Helena Hayes: The Legislative Session is Almost Here!
Coming soon: The 91st General Assembly
January 3rd, 2025
It was less than two years ago that the above photo was captured just after I took my first vote on the House floor with both new and seasoned colleagues of mine. That vote was cast in record time – just short of two weeks from the first fall of the 2022 gavel.
The topic – Educational Savings Accounts (ESA’s) – was not “the why” of my campaign but it certainly became one of the top issues. And here we are now… what seems like “just yesterday” and at the same moment, feels like a lifetime ago.
As you know, I ran for re-election this year and I had neither a Republican opponent in the June primary, nor a Democrat opponent in the November general election. That luxury afforded me the time and energy to focus on hosting my own Meet and Greet events across the district, continue to connect with new people during the process of door knocking, and conduct my first ever fundraiser. It also allowed for personal catch-up time on neglected home projects and the fulfillment of extended family time.
Thank you to all my supporters and every voter who receives and reads this newsletter. I recognize that you are inundated with information and that your time is valuable. As I continue to emphasize, my goal in sending these newsletters out to the people in House District 88 (Mahaska, Keokuk and Jefferson) is especially for the purpose of educating and equipping voters. The information I share will be specific to my role as a servant leader in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing the rural and 6th most conservative district in the state… District 88.
There is plenty contained in this newsletter – please scan for what interests you.
Legislative Priorities for 2025
The Iowa House has narrowed its caucus priorities based on the many concerns brought to House members from across the state. We all can expect to see long conversations and bills related to the following priorities (in no particular order):
Property Taxes -continuing to address the increasing burden of those who pay property taxes is a constant challenge. Because property taxes are predominately determined by spending that occurs on the city and county government levels, reducing that burden is a unique balancing act. Please do everything you can to better understand your tax statement and the specifics of how property taxes work. Begin with reading through one of the many legislative guides available to you. Follow this link and click on the guide titled, “Local Property Tax.”
Protecting Children – Cell phones in schools, parental permissions for social media, and age verification for porn sites – these will be some of the things we will be focusing on as we examine how to protect children.
Safety – continuing to make Iowa a safe place is always a top priority. We will see more dialogue on reducing the impact of illegal immigration and human trafficking along with further efforts to keep schools safe.
Below are other topics that have been brought to me by those in my district and that I am continually working on all year round. Each one quickly gets complicated as I take a deep dive into them and ask what role (or in some cases, if any) a state legislature plays in addressing them:
Education reform/DEI
Protecting children in the womb
Medical freedom and government overreach in our personal healthcare
Eminent domain and property rights
Legislation for mold education awareness in homes
Increasing rates of insurance in both auto and home coverage
Pharmacy benefit managers
Certificate of need and local hospital stability
Election integrity
Childcare/4-year-old preschool
Weather modification and aerosol spraying
Further penalties for the production of fully generated AI child pornography
Gender identity
This list is not complete but what comes to mind off the top of my head. As you can expect, the 91st General Assembly will be another action-packed session.
Please reach out to me if you would like to weigh in on any of the above topics if you have not done so already. Again, this is not a complete list. I welcome your input so that I can accurately represent those in my district. See contact information at the bottom of this newsletter.
State-Backed Digitial Transactional Currency
Several newsletters ago I promised I would be bringing this topic to you for further examination – transactional gold. Simply put, transactional gold is using gold for daily spending. But forget the heavy gold bars and shiny gold coins; transactional gold is processed in similar ways like a debit card but instead of linked to fiat money in the bank, the transaction is backed by physical gold. Furthermore, transactional gold refers to gold used primarily as a medium of exchange or for facilitating trade, rather than for investment or storage.
This is an idea being explored for Iowa by several lawmakers and I fully expect a bill to be brought forth on it. Let’s examine this idea closer:
What if you could pull up to the gas pumps and fill up your tank using a real gold-backed debit card? I already do… Not a credit card, but a debit card accepted everywhere that pays for goods and services in gold – transactional gold. It sounds like science fiction, but it is already being done in Switzerland through commercial platforms such as Glint.
