The 89th Iowa General Assembly began Jan. 11. This legislative session will take place in 2021-22. We are starting off with a clean slate — any remaining bills from last year that weren’t completed in the short June 2020 session after the COVID suspension will need to be refiled. Many new pieces of legislation were filed this week.
The first week of the session at the Capitol is always filled with formalities including speeches and adoption of rules. On Tuesday evening, Governor Kim Reynolds gave the annual Condition of the State address. Some proposals were
Child care: $3 million for Child Care Challenge Funds; $25 million in child care development block grants for startups
Education: immediately require choice of full-time learning at all schools; make open enrollment available in all districts; create public charter schools; create voucher program; keep working on Future Ready Iowa
Healthcare: $1 million for Center of Excellence; mental health — $15 million this year and another $15 million next year; continue and expand telehealth options
Criminal Justice: ban on racial profiling; new penalties for persons who attack law enforcement officers
Taxes: continue conversation about tax cuts
Courts: On Wednesday, Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court Susan Christensen delivered the State of the Iowa Judiciary. She described a very challenging year for the judicial system after COVID required vast changes in the way the Courts operated. She praised the hard work of the Judicial branch employees. She assured lawmakers that even though access to the justice system may look different, the process is still functioning. She outlined a possible strategy that would equalize judicial workloads across some counties, thus making it possible to keep open rural courthouses. She stressed her priority of a “family first” approach in working with child welfare cases. She is a firm believer in family treatment courts and would like to see them used more.
National Guard: Major General Benjamin Corell gave the annual Condition of the Iowa National Guard on Thursday. The Guard’s assistance with distributing much-needed food, PPE and lab testing materials were all vitally important in Iowa’s response to the pandemic. In the midst of all that, the Guard was instrumental in the response to the devasting derecho in August as they assisted with the patient transfer hotline and power restoration in Linn County. The Guard’s help with fighting Iowa’s drug issues is also extremely important. We can’t thank them enough for all they have done and continue to do.
Transparency: As we began the committee and subcommittee process this week, the COVID protocols raise questions on the public’s ability to offer input. Our committee meetings occur within rooms at the Capitol that are of larger size; however, the meetings last up to an hour and can have group sizes larger than recommended by the Iowa Department of Public Health and CDC. With these concerns, and recognizing some may be of the vulnerable population, I made a motion to amend the rules to require masks be worn in the committee meetings. This motion was voted down in committee.
Secondly, the subcommittee process is one of the only times, except public hearings, where the public can actively participate in the legislating process. During subcommittee, the public is allowed to speak and share their input on specific legislation.
Unfortunately, with the pandemic, it has been more difficult to allow for large gatherings at subcommittees while trying to keep everyone healthy and safe. We do utilize Webex (similar to Zoom) for virtual attendance for subcommittees. The Webex platform allows for two-way verbal communication but that is not allowed--only written comments can be posted. This is concerning; we have already seen some of these comments not being read. If we have the ability to make the process open and transparent, I feel we should. The public’s voice has a right to be heard. I have reached out to Speaker Grassley on this issue and hope he will consider allowing the use of verbal communications through the use of virtual software. We learn so much and gain valuable input from the back and forth discussions. I would hate to lose this.
Intern: I am pleased to have Mackenzie Garrett serve as an intern this year. Mackenzie is a junior at Drake University studying politics. She’s the daughter of Doug Garrett and Laura Loney. Doug is the former president and current vice president of the Colfax Park and Auxiliary Board and a founder of Quarry Springs Park. I look forward to working with Mackenzie as she observes the processes of Iowa legislature and helps me research bills.