The following is a quick rundown of the process a bill must go through during the session.

Any legislator can have a bill drafted. Once the bill is drafted, they are delivered to the representative for final signature and approval, after which the bill is sent back to the Chief Clerk’s Office. The bill is then sent to the Speaker’s Office where he assigns it to the appropriate committee. It is then introduced on the House floor. The committee chair to which the bill is assigned has the power to decide if the bill moves through the committee or to kill it. If the committee chair decides to move the bill forward, it is assigned to a subcommittee. The subcommittee is chaired by the bill manager, who will run the bill in the various stages of the process. If the bill passes out of subcommittee it must then pass through the standing committee. After passing the standing committee, the Speaker must then decide if he wants to run the bill on the House floor. The Speaker can either kill the bill or can schedule it on the calendar for floor debate. If the bill passes in the House, it then goes to the Senate and the entire process starts over on the Senate’s side. Finally, after it passes out of both the Senate and the House, the bill is sent to the governor’s office to be signed into law.

I share this because of the many emails and phone calls I get in concerned about bills that have been introduced. Having now explained this process, I hope to have dispelled some of this concern by showing you that just because a bill has been introduced does not mean it will become law. In fact, very few bills ever make it to the governor’s desk. So always check to see where a bill is at in the process before you get too upset or excited about any bills.

At this early point in the legislative process there are a multitude of bills being drafted. There is no limit to the amount of bills a legislator can have drafted. So, as you can imagine there are far more bills that are not going to make it through the above described process than make it. So early in the legislative process if you read of a bill that absolutely makes no sense, do not worry, the chances of it making it through are slim.

If you need more in-depth information on a specific subject or a bill, please just email my clerk, Shelby, at mike.sexton@legis.iowa.gov , and she can find the information you are looking for and get it back to you.

Many of you have asked about my schedule while I’m in session. As I stated in last week’s Minute with Mike, this is the shorter session of the two joint sessions with this year only being 100 days. Here is a basic schedule of my days for the next 100 days.

On Monday I try to leave home by 9 or 10. In the past we have had a leadership meeting at 11:30 on Mondays. So far, we have not started that again this year. We gavel in at 1:00 p.m. with my afternoons being filled with Standing Committee and Subcommittee meetings throughout the day. We do very little floor debate at the beginning of session.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I arrive at the Capitol by 6:30 each morning so I can get a head start on trying to get through emails and reading bills before the day gets busy. We gavel in at 8:30 a.m. which is followed by more Standing and Subcommittee meetings throughout the day. My last meeting on Thursday usually occurs mid to late afternoon after which I head home. Throughout the morning on Thursday between meetings I try to work on Minute with Mike. Our goal is to have it done by early afternoon so we can get it sent out.

Last year we had very few visitors from back home. I hope that changes this year as I love to spend time visiting with my constituents and showing off this beautiful building. We make it a priority to see our visitors as we move through our busy schedule.

There are a lot of bills being filed dealing with mental health. I will keep you posted on the ones that make it out of committee and continue to move through the process.

There will once again be a push to move some type of bill that gives parents more choice in their children’s education. How this is achieved can look many different ways. At this point, all options are on the table and we will be engaging in discussions on specific policy suggestions throughout the session. I have told school board members and superintendents they had better listen to the concerns of the parents when it comes to their children’s education. If they do not, it is that point the legislature will act.

I have once again had a bill drafted that would implement Daylight Savings Time year-round; it states that we will go to Daylight Savings time this spring and remain there so you will never have to change your clocks again. I keep trying, there seems to be a lot more interest in looking at this this year.

State Rep. Mike Sexton, R-Rockwell City, represents Calhoun, Humboldt and Pocahontas counties, plus western Webster County.