This week, we started floor debate. Thursday, three bills were considered; two had unanimous support and one passed with bipartisan support. However, I did not support HF 144, a bill that extends the moratorium on new casinos in Iowa. The proponents of the bill said that Iowa’s gambling ...

Last week, Senate Republicans released a funding proposal for the next school year, proposing a $235 million increase for K-12 students. The increase in state funding is in addition to the budget passed last year, meaning state aid for schools coming from the state budget is $4.2 million. It is ...

It has been 35 years since you could say, “There’s a Dr. Kersten in the house.” Back in 1990, Dr. Herb Kersten retired from Fort Dodge’s Kersten Clinic, which was formed by him and his two brothers, Paul and John, and their father, E.M. Kersten. His retirement ended 74 years of ...

Earlier this month, I joined more than 120 of my colleagues in introducing H.R. 38, the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. In 1791, the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified by Congress. One of our great Founding Fathers — James Madison — believed ...

Week two has come to an end. We are settling in and getting down to work. 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, it is delivered to the representative for final signature ...

We are getting notices for more and more subcommittee meetings as we work on bills and proposals coming through our committees. Some of the topics worked on this week include the hands-fee bill discussed by Gov. Kim Reynolds, judicial issues and reforming county supervisor districts. While we ...