside powers—Wall Street banks, absentee landlords, and a national bar structure that places professional reputation over the public good—have siphoned wealth and decision-making away from everyday Iowans. It doesn’t have to be this way. My platform proposes a new covenant with the people: financial, housing, and legal sovereignty. Together, these pillars will ensure that Iowa’s future is determined by Iowans—not by distant capitals or unaccountable elites.

Financial Sovereignty
The Iowa Public Credit Union & Community Investment Exchange

From America’s earliest days, the importance of financial sovereignty was recognized. In his Report on a National Bank (1790), Alexander Hamilton argued that a publicly backed financial institution was essential to freeing the young nation from dependence on foreign powers, stating: “A National Bank is an institution of primary importance to the prosperous administration of the finances, and would be of the greatest utility in the operations connected with the support of public credit” [1].

Hamilton’s point was clear: without its own financial backbone, the United States would remain beholden to outside creditors. Today, Iowa faces the same risk—not from the Crown, but from Wall Street and federal policymakers who can cut Medicaid or school funding at will. If there is one thing we've learned from a Trump presidency, it is that federal funds can be ripped away at a moment's notice. We must move Iowa forward in a way that creates economic independence for ourselves in the long-term. This begins by creating the Iowa Public Credit Union (IPCU). 

North Dakota is the only U.S. state with a publicly owned bank. The Bank of North Dakota (BND), founded in 1919, has returned profits to the state for over a century, partnered with community banks to expand lending, and helped stabilize credit markets during recessions [2]. But Iowa can go further.

The IPCU will not only provide banking services—checking, savings, affordable loans—but will also democratize investment. Its headquarters will house the Iowa Community Investment Exchange (ICIX), a first-of-its-kind stock exchange where Iowans can purchase shares in local initiatives such as Gardens Across Iowa™, Iowa FryerForce™, and MycoFuel Engineers™. These investments will seed the Civilian Restoration Corps and generate local wealth.

A modest Financial Transaction Tax (FTT)—as low as 0.5% on stocks, 0.1% on bonds, and 0.005% on derivatives—will create a steady stream of revenue to fund schools, hospitals, libraries, and disaster preparedness. Just as the Iowa Lottery generated $106.6 million for state services in 2024, the ICIX will ensure Iowa’s prosperity circulates at home rather than being siphoned away [3].

Unlike Wall Street banks, the IPCU will be democratically governed. Members will vote on policies, and loan evaluations will prioritize community impact, sustainability, and inclusion of historically excluded groups. This is not bureaucracy—it is economic democracy.

Housing Sovereignty: The Iowa Right to Homestead Act

Every year, more than $2.5 billion leaves Iowa in the form of rent payments to out-of-state landlords. This extraction destabilizes communities, strips tenants of ownership, and leaves towns vulnerable to absentee management. My proposed Iowa Right to Homestead Act directly addresses this by using eminent domain to transfer ownership of large, absentee-owned apartment complexes to their tenants.

This is not radical; it is common sense. Homestead protections are deeply rooted in Iowa’s tradition of defending residents against exploitation. By keeping rental wealth circulating locally, we can empower tenants, stabilize neighborhoods, and reverse the flow of money out of our state.

Legal Sovereignty: The American Accreditation Registrar (AAR)

Yet financial and housing sovereignty are incomplete without legal sovereignty. The current bar association system is national in scope and beholden to professional standards that often conflict with the interests of everyday people. For example, attorneys may be prevented from taking on cases that challenge the very corporations or landlords they otherwise serve.

That is why we need the American Accreditation Registrar (AAR)—a new legal body dedicated to defending Iowans’ rights when the national bar will not. The AAR will fight to overturn outdated, publicly harmful Supreme Court precedents and bring cases forward that protect Iowans from exploitation. By removing conflicts of interest, it ensures that legal advocacy serves the people first—not institutional preservation.

Conclusion: Iowa as a Model for the Nation

Together, these three pillars—the Iowa Public Credit Union & ICIX, the Iowa Right to Homestead Act, and the American Accreditation Registrar—form the foundation of Iowa’s sovereignty. Just as Hamilton recognized that a national bank was needed to secure America’s independence, we must now create institutions that secure Iowa’s independence from Wall Street, absentee landlords, and outside legal gatekeepers.

This is not bureaucracy for its own sake. It is a bold new model of self-governance. Iowa can lead the nation by proving that when the people control their own financial, housing, and legal systems, prosperity and justice flow upward—from the soil to the people—not downward from distant powers.

References

  1. Hamilton, A. (1790). Report on a National Bank. In H.C. Syrett (Ed.), The Papers of Alexander Hamilton (Vol. 7, pp. 305–344). New York: Columbia University Press.

  2. Baradaran, M. (2015). How the other half banks: Exclusion, exploitation, and the threat to democracy. Harvard University Press.

  3. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. (2023). Agricultural finance update: Bank branch closures and rural credit access. https://www.kansascityfed.org/agriculture/