Update From the House for District 80

by Holly Brink

Hello Friends,

I hope that you all were able to stay safe throughout the series of blizzards we have had recently. While many of you have been staying put the House has definitely been on the move.

It was a busy legislative week in the House with the passage of 25 bills on Wednesday, several of them were to help address childcare in our state. It was a particularly big week for our K-12 schools with the Senate and the House agreeing on next year’s state funding level for our schools.

K-12 Funding

Late Thursday afternoon the Iowa House passed an increase to the amount of aid the State of Iowa provides school districts. This percent is in line with the amount increased in the past couple of years. Additionally House Republicans are working to provide an additional 30 million dollars in funding to schools that remained in-person, understanding that that choice added costs to their bottom lines.

I am proud that as a state we continue to find ways to invest in our schools, even through tough economic circumstances. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index, inflation in 2020 was 1.4%. This increase to Iowa schools is well above inflation and is a real increase to our schools.

HF 49 – Elimination of Tenure

On Wednesday the House Education committee voted to advance HF 49 which would eliminate tenure at our public universities. I was proud to support this measure in committee. Every week this year I hear about problems at our universities. Several students who feel powerless have expressed that professors feel that tenure means they can do whatever they want.

In committee Representative Wheeler made a great point when he stated “Tenure was originally designed to protect diversity of thought on college campuses, however as we have seen clearly in our Regents universities, there is no longer diversity of thought”. I will continue to ensure that this year is a year of positive changes for our universities.

3. Introductions

I would like to introduce you to my clerk who is helping me out this year, Jacob Schrader. Jacob is a senior at Iowa State majoring in economics and political science and is heading to law school next fall. Jacob currently is the Student Body Vice President at Iowa State and serves as President of the Board of the Ames Transit Agency, the largest transit agency by ridership in Iowa. I am impressed by all the great work he has done so far, and I think we are going to continue to make a great team for the rest of the year.

Once again I hope that you were able to stay safe this past week, and Spring will be here before we know it.

As always please reach out to me if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions. I always enjoy hearing from you!

Holly Brink
State Representative, Iowa District 80
(641)295-7111
Holly.brink@legis.iowa.gov