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Capitol Update Week 10

House Committees Tackle Busy Meat Locker ProblemHouse File 787 creates a butchery innovation and revitalization fund and program within the Iowa Economic Development Authority. The bill previously passed the House Economic Growth Committee with unanimous support and this week has cleared a House Appropriations subcommittee. The bill is now eligible for a full Appropriations committeeContinue reading “Capitol Update Week 10”

Capitol Update Week 9

House Passes Bill to Support Building More Child Care CentersHouse File 712 passed the House this week with bipartisan support and provides for a child care incentive for developers (to construct more child care centers). The bill creates a workforce child care facility tax credit for the developer of a new or rehabilitated child careContinue reading “Capitol Update Week 9”

Capitol Update Week 8

The Legislature’s first funnel was this week, which means our focus has been narrowed to bills that have a better chance of being debated on the floor and signed into law.What is the funnel? It’s a deadline when House bills are required to pass at least one House committee to remain eligible for discussion andContinue reading “Capitol Update Week 8”

Capitol Update Week 7

House of Representatives Passes Election Integrity Law This week the Iowa House of Representatives passed a robust election integrity and security bill. The election in 2020 saw record breaking turnout in the State of Iowa and with smooth administration due to Iowa’s strong election system. House File 590 (HF590) builds on Iowa’s strong track recordContinue reading “Capitol Update Week 7”

Capitol Update Week 6

COVID-19 Vaccine Update Recently the state launched updates to Iowa’s coronavirus dashboard to include information on COVID-19 vaccine administration and locations eligible Iowans can receive the vaccine. The vaccine information can be found at the link below. On the dashboard, you can pull up each county and see the vaccine distribution and locations where youContinue reading “Capitol Update Week 6”

Capitol Update Week 5

This week in the Iowa House we voted to advance multiple pieces of legislation that aim to address Iowa’s current child care crisis. I am particularly familiar with this issue due to the fact that several of these bills passed through my Ways and Means committee prior to coming to the floor. The recent pandemicContinue reading “Capitol Update Week 5”

Capitol Update Week 4

Back in December I came down with a very mild case of COVID and a positive test. So, this week I took some time to visit the LifeServe Blood Center here in Des Moines. While there I had the opportunity to discuss with the CEO Stacy Sime about Iowa’s unique COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma program. SheContinue reading “Capitol Update Week 4”

News from District 96

This was a busy week at the Capitol. Lots of subcommittee, committee meetings and floor debate throughout the week. Even 12 inches of snow did not stop the work here in Des Moines. The House Human Resources Committee passed four bipartisan bills related to child care. These bills are part of a legislative package broughtContinue reading “News from District 96”

Capitol Update Week 2

This week we introduced several bills in to Ways and Means committee, two of which aim to increase the availability and affordability child care in the state of Iowa. Here is the process that bills go through to become law. When bills are first introduced on the house floor they are assigned to a committeeContinue reading “Capitol Update Week 2”

First Week of Session

This week marked the beginning of the 89th General Assembly of the Iowa House. With a new GA comes a fresh start; there are new members, new seats and a whole lot of new ideas to be scrutinized through the legislative process. As many workplaces currently do, the Capitol looks a littleContinue reading “First Week of Session”