The Dickey Dispatch by Senator Adrian Dickey -January 26th 2024

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 because it was jam-packed with committee meetings and subcommittees where bills were introduced for the first time.

Even with running 2 large bills in my Workforce Committee, having presided over 2 more in Transportation, holding 9 subcommittees, and 14 other miscellaneous meetings, it is hard to put into words exactly what filled the week. However, when 5 spare minutes were found, they quickly vanished by an overflowing desk of emails and paper messages from constituents with feedback on the bills we are discussing. In summary, I guess it was one of those weeks filled with endless busy work, which is needed now and then in order to tee things up for big things to happen later in the session.

As the Senate continues to sort through various bills and moving ideas with enough support through the legislative process, we continue to balance that with evaluating policies and legislation already in place. While we must always look for new ideas to make Iowa better, we can’t forget to occasionally look behind us to see if achievements from the past still fit where we need to be and where we want to take out GREAT state!