Capitol Letters: Sine die to 2024’s legislative session

At 4:23 a.m. on Saturday, April 20, we adjourned Sine Die (which just means final adjournment for the session).

It was an early morning and a late night. There were a lot of broken hearts over bills that didn't make it. There was a lot of frustration about bills that did make it.

I went into session with realistic expectations, knowing I would fight to make bills better and do the best I could for my constituents. That meant listening, learning and advocating. I worked with others to make bills better, to slow bills down and to get answers.

A few bills I want to highlight:

1. Raised Iowa’s beginning teacher pay to the fifth highest in the nation, set the minimum standard salary for 12-year teachers to $62,000, and allocated an additional $14 million to raise pay for paraprofessionals.
2. Delivered significant income tax relief for all taxpaying Iowans by speeding up the implementation of the flat tax and lowering the rate to 3.8% in 2025.
3. Made our students and staff safer in school with investments in school safety infrastructure and by lowering emergency response times with the creation of a new permit program allowing staff to carry firearms if they meet the high standards of training laid out in the bill.
4. Incentivized businesses of all sizes to choose Iowa as their home and targeted investment in rural Iowa with the creation of a new certified sites program to spur economic development in counties with less than 50,000 people.

Last week I was able to see the tax bill signed into law. Just a few years ago, a bill of that magnitude was incomprehensible. It took discipline and conservative budgeting to get us there — and our work years and years ago, paid off.

All too often, we look at the short term, but we have to look further. Iowa is here for the long term.

I am going to keep this newsletter going during the interim, albeit less frequently, and continue to highlight the happenings of state government. While the session has concluded, our work is not done. We are already working on ideas for next year — and the best ideas come from constituents. Please feel free to contact me with questions or concerns.

It is an honor and privilege to serve House District 6 in the legislature. Thank you.