In these tough economic times, we’re keeping education a top priority because a strong education system is key to helping Iowans recover from the national recession. The Iowa Senate took the first big step this week to maintain our commitment to Iowa’s K12 schools, community colleges and ...
The Senate moved this week to protect key priorities by investing an additional $51.2 million in public safety, education and public health. Legislation approved this week includes an additional $30 million for three state universities and an additional $6 million for community colleges for ...
On the way to the capitol on Monday morning, I was listening to the Jan Mickelson Show on WHO Radio.The topic being discussed over Iowa’s air waves was the issue of 300 school teachers being laid off in the Des Moines School District. I thought to myself, “Each of my school districts in ...
With the accelerated schedule quickly moving through this year’s legislative session, it is noteworthy that the second funnel date is March 5. At that point most bills that have not passed out of one chamber and a committee of the other chamber will not survive. One bill that I believe ...
Iowa Juvenile Home RUMOR? When the Governor and legislators say, “everything is on the table”, that’s exactly what they mean. The Iowa Juvenile Home (IJH) is one of those items that was thrown onto the chopping block this session. As decisions are still being formulated, a rumor has ...
The Senate recently took a first step in providing health insurance coverage for some children with autism spectrum disorders. These disorders include autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder and pervasive developmental disorder. When children with these conditions receive treatment and ...
Every action has a consequence. This is a reality we begin to learn very early in life. Some actions have consequences that we try to avoid. For example, touching a hot stove could lead to painful burn or driving too fast on the icy road might leave you with a speeding ticket or your car in ...
Use of one-time dollars for on-going expenses has put Iowa in serious fiscal condition Serious legislative work on Iowa’s next budget will now commence in earnest as lawmakers received budget targets this week. With the session now near the halfway point, the remaining weeks will become ...
Hello once again from the Senate Chamber. This was week five of the 2010 legislative session. Funnel week at the Capitol just wrapped up and that means that if a bill didn’t make it out of a Senate or House committee, it has officially died. We ran through many bills this week in an effort to ...
The 2009-2010 school year finds the first kids involved with the Community Empowerment initiative approaching high school graduation. This innovative approach has been very successful in helping families prepare their children to begin their education, but the other goal - reducing duplication ...