Update From the House for District 80 – February 17th, 2022

by Holly Brink

Week 6 Update
Hello all!

The Iowa Legislature has two funnel weeks throughout the session every year, and this week was the first funnel week. Funnel week simply means that there are two deadlines in each session to keep the legislature on task and remain focused on priority items. In order for bills to survive the session and still be eligible for consideration, they must pass through committee by February 18th. Otherwise, the bill is considered dead for the session, and it usually is not picked up until the following year. While this deadline applies to most of the bills in the Iowa legislature, it does not apply to spending bills or tax bills as those are considered funnel proof; bills that fall under those categories usually belong to Appropriations and Way & Means. The next funnel week will be March 18th which is similar, but for bills to remain eligible, they must be approved by a committee in both the House and the Senate.

This week, Iowa House Republicans passed a bill to cut taxes for every Iowan. The Biden Economy is hurting Iowa families, and we need to deliver relief now. Our plan reduces the individual income tax for all Iowans to a flat tax of 4%; it exempts retirement income from income taxes and includes a new income exemption for retired farmers. Thanks to the Governor’s leadership and House Republicans’ conservative budgeting practices, Iowa’s economy remains strong. The state’s finances are so strong that we are able to deliver historic tax relief while continuing to fund Iowans’ priorities. The state of Iowa is taking in more money than it needs. And we believe we need to return this overcollection to the taxpayers. A big part of our tax plan is making all retirement income in Iowa tax-free. The process through which retirement income is taxed in each state can have a big impact on where people choose to retire and make their primary state of residence; we see many Iowans move or change their primary residence to states like Florida, Texas, or even Illinois that do not tax retirement income. If we can keep people in Iowa once they retire, that means they continue to contribute to the economy here in Iowa, to not-for-profits, and to their local community.

Iowa House Republicans have led the way on legislation to give parents a greater say in their child’s education. We took on issues such as returning kids to the classroom, removing race-based stereotyping from curriculum, and holding school boards accountable to parents. We want to continue to increase transparency in education because we believe that parents matter. This week, the Education Committee passed the Governor’s plan on education transparency. This proposal ensures every public school publishes, among other things, course syllabi, a full list of every book available in the school library, the procedure for the review and approval of all materials in the classroom and libraries, as well as the process to request removal of a book from the school library.

The House Education Committee also advanced a proposal to reform the Board of Educational Examiners’ procedure in handling complaints made against teachers and administrators, particularly complaints of child abuse. House Republicans have been made aware of many cases of teachers or administrators with very serious complaints filed against them that are not reprimanded appropriately by the BOEE. Teachers with these allegations leveled against them often have no record of a complaint attached to their license. And even in cases where the allegations are found to be true, teachers have had their licenses reinstated after a short period of time when those teachers do not belong in the classroom ever again. We know the vast majority of teachers are great people who are doing great work for our students, but there must be a system in place to remove the ones that are harming our children. The system for protecting our kids and ensuring their safety in school is clearly broken, and we are working on several reforms to fix it.

Thank you for your encouragement and prayers. There is never an off week, and it is your support that keeps me excited every day to come to work. I always enjoy hearing from you! My contact information is below:

Holly Brink
State Representative, Iowa District 80