Earlier this summer, I downloaded the Glint app, bought my first $100.00 of gold through it and have since had effortless transactions. On this app, I can monitor minute by minute gold prices and even buy gold automatically on a regular basis so as to spread the risk of market fluctuations.
Transactional gold is not another central bank digital currency (CBDC) with all their privacy and control concerns. Transactional gold is not at risk of being devalued by irresponsible Washington spending or targeted attacks from China or Russia. Instead, transactional gold is a way for every American to protect their finances by keeping more of what they earned. After all, money is power – purchasing power.
While the U.S. dollar is a relatively strong currency compared to other currencies in the world, it has lost over two-thirds of its value in the last 40 years, which was predicted long ago by our founding fathers.
America’s founding fathers feared fiat money – currency backed by nothing more than what people believe it to be worth. To them, currency was a tool to be used for the benefit of a civilized society, which required a safe and secure system people could trust. It was clear that the country they were building would need a currency, but such a currency must be properly organized and maintained to protect its value and to protect the people from a government that could use it to control them. For this reason, the first U.S. dollar was a commodity currency based on the then-popular Spanish dollars, which were minted in gold and silver coins.
In 1971, everything changed. President Nixon closed the gold window. Under President Nixon, the U.S. dollar became a fiat currency; its value is determined entirely by popular opinion and “backed by the full faith and credit” of the United States government. It has remained that way ever since, and the point of no return has long since passed.
What has been the result? From 1971 to the present, the dollar has lost 87% of its purchasing power. The sad truth is: If the average American were paid their salary in gold, their annual income would have maintained or gained buying power over the years. Instead, being paid in U.S. dollars has meant that the buying power of American citizens has declined, even as the average income has increased. This is not simply a byproduct of poor monetary policy; it is by design and is being used as a weapon against hard-working Americans.
President Biden’s alarming Executive Order 14067 issued on March 9, 2022 is aimed at developing a digital assets policy plan, organizing federal regulators’ efforts towards that end, and asking for more work to be done into developing a United States CBDC – literally electronic money made from thin air that the government can control.
This effort is pushed by global and international organizations and not just President Biden. The hope is that incoming president, Donald Trump, will head off some of these efforts but only time will tell.
On the state level, I witnessed in my first session, the “update” of the Universal Commercial Code (UCC) bill as it attempted to further implement a central bank digital currency. With the wise council of very few Iowa House members, we passed the bill with amended language. It has been said that our ability to resist the rise of a CBDC lies entirely in our ability to create an alternative system.
Today, debit card payment systems change everything about using gold as currency. By integrating gold with modern debit card technology, people can use gold or silver for everyday purchases and bill payments. This system allows anyone—regardless of political stance, income, or wealth—to participate. States could earn standard merchant fees from transactions, making it a secure and practical payment method.
For example, Texas has already established the Texas Bullion Depository, where individuals can store gold. Adding debit card functionality would give people easy access to their gold, transforming it into a transactional currency. This allows constitutionally backed money in gold and silver to be held and used within Texas. State banks could offer accounts based on either U.S. dollars or gold, with many likely offering both.
Some may question the constitutionality of this system. However, the U.S. Constitution (Article 1, Section 10) secures states’ rights to use gold and silver as money. Supreme Court rulings further support this, and states like Iowa already have constitutional provisions allowing state-owned depositories for gold and silver. Legislation to enable transactional gold is underway in 22 states.
The U.S. dollar’s buying power has significantly declined since the 1970s, while gold has maintained and often increased in value. Transactional gold offers a decentralized, private, and inflation-resistant alternative to fiat currency. With this system, every American, regardless of economic class, can use precious metals as money.
For families, particularly those in the middle- and lower-income brackets, transactional gold provides an accessible way to save and spend in a stable currency. Holding gold traditionally has been impractical for daily needs, but transactional gold allows savings to double as spending power through a simple debit card. This offers protection against inflation, ensuring families maintain their purchasing power while enjoying immediate access to their funds.
