First, I want to wish everyone an enjoyable Easter. I hope you and your family are able to get outside and enjoy nicer weather. It seems like winter is finally coming to an end here at the State Capitol, but there’s plenty of work to do before we adjourn for the year. This was our second funnel week, meaning all bills must pass through a committee in order to stay eligible for floor debate. There are exceptions for budget bills and those involving taxes.
I voted in support of a bill offered by two colleagues from across the aisle, Reps. Zach Nunn and Bobby Kauffman. This bill helps ensure Westboro Baptist Church members and similar hate-groups are not allowed to interfere with funerals of military members. This bill provides accountability for the Westboro Baptists’ reprehensible actions with severe penalties and keeps them 1,000 feet from grieving families at grave-sites. Privacy for grieving families must be protected. Because freedom of speech does not allow them to incite violence, similar laws have been upheld in several State Supreme Courts including Missouri and Nebraska. The bill now goes to the Senate. It is critical that Senators vote on the bill and pass it so we can put it on the governor’s desk. If it becomes law, penalties for violation of this 1,000-foot perimeter would bring punishments of up to five years in prison and a $7,500 fines.
The House majority party blocked a move to raise Iowa’s minimum wage this week that would have given 181,000 Iowans a raise for the first time in nearly a decade. It is one piece of the plan to build a strong middle class and grow Iowa’s economy.
Over the last 30 years, the minimum wage has failed to keep up with rising costs for Iowa families. If the wage had kept up with inflation, the minimum wage would currently be $10.74 an hour. The current wage of $7.25 has 78 percent of the purchasing power it did in 1968. Currently, 29 states have minimum wages above Iowa’s rate, including our neighbors Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska and Illinois. In both urban and rural areas, Iowans are also solidly behind raising the minimum wage with recent polls showing 65 percent of Iowans supported increasing the minimum wage, while just 31 percent opposed raising the wage. Of those 181,000 Iowa’s who would benefit from raising the minimum wage to $8.75, 72 percent are over age 20, 59 percent are women and 44 percent work full time.
Since the house majority refused to debate the bill this week, it is no longer eligible for debate so those Iowans will have to wait another year for a raise.
As your State Representative, I appreciate you reading this newspaper-editorial-column every week. It’s a great chance to discuss my views on bills, voting decisions, and our efforts to move Jasper County forward. I sit down to write my newspaper-editorial-column at the end of every work week.
In contrast, I select unbiased news articles, put them in an email update, and send them to subscribers every Friday. I want you to know more about what happens at the Capitol, rather than less. Therefore, I offer an unbiased weekly-email-update to help you make up your own mind.
There are currently close to 5,000 subscribers throughout Iowa, most from Jasper County. If you already receive my emails every week, thanks for reading them. If you'd like to subscribe, please send your name and email address to me at, dan.kelley@legis.iowa.gov.
Feel free to call me at home, 641-521-9260 with concerns, questions, and ideas for Jasper County's comeback. It belongs to all of us.