With the deadline of the first funnel approaching quickly next week, it made for another busy of week of subcommittees and committee meetings. Just for review, every bill first gets “read in” on the floor and then assigned a subcommittee to start the process. (Not every bill gets a sub…it is up to the discretion […]
by Senator Ken Rozenboom It is the end of Week 5 in the Iowa Senate, and we are coming up from the first major legislative deadline of the year. As the chairman of the Senate Education committee, I have been processing the 60 bills that have been assigned to our committee. We have approximately 12 […]
by Senator Adrian Dickey Hello Senate District 44! Reflecting back, once again it doesn’t feel like there’s any one issue that stands out, but I don’t recall having five minutes free all week either. With one week away from the first funnel deadline, you can feel the urgency for many legislators trying to get their […]
by Rep. Helena Hayes 636. That is number of followers I have on my Helena for House facebook page, 636. By no means an impressive number but compared to how many posts that “reach” followers, it is a huge number! I can post a do-nothing, feel-good smiling photo and get almost 500 reaches but anything […]
by Senator Adrian Dickey It was an exciting week at the statehouse with several great pieces of legislation being passed through subcommittees and committees! On Tuesday, I loved seeing two FFA groups from our district visit us at the Capitol! It was so incredible talking to the students who are actively pursuing leadership responsibilities through […]
Week 3 One word… busy… week three in the Iowa House proved to be another intense week full of visitors, receptions, emails, phone calls, and especially, a dizzying array of subcommittee meetings. Subcommittees are the first step in the bill process. Once a bill is officially introduced, it can be assigned to a subcommittee consisting […]
Mark Twain once said that “a lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” That’s never been more true than what Iowans have been told about Governor Reynolds’s proposed changes for AEAs (Area Education Agencies). The AEA system was created 50 years ago primarily to assist schools […]
Week three, what a ride! Where the first 2 weeks of the session seemed slow to get going, week 3 made up it! It was one of those weeks that makes writing this newsletter difficult at times. Typically I desire to point out some big things that we accomplished, however, this week lacked those accomplishments […]
The Session Begins The 2024 legislative session kicked into high gear on Monday, January 8 with the normal first week formalities. On Monday Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver and Senate President Amy Sinclair, along with Minority Leader Pam Jochum, outlined the legislative priorities of their respective parties. Of course, the highlight of the week was […]
In week 2 of session, the most talked about issue has been the Area Education Agency (AEA) reform proposal from Governor Reynolds. First off, I don’t support the bill as it is currently drafted and I would expect some significant changes to it. I certainly understand a need for AEAs, however, I do support the […]
