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Editorials

District 72 Update

Newsletter for Thursday,April 5, 2018As week 13 comes to a close we are beginning behind the scenes work on the budget bills and a tax reform bill, and we debated a few bills on the floor.Notable bills:Senate File 481 - Ensuring safe communities - We debated this bill at length on Tuesday.This ...

Cornfields, Common Sense and Community

In the LegislatureThis week the governor signed several bills sent to her by the Legislature, including the bill providing affordable health insurance options for Iowans, SF 2349. This is a very important step to help Iowans and allow for more health insurance options in our state.The Senate ...

Vouchers are back

With just a few weeks left in session, Republican lawmakers revived their plan for private school vouchers. Once fully implemented, this latest version would shift over $250 million in taxpayer dollars from public schools to private schools.It's a troubling development in the closing days of ...

Cornfields, Common Sense and Community

This week the activities in the Senate seem to be slowing just a bit. The bills still eligible for debate are either getting signed by the governor, being bounced between the two chambers, or have found a silent place to rest for the remainder of the session. The final priorities will be ...

My Quixotic run for the 72nd District House seat

I once read something somewhere about how before the famous football player Brian Bosworth got famous he used to work for the Ford Motor Company. He said when he was working on the line he once attached a string with a bolt in the end and placed it in the from quarter panel. He also attached a ...

Cornfields, Common Sense and Community

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, ...

Will Iowa become a pro-growth state?

U.S. News & World Report recently ranked Iowa "best state in the nation when it comes to infrastructure, healthcare, opportunity, and education." Although this ranking is something Iowa can be proud of it does not mean that improvements cannot be made, especially regarding our state's ...

Cornfields, Common Sense and Community

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 ...

Q & A National Ag Week

National Ag Week runs March 18-24, 2018. Senator Grassley is a lifelong family farmer and champion for Rural America in the United States Senate.Q: What is National Ag Week all about?A: Throughout the last century, a population shift in America has created densely populated metropolitan areas, ...

District 72 Update

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 ...