Our second legislative deadline for this year’s legislative session is getting closer. The eighth week of the session focused on debate, as well as starting our work on the bills we’ve received from the House of Representatives. more

The Iowa Senate concluded our first big deadline of the session, and last week we focused on floor debate. In between debates, I had the opportunity to meet with AEA members to continue the discussion about the proposed legislation. more

On Feb. 19, the Iowa House of Representatives started debate, and I managed a bill on the floor that I introduced this session, House File 2249. more

Following our first legislative deadline last week, the seventh week of session in the Iowa Senate focused on floor debate. After bills pass the Senate, they are sent to the House of Representatives for their consideration. more

The Taxpayer Relief Fund now has a $3.6772 billion balance in its account, affirming Iowa’s sound fiscal management over the last 10 years with the current majority. more

The 2016 election marked a turning point in American politics. One noteworthy example was the increase in the number of women running for office. more

Keeping students safe in schools is a top priority for House Republicans for all Iowans. That’s why the Public Safety Committee advanced House Study Bill 675 to ensure students have the protection they deserve all day. HSB 675 has two parts, the first addresses the need for school resources officers inside buildings and the second creates a professional weapons permit and with extensive training for school employees. more

The sixth week at the Iowa Senate included one of the first major deadlines, which kept us busy with many subcommittees and committees to pass legislation through its first hurdle. This meant we covered a wide range of issues while we worked towards that deadline. more

The sixth week of the legislative session included our first deadline of the year, keeping us busy in subcommittee and committee meetings as we worked to get important legislation covering a wide range of issues through our first hurdle. more

Last week was a busy one for me in the Judiciary and State Government committees so I will write about three important bills in these committees. I have heard a lot about these issues from all of you. more

His shirt wasn’t always buttoned for the day when I would walk into class ahead of the bell. more

At the beginning of the month, the Iowa Department of Education released statistics for this school year regarding how many Iowa families utilized the new Education Savings Accounts (ESA) to help pay for non-public school. The results already bust many of the myths told and quiet the fearmongering so widely repeated during the school choice debate last year. more

This week I will explain my continued opposition to the AEA bill.  Before I get into the why I oppose it, I want to acknowledge an opinion that has been nearly unanimous – there is room for improvement in our AEA system.  more

The third week of the session was full of subcommittee meetings to discuss several introduced bills. Within the past week, the committees have created almost 100 subcommittees for legislation, roughly half of the subcommittees for the session so far. We are finding rhythm, so meetings and floor discussions should pick up quickly. That said, I want to highlight a bill that I oversaw as a subcommittee chair. more

The third week of the Iowa 2024 legislative session was extremely successful. I had many meetings with different associations, and was able to start building House Republican’s budget for this upcoming year. more

The Senate moved SSB 3069 past the first step in the legislative process.  more

Iowa Federation of Republican Women members helped organize and run caucus gatherings in 1,670 precincts in 99 counties, and National Federation of Republican Women leaders traveled to be on the ground in the Des Moines area for the big night, Jan. 15. more

One of the topics we have been hearing a lot about is area education agencies (AEAs). I appreciate all the messages I have been getting from my constituents, teachers, administrators, and parents/grandparents on this issue that demonstrate a strong commitment to our kids. more

In December, the state collected $30,707,971 in casino gaming taxes. This is an increase of $2.3 million from what the state collected in December 2022. December is the first month in Fiscal Year 2024 when casino gaming tax revenue outpaced the previous year. Even with December’s growth, gaming tax collections continue to lag behind FY 2023’s receipts. For the first half of Fiscal Year 2024, the state has received $162.8 million in casino gaming taxes. This is a decline of $4.2 million over the same time period in Fiscal Year 2023. more

The Iowa Legislature had a busy second week of the session. This week was the deadline for senators and representatives to request individual bills and joint resolution drafts from the Legislative Services Agency. The LSA also provided the Overview of Budget Recommendations for the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and Natural Resources, which I chair. more