Newsletter for Thursday, March 24, 2016This week the conference committee meeting on the bills setting Supplemental State Aid (SSA) for K-12 schools came to an agreement. This committee consists of an even number of Democrats and Republicans with members from both chambers. The Senate had ...

Renewable Chemical Tax Credit will spur economic growth(Des Moines) The Iowa Senate has approved legislation to create jobs and economic growth using the plant materials left over from the production of ethanol, biodiesel, and other biomass-based fuels.Senate File 2300 creates a Renewable ...

Newsletter for Thursday, March 17, 2016:Week ten was marked by debate on bills sent over from the Senate. The Tax Coupling bill, House File 2433, was debated and passed in the House and Senate on Tuesday and now goes to the governor for his signature.Meskwaki Jurisdiction BillOn Tuesday the ...

A bipartisan agreement will help Iowans filing taxes this year. The decision will "couple" Iowa's tax code with recent federal tax changes for 2015.Farmers and small business owners will benefit from a provision called Section 179 expensing. Federal law allows them to take a larger deduction ...

Newsletter for Thursday, March 10, 2016Week nine was another funnel week, a deadline for when our bills have to be through a committee in the other chamber to stay alive. This deadline does not apply to Appropriations or Ways and Means bills, so more of those bills will now be coming forward. ...

A hot button issue that has been all over headlines the past two weeks is the issue of youth age limits for gun usage. This was just one of the issues discussed by Iowa State Senator Steve Sodders (D-State Center) at a Listening Post on Friday at the Tama Public Library.Iowans may not have even ...

DES MOINES- Senator Steve Sodders filed paperwork on March 8 to run for re-election to the State Senate in this November's election. Sodders represents Iowa's 36th Senate District, encompassing Marshall & Tama counties, La Porte City, and southern parts of Black Hawk County. He serves ...

The House has been focusing on passing our bills on the floor and moving them over to the Senate. We've passed 74 bills in the two weeks since February 22. Over 60 of these bills received more than 90 votes in the House indicating the bipartisan nature of most of our legislation.Federal Tax ...

Senator Steve Sodders of State Center is inviting Tama area residents to a town hall listening post in Tama on Friday, March 11.The listening post will be in a meeting room at the Tama Public Library.

Legislation inspired by students at Findley Elementary School in Des Moines would create more opportunities to set up college savings programs in Iowa.Under SF 2100, nonprofits could establish College Savings Iowa 529 Plans for Iowa students. This would help many nonprofits throughout the state ...