Transactional gold isn’t just about financial convenience—it’s about economic justice. By providing a stable, decentralized alternative, it empowers individuals to safeguard their wealth and secure a better financial future.
In the meantime, read more about Glint Pay here, the passage of the Texas bill here and listen directly from Iowa Senator Kevin Alons during his interview on the Economic War Room here.
Busy Times
I never know what I get invited to be a part of and every month it is something new and different. For the first time, Iowa Select Farms chose New Sharon as one of their 24 stops during their annual Operation Christmas Meal. With the help of the Deb and Jeff Hanson Foundation they hand our 27,000 free pork loins annually. By the time I captured this photo, several hundred cars had already made their way through the line. I hope you got your pork loin too! Mine remains in the freezer awaiting a clever recipe!
Check out their mission HERE.
Between the general election in November and the start of Session in January, legislators like myself are invited to many roundtables, brunches, forums, meetings… or whichever term you prefer to call a gathering with elected officials. One of these many events I have attended in the last couple of months included a meeting with the Mahaska and Marion County Soil and Water Conservation Districts hosted by the Mahaska County Conservation Board and Director Chris Clingan.
Other events I have attended since the election on behalf of my voters included the Southern Iowa Mental Health Center, Access Energy, Farm Bureau, Indian Hills Community College, Iowa Christian schools and homeschool associations, local businesses, individuals and more. I haven’t even mentioned the many zoom calls and several caucus meetings we have held also. My conclusion: This position is very much “a full-time servant’s role.”
Carbon Pipeline Update
Flashback photo: Press Conference, Charles City, August 2024
One of the many issues that I took an early stand on, even while campaigning for the first time, was the proposal to build a carbon dioxide pipeline across Iowa. Those in Mahaska and Keokuk County knew the endeavor through the company, Navigator CO2 Ventures. In northern and western Iowa, it is Summit Carbon Solutions, while on the eastern border, it was Wolf Carbon Solutions. That is correct… it WAS. Just recently, the proposed Wolf pipeline became the second carbon pipeline company (behind the now-defunct Navigator pipeline) to cease its attempt to capture and sequester high-pressurized and liquified CO2 in Iowa.
This is especially encouraging to the Republican Legislative Interveners; an expanding group which includes recently elected members and now stands at forty-four Republican House and Senate members, including myself, who have opposed the carbon pipelines across the state. So far, we have intervened in the Iowa Utility Commission permit hearing against Summit, held press conferences and rallies, attempted to pass legislation in 2023 and 2024, and most recently, entered into a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of the IUC permit.
Lawsuit update: Both state and federal lawsuits that have been filled are currently working their way through the system. As the court decisions remain pending we were greatly encouraged by a December hearing: The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) requested a limited record, excluding certain documents from the administrative law process. The Judge, interpreting Iowa Code Chapter 17A, indicated that the “whole record” must encompass the entire administrative record and denied the request for a limited record. Consequently, parties will now have access to the complete administrative record, totaling approximately 100,000 pages.
For more information:
Find a detailed and interactive map of the Summit route here.
See what other Iowa counties are doing here.
New to the CO2 pipeline debate? Here is a brief backstory:
Congress originally established the carbon capture tax credit in 2008, aiming to enhance the environmental image of coal-fired power plants. The credit was updated in 2018 and again in 2022 with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, with each revision boosting the value of the credit and broadening the scope of eligible projects. Companies can now receive up to $85 for every ton of CO2 captured from industrial facilities and stored underground, and up to $180 per ton for direct air capture. Coupled with funding from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, these incentives have sparked a rapid expansion of carbon capture and storage initiatives across the U.S. Since 2022, over 150 such projects have been announced, according to the International Energy Agency, a significant increase from fewer than 100 in the preceding four years.
