State Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, a Republican, will be the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which writes spending bills.

State Rep. Ann Meyer, also a Republican, will be the chairwoman of the House Human Resources Committee. Although the panel’s name suggests something like a corporate personnel office, it is actually the entity that handles health policy bills in the Iowa House of Representatives.

Also in that chamber, state Rep. Mike Sexton, R-Rockwell City, will serve in a top leadership role as House majority whip. Additionally, Sexton will serve on a committee that reviews the administrative rules issued by state agencies.

Sen. Kraayenbrink

Kraayenbrink is a financial advisor who served as the vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee for the last four years.

”We are very conservative in our approach,” he said of the panel. ”We like to be able to fund the things we commit to and not over-commit and under deliver.”

The legislature will face some budgetary uncertainty this year for two reasons, according to the senator.

One source of that uncertainty, he said, is the amount of money the federal government will provide for Medicaid, the joint federal and state health insurance program for the poor and disabled.

A potential tax cut is the other question mark. According to Kraayenbrink, a tax cut law now in effect would reduce the top personal income tax rate from 9 percent to 6.5 percent if two conditions are met. Those triggers are a state budget totaling $8.3 billion and and economic growth rate of 4 percent. Iowa is nearing both of those benchmarks, the senator said.

He said he is surprised at how well state revenue is holding up in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. He said the state government is expected to end the fiscal year on June 30 with a $400 million surplus.

He attributes the healthy revenue situation to a diversified economy.

In the upcoming legislative session, Kraayenbrink will also serve on the Education and Transportation committees.

Rep. Meyer

Meyer, a nurse and nursing instructor, has served on the Human Resources Committee since since starting her first term in 2019.

She said making sure people in all parts of Iowa will have access to health care is her goal for the committee. That will include both physical health and mental health, she said.

More providers are needed to ensure people in all parts of Iowa have access to care, she said.

Because Iowans are more likely to stay in the state, one proposal the committee will consider would require that 75 percent of the people admitted to the University of Iowa medical and dental schools be state residents. According to Meyer, currently that percentage is in ”mid 60s.”

”We’re not asking for a huge increase,” she said.

That proposal was approved by the House last year, but did not advance in the Senate.

Another proposal to come before the committee this year would require insurance companies to cover telehealth appointments in the same way that they cover in-person visits.

”It is a full agenda,” Meyer said of the work awaiting the committee. ”I am happy about that.”

Meyer will also serve on the Transportation, State Government and Appropriations committees. Additionally, she will be a member of the Health and Human Services Budget Subcommittee.

Rep. Sexton

As majority whip, Sexton will have one of the top four leadership posts in the House. He has described that role as one of taking care of the Republican caucus.

This year he will serve on the Administrative Rules Committee, which is a panel of senators and representatives that reviews all of the rules and regulations issued by state agencies. Sexton described it as ”really quite a powerful committee.”

The panel can approve such rules, send them back to the state agencies for modifications or stop them from going into effect until the next legislative session, when lawmakers will review them.

The committee meets once a month, all year.

Sexton will also serve on the Agriculture, Environmental Protection and State Government committees.