I’m proud that for both years I have been here and the sixth consecutive year we were able pass a responsible, balanced budget. The enacted budget spends less than the state collects in revenue and doesn’t use one-time funding to pay for ongoing needs.

We were also able to increase funding for K-12 education. Next school year, schools will receive an additional $135 million, which accounted for 77 percent of the state’s new spending this year. This brings total funding increases over the last six years to $642 million.

Another positive result is that we were able to leave more money in the pockets of the hardworking taxpayers of Iowa. House Republicans championed legislation that coupled our tax code with the federal code, including Section 179 depreciation, for tax year 2015. I personally worked very hard on this issue meeting with the governor and his staff three times to get him on board. By passing this legislation, we prevented an unexpected $100 million tax increase on more than 177,000 taxpayers including small businesses, farmers, teachers, homeowners and students.

There were several other accomplishments this session that I’m unable to fit in this column like providing unprecedented oversight of the state’s Medicaid program, combating the heroin and opioid epidemic, significant criminal justice reforms, and efforts to fight human trafficking.

One of the biggest disappointments from the 2016 session would be the failure to secure additional funding to improve our streams and waterways.

Both Gov. Branstad and House Republicans offered plans that made a significant investment in cleaning up Iowa’s water, but unfortunately, Senate Democrats never offered a plan of their own and refused to debate the issue. This is an issue I worked very hard on, but many of my ideas were killed. In the end, finding this vital funding for water quality was shelved until next year. I have committed to meeting and working with Senate Democrats to work on this issue over the summer. So we can move forward on day one in the next legislative session on this issue.

It’s my hope that legislation to enhance our water quality efforts will be the premier issue of the 2016 session.

State Rep. Mike Sexton, Rockwell City, represents District 10 in the Iowa House of Representatives.