Many of these projects are notably different from what has been proposed and tried in the past. Historically in the U.S., carbon capture has been used on coal-fired power plants, ethanol refineries, and at natural gas processing facilities, and almost all of the captured gas has been pumped into aging oil fields to help push more fuel out of the ground. But the new policy environment spurred at least some proposals in industries with few other options to decarbonize, including cement, hydrogen, and steel production. It also catalyzed projects that suck carbon directly from the air, versus capturing emissions at the source. Most developers now say they plan to sequester captured carbon underground rather than use it to drill for oil.
Only a handful of projects are actually under construction, however, and the prospects for others reaching that point are far from guaranteed.
Teaching Students about Government
Thank you to the Oskaloosa HSAP program for inviting me to share my story about how I transitioned into politics after the blessing of being a homeschool mom for 25 years. This group of 60+ students and parents asked so many thoughtful questions that our time together flew by way too fast!
House Majority Leader, Matt Windshitl, and I spent a day speaking to the students of Tri-Center High school that are enrolled in their iJAG program. It was several decades ago that I graduated from this rural school district in Harrison County and always appreciate returning to my home turf as a T-C graduate.
Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates (iJAG) partners with Iowa schools to deliver career development programming, including leadership training, career education, individualized guidance, and employer engagement. The program exists to create future-ready generation of leaders with sustainable plans for career and life, thanks to meaningful experiences with Iowa employers.
There are currently no schools in the Iowa House district 88 that have an iJAG program. If you are interested in learning more, click HERE.
Lake Keomah Upgrade
The Department of Natural Resouces has announced their park improvement projects slated for the upcoming fiscal year.
They are planning to make the biggest investment in Mahaska County’s only state park; Lake Keomah. Park improvements will include shoreline stabilization, sediment removal, boat ramp improvements and upgraded dam and spillway components. The project is estimated to cost $4.3 billion dollars.
Lake Keomah has been receiving significant improvements for the past 10 years. Past efforts include improvements to surrounding timber and collaboration with homeowners along the lake.
The upcoming project is estimated to wrap up between fiscal year 2027 and 2029.
For more information on Lake Keomah, click HERE.
Nearby Diamond Lake in Poweshiek County is also slated to have $455,000 in improvements to sediment control ponds and streambank erosion control.
Session Begins January 13th
The Speaker of the House, Representative Pat Grassley, completed his assignment of chair and vice-chair positions for all committees. There are twenty-one standing committees and budget sub-committees. These numbers now include TWO new committees:
Higher Education – added specifically to conduct a comprehensive review of the state’s colleges and universities.
Federal and Other Funds – this budget sub-committee will examine and address how Iowa spends incoming federal funds.
My committee assignments have changed quite drastically this session. I am now serving on the following committees:
Education
Veterans Affairs
Labor and Workforce
International Relations
Once bills are introduced, they are assigned to a sub-committee consisting of three members of the House. If the bill passes out of the subcommittee process, it comes to the full committee where the 20+ members review and discuss it more broadly. From there it may go before the caucus for further discussion and make its way to the debate floor eventually. Watch for a more detailed review of how an Iowa bill becomes a law in upcoming newsletters.
I will also be serving as Vice-Chair of my first budget-subcommittee. There are 8 budget subcommittees, and I have been assigned to Natural Resources. The budget subs meet for a period of about 6-8 weeks and are the first to examine the distribution of state funds into their respective departments. The Natural Resources budget includes state funds allocated to IDALS (Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship), the Iowa DNR, (Department of Natural Resouces) and also includes some funding to the Board of Regents that applies towards the ISU Veterinary Diagnostic Lab.
To help you become more familiar with the committees in the Iowa House and who will be the chairs of each committee, I am providing the information below:
How Shall we Spend the Money?
One of the single most important things legislators do while in session every year is pass a budget that spends the 9+ billion dollars of revenue taken in by the state. This money is collected through personal income tax, sales & use tax, and corporate income tax. It is deposited into the General Fund and makes up approximately 92% of the fund’s revenue. The remaining 8% is deposited into the General Fund from lesser taxes including inheritance tax, insurance premium tax, and franchise tax along with fees and other miscellaneous revenue sources.
