This week brings an end to the first funnel. The amount of bills run through committee in the last two weeks has been significant. Any bills, except for tax, spending, and oversight bills, we would like to consider for the rest of the session need to be through the committee in their ...
My mother had taught in country schools and was dead set against me attending one. She had been barely older than her students, was out in the country with a group of children, had no phone, no car, and limited access if there had been any type of emergency.That's why she insisted her own ...
Newsletter for Thursday, February 15,Week 6 of the session was "Funnel Week", where all policy bills must be passed by their respective committees in order to stay eligible for consideration this session. I've had success in managing all three of the bills I discussed in my last newsletter ...
Newsletter for Thursday, February 8, 2018This week the House Republicans released their plan for the fiscal year 2018 budget adjustment that ensures our spending aligns with the actual revenue coming in as House Study Bill 648. These adjustments total roughly $34 million in reduced spending. ...
This week the bulk of our work was again focused on moving bills through subcommittees on to the full standing committee. In our standing committee meetings this week we voted on the bills that passed through sub committees last week.Here are the subcommittee bills and their respective standing ...
Over the last year, I've traveled to every corner of the state to listen and learn what's important to Iowans. I've learned that Iowans don't ask for much and they are also extremely tired of politics as usual. They just want a decent paying job and the chance to lead a happy, healthy life.I ...
Newsletter for Thursday,February 1, 2018This week the House Republicans released our plan for a comprehensive school finance package. Since 2011 the Iowa legislature has become a leader in K-12 funding, increasing school funding by $735 million over that period. This represents roughly $1,000 ...
This week the House passed the water quality bill the Senate passed last year. We were proud to get this bill through the Senate, but we know this isn't the final step it is just the first. The discussion about water quality in Iowa will be ongoing, but I believe Iowans also deserve some ...
Newsletter forThursday, January 25, 2018Week three of the legislature was marked with our first debate and passage of a bill this session, The "Water Quality" bill, Senate File 512. This bill was passed by the House in 2016 and by the Senate in 2017 but held over in the House last year due to ...
As the week started, the drive to Des Moines was treacherous, and the weather reminded us all we live in Iowa. I saw emergency responders at work in the multi-car pile-up on the I-80/I-235 mix-master.Now that we are in the second week, we've started our work in subcommittee and committee. I ...