The Dickey Dispatch – February 16th, 2024
by Senator Adrian Dickey
Good afternoon! The first funnel has passed! You’ve heard me reference the funnel several times in the past six weeks, so let me expand a little more on what it actually is. Any legislator can introduce legislation when the session starts. To survive the funnel, all legislation (excluding legislation that deals with taxes or spending) must be introduced, assigned to a committee, then signed and passed out of the subcommittee, then voted and passed by the committee, before the funnel deadline. This is done to narrow the pile of bills (which often can be close to 2,000 at any given time) down to a more manageable number (maybe around 700).
Some bills are drafted with the desire that they become law, and some are drafted just to bring awareness to an issue and to create the avenue for conversation on it. I had a good example of that with a bill I introduced. Earlier this year I introduced a bill concerning title property theft. While this is rare to happen in Iowa, there is a growing trend of this nationally where criminals forge documents relating to someone’s property. Typically they have done so to make it appear that they own the property and then sell the property or take out a second mortgage on it. Unfortunately while this is occurring, the actual property owner may not know what transpired for many months, and by then the money, and the criminals, have disappeared.
I introduced legislation this year that would require a county auditor to notify the property owner via email if any transaction takes place with their property parcel. The onus would be on the property owner to provide contact information to the county recorder ahead of time, but the process that I had laid out was pretty simple for both sides. This bill is a good example of legislation that had the support of everyone involved, but the timing was not right. Instead I pulled the bill for this session with the promise from the county recorder association that they would come back with a proposal next year. This is a good example of how a bill can have value with the words on the four squares of the paper, not just because it became law.
On Tuesday I had the opportunity to visit with school administrators from Pekin, Cardinal, Van Buren, Oskaloosa, and Mount Pleasant and with Nathan Wood from the Great Prairie AEA. Because I do not serve on the education committee, my input on any education legislation at this point is very limited, however I valued receiving their input and was happy to pass that info onto the members that are on that committee.
On Wednesday morning, I was blessed to have our safety Director from Dickey Transport, Louis Thompson, join me in the capitol along with 9 professional truck drivers from the Iowa Motor Truck Association, along with 50 or more other association members. Once again, IMTA showed up at the capitol on Valentine’s Day, to show their love for trucking and the amazing things they do for our GREAT state! My senate colleagues are amazed when I tell them that 1 out of every 12 jobs in the State of Iowa is related to the trucking industry and provides over $6 BILLION of annual payroll each year! If you got it, a truck brought it! It’s not just a story, but a way of life in Iowa!
That afternoon, my Senate Workforce Committee debated 1 bill the entire day! We started at 1 PM and did not conclude until after midnight the next day. While I don’t have enough time to go into the details of the bill, the fact is that if a public sector employer (that is represented by a union) AND the union are following the law, neither side will ever notice the contents of the bill if it becomes law. It is simply a technical fix to the current law which has a loophole that is preventing 41% of Iowa public sector workers from having their voices heard. However because it dealt with unions and public sector employers, 12 hours of debate took place.
This Saturday, February 17, your county conventions will be held. I encourage all of you to attend. This is an opportunity for you to hear from candidates running for election this year and to help shape the planks of your party’s platform for the upcoming year. Even though I have five different county conventions to attend on Saturday, I intend to attend all of them at some point and am excited to be able to spend some more time in the district! You are the reason I fight as hard as I do. Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to serve you!