According to the Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) at their latest December meeting, Iowa continues to be in a “solid financial position.” The three-member panel met recently to revise state revenue projections for the current fiscal year (FY 2025) and to set the official revenue estimate for the next budget year (FY 2026).
The state continues to see wage growth and increased consumer spending in the economy. This is helping to continue driving the Iowa economy in a positive direction. There are some headwinds being faced by the manufacturing, agriculture, and housing sectors due to higher interest rates. While farm income is lower, the projections are that it will not decline by as much as was predicted last spring. Even with these issues, Iowa continues to see near record-high employment levels.
State revenue is declining under the forecasts put out by the panel, but that was expected with the tax reform packages passed in recent years going into effect.
Fiscal Year 2025 – The panel made a very slight reduction to the revenue forecast for the current fiscal year. State revenue is now expected to be $9.1536 billion this year. When compared to FY 2024’s final revenue number, state revenue would be down 6.2 percent in FY 24. This decline was expected, as the state will go to a 3.8 percent rate for individual income taxes.
Fiscal Year 2026 – For the new budget year, the REC is now projecting that General Fund revenue will be $8.7527 billion. When compared to the FY 2025 projected number, revenue would be down 4.7 percent. Again, the decline in revenue comes from implementation of the 2023 and 2024 tax reform bills.
Learn more about the REC here.
Have a 1st Grader in School?
Free books coming to your home
Iowa early elementary students will receive over 100,000 skill-level book packs containing over 1 million books to build upon classroom learning and support reading development at home
Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Department of Education today announced a statewide investment of over $3.5 million to provide every first-grade student with decodable book packs to take home and keep, reinforcing classroom instruction.
“Iowa is making early literacy a top priority, recently enacting landmark literacy legislation, improving state standards and ensuring teachers have the tools they need to hone this foundational skill in their students,” Gov. Reynolds said. “These book packs, based on the Science of Reading, bring parents more fully into that process by giving them a fun way to reinforce at home what their children are learning at school. It’s a powerful way to teach our kids to read—so they can spend a lifetime reading to learn.”
“Decodable” means that the books are written for beginning readers and use simple words to help students connect letters and sounds. The book packs are sequential in nature, progressively introducing more complex skills.
“In partnership with their classroom teachers, families across Iowa can use these evidence-based book packs to reinforce phonics and decoding skills with their children anytime, anywhere,” said Iowa Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow. “These decodable books meet students where they are, supporting reading comprehension that unlocks a child’s lifetime of potential.”
The Department selected Just Right Reader through a competitive bid process to provide decodable reading packs at no cost to Iowa elementary schools and families. Grounded in the Science of Reading, the decodable book packs are customizable and available at multiple reading levels so students can practice reading outside the classroom. Each decodable book includes a QR code with access to video lessons for active family engagement.
The book packs are being provided to all public and accredited nonpublic elementary schools to send home with nearly 38,000 first-grade students. Kindergarten through second grade students in need of support who attended a Department-funded high-quality summer reading program or a Learning Beyond the Bell out-of-school program this year will also receive decodable book packs to further advance their reading gains.
In total, more than 100,000 book packs will be sent to all public and accredited nonpublic schools across the state this winter. Schools and families do not need to apply—the book packs will be sent directly to them. One million books will be sent in total as part of the book packs.
Funds for these Science of Reading-aligned book packs are provided through the Iowa Department of Education’s portion from the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) Fund and the American Rescue Plan Emergency Assistance to Nonpublic Schools (ARP EANS) Fund to address state-level educational efforts.
More information on literacy instruction in Iowa is available on the Department’s Literacy Instruction webpage. Information about Just Right Reader can be found here.
In Conclusion
If you have managed to make it to bottom of this long newsletter, I personally wish you a blessed time with your family and friends as you go into this new year.
