The Senate has efficiently moved bills along this week. This year's work seems to be flowing well in the Senate. Even though there have been areas of disagreement, common ground is overwhelmingly being found.Areas where common ground was found, but not limited to this week were: mental health, ...

This week Senate members started out with some disappointing news. However, our ability to swiftly and efficiently make leadership decisions while continuing to do the work of the people showed the caliber of the character the individuals of the Republican Senate Caucus.Since our first day, our ...

Week 10 of the session was the "Second Funnel", where all policy bills in the House have to be passed on the floor and sent over to the Senate, and vice versa in the Senate.Notable Bills:Senate File 2289 - 28E Agreements with Tribal Entities - Iowa code section 28E allows public agencies across ...

Newsletter for Thursday,March 8, 2018Week 9 of the session continued with debating House bills on the floor. This work is at times fast paced as non-controversial bills are brought up and voted on in a matter of minutes. Other times it is slow and tedious as we work through many amendments ...

Last week Republican lawmakers fast-tracked a tax bill that costs $1 billion annually and sent it over the House. It was approved the Iowa Senate just a week after it was first introduced and Iowans have barely had time to digest the details and understand the real-world impacts.Before the bill ...

We had another busy week in the Senate. As we move ever closer to the second funnel legislators are busy ensuring priority bills keep afloat in the legislative process.The Senate also passed a billto improve the safety of Iowa schools. The bill requires all schools have a high-quality emergency ...

Newsletter for Thursday, March 1, 2018Week 8 of the session continued with debating House bills on the floor, and we began moving Senate bills that had been sent over through the House committees.This week, U.S. News and World Report confirmed what I've always known - they rated Iowa as the ...

This week activity in the Senate was once again historic! The list of bills included bold tax relief, judicial reform, and the heartbeat bill. This embodies the constitutional approach and the values I said I would uphold. We delivered on: life, liberty, and justice.Senate File 2281 would ...

Newsletter for Thursday, Feb. 22Week 7 of the session was marked by a shift from committee work to floor debate with dozens of bills passing on the floor this week. The vast majority of bills were "non-controversial" bills that received nearly unanimous support.Notable bills:House File 2199 - ...

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 ...