Opinion

Voting rights are under attack nationwide as states pass voter suppression laws. Iowa is about to join the ranks of oppressors as a bill progresses through the Iowa Congress, cutting the early voting window time and further impeding the constitutional fundamental right to cast a vote, particularly by Black people, the elderly, students and people with disabilities...

I want to thank Dickinson County Public Health and Director Katy Burke for the great job of getting the county’s COVID-19 vaccination program up and running. It was easy to register via the Lakes Regional Healthcare website and set up an appointment online. The process of getting the shot at public health at the appointed time ran smoothly — sign-in, wait in a quickly moving, socially distanced line, get the injection in a private setting, wait in the waiting room for 15 minutes and leave. Everyone involved was cordial and efficient. I write this because the news is filled with so many complaints about the vaccine in Iowa. ...

An early count from just seven states show over 50,000 Republicans have renounced their membership and defected from the Republican Party. The invasion and destructive riot at the Capitol, clearly incited by the statements of then President Trump was a step too far for many. Continued support of Trump by Republican members of Congress has added to the angst. A second impeachment will proceed with or without Republican support...

The election of 2020 left a bad taste in the mouths of many. Polling that was done in November and December shows that 30 percent of Democrats and 68 percent of Republicans felt the election was stolen from President Donald Trump. That is a huge number of citizens that felt the election results were false and, while Iowa’s results were much better, we cannot stand for the situations that happened in November in states where these red flags occurred...

The seventh week of session was busier as many bills moved out of committee. I am the chairman of the Senate Labor and Business Relations Committee, and we passed nine bills out of committee. Next week is the first funnel week of this legislative session, meaning all Senate policy bills need to be out of Senate committees in order to be considered for the rest of the year. This deadline ensures we are focusing on the bills with enough support to advance through the process. I was also proud to hear Gov. ...

Last Thursday, the House passed House File 532, which provides school districts with additional money to assist in covering costs related to COVID-19. This extra $27.2 million goes to schools that provided in-person instruction, whether that was fully in-person or hybrid, starting July 1, 2020, and ending Jan. 29, 2021, with the enactment of SF 160. We heard there was a need and wanted to help these schools during this unprecedented time...

    A: First, let’s take account of what’s already in the pipeline. Since last March, Congress has approved $4 trillion to fight the pandemic and help hard-hit U.S. households put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. Five bipartisan COVID-relief laws included two rounds of direct payments, expanded unemployment benefits, nutrition assistance, relief for student borrowers and emergency rental assistance for low-income families. ...

Just recently, I was catching up with a friend from Montgomery County who confessed she had been having a difficult time balancing both her job as an essential worker and her responsibilities as a mother of three. When COVID-19 hit last spring, and schools transitioned to virtual learning, her kids struggled to adapt to the unfamiliar routine of online schooling. ...

This was the sixth week of the 2021 legislative session. The Senate passed several bills during the week, discussing a number of topics such as education funding, the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), increasing flexibility of continuing education requirements...

This week in the House Ways and Means Committee, we passed two EMS bills with unanimous support. There is currently a tax credit of $100 for volunteer fire fighters and EMS personnel as well reserve peace officers. House File 144 increases that credit to $200, starting with tax years beginning on or after January of this year. House File 144 is projected to reduce net General Fund revenue by $1.2 million per fiscal year, beginning with FY 2022...

"Education is not the means of showing people how to get what they want. Education is an exercise by means of which enough men, it is hoped, will learn to want what is worth having." - Ronald Reagan House Republicans passed a Supplemental State Aid (SSA) increase for schools of 2.4% for FY22 for both the regular program and the categorical supplements. ...

  On Monday, August 10, 2020, a massive storm system with high winds and isolated tornadoes tore through the midwest, leaving a 700-mile path of destruction in its wake — from Nebraska all the way to Indiana. In Iowa, early estimates indicated that 43 percent of cropland was impacted across the state, flattening millions of acres of corn and soybeans, crippling grain bins and tearing barns and machine sheds apart...

  Just last month, President Biden raised eyebrows when he took executive action to begin transitioning federal government vehicles to electric vehicles. It followed a similar move spearheaded by California Gov. Gavin Newsom who, last September, fully embraced the Green New Deal and implemented a move to all-electric vehicles by 2035...

Iowa’s efforts to improve the state’s infrastructure are funded through the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund (RIIF) which receives its resources through gaming revenue. The decision of Nebraska voters to allow casino gaming in their state will endanger that funding. Just how endangered became clear on Tuesday, as the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) appeared before the Transportation, Infrastructure and Capitals Appropriations Subcommittee...

If you are like me, the discussions happening in Washington D.C. are a bit ludicrous, but I especially feel the $2 trillion relief package making its way through Congress right now is out of this world. It would be one thing if we had $1.9 trillion, but in the last year, the federal government has spent nearly $5 trillion of money that it does not have. While the federal government spending money it does not have is nothing new, this is an excessive expense...

The fifth week of the legislative session included more debate on important education issues, as well as continuing our work in subcommittees and committees.   One of the bills the State Government Committee discussed this week is Senate File 163, which provides an extension for professional and occupational licenses for those working on continuing their education. This means Iowans licensed by the state for their occupation can apply for an extension to their licensing board if they were unable to meet continuing education requirements by the renewal deadline due to an unforeseen financial or medical hardship. ...

  At a press conference this week, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki moved the goal posts once again — claiming that the Biden Administration’s aim is to have more than 50 percent of schools offer “some teaching” in person “at least one day a week” by the 100th day of Joe Biden’s presidency. Yes, you read that right: President Biden’s goal is to have kids in school only one day per week, and no sooner than the end of April...

    A: The leadership landscape shifted in January with the inauguration of a new president and a new majority in the U.S. Senate. That means for the next two years, one party will control the political branches of government, from the White House to the federal bureaucracy and both chambers of Congress. ...

I have been asked by several people what kind of bills I am running this year. So, in this newsletter, I would like to give you a bit of a synopsis of the bills that I have personally authored and why I have authored those bills. You will find, as I move through this brief essay, that the bills that I have written deal a great deal with Federalism or returning Iowa’s operations back to the state versus the Federal government...

This was the fourth week of the legislative session. We continued our work on many important issues in subcommittee and committees and also had some more floor debate. I floor managed two Judiciary Committee bills which passed the Senate floor unanimously...

In reviewing the state tax collections in January, it looks like things slowed down. The culprit for this change was not Iowans’ spending habits but rather the calendar.  The report, compiled by the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency (LSA), shows that net state revenue had slowed to neutral growth through seven months. But LSA was quick to point out one big factor — as the month ended on a Sunday, payments for certain tax filers were not due until Monday. And this calendar quirk had a big impact.. ...

The state of Iowa is one of the best financially managed states in the nation. In the Iowa Legislature, we maintained a balanced budget because we abided by a simple budgeting principle — one that businesses and families across the state live by every day: Don’t spend more money than you take in. If you do take out loans or have credit card debt, you manage your spending to reduce the debt...

  On Jan. 20, I joined my colleagues on the front steps of the Capitol for the inauguration of our 46th president, Joe Biden. At a time when divisions run deep within our country, I thought President Biden’s call for unity—where he pledged to be a president for all Americans—struck the right tone. As my colleagues in the Senate can attest, I am always willing to work with anyone—Republicans, Democrats and Independents—on issues that will improve the lives of my fellow Iowans, and all Americans...