The COVID-19 virus has disrupted the lives of Iowans and all of America in a way we haven’t seen in decades. As we find ourselves in a new world, it is important not to assume the worst. I have seen little of the drama that has taken place around the country, and that speaks well of Iowans. …
Dear Friends,
March 24, 2020
I was to have four committee meetings last Monday, but all were canceled on Sunday. For that reason I decided to stay home on Monday and monitor what was going on in Des Moines from home. There are people coming to the Capitol every day from all over Iowa. If you want to spread an unwanted v…
March 12, 2020
In the last two weeks we have moved 67 bills out of the Iowa Senate to the House of Representatives. The House will vet them and either accept, amend, or reject the bill. The Senate will be doing the same thing with all bills sent from the House. Floor debate tends to last longer in the Hous…
Welfare reform has been my leading project for the last two years. Last year Iowa Senate Republicans passed a collection of bills to address various issues from work requirements to electronic benefit card fraud. Taking lessons learned from last year’s debates, I developed the ideas and brou…
In the last two weeks we have moved 67 bills out of the Iowa Senate to the House of Representatives. The House will vet them and either accept, amend, or reject the bill. The Senate will be doing the same thing with all bills sent from the House. Floor debate tends to last longer in the Hous…
Welfare reform has been my leading project for the last two years. Last year Iowa Senate Republicans passed a collection of bills to address various issues from work requirements to electronic benefit card fraud. Taking lessons learned from last year’s debates, I developed the ideas and brou…
In week 8 of the 2020 Iowa Legislative session, the House and Senate agreed to a compromise on state aid to K-12 schools, while a number of important bills moved forward in the House, most of them with bi-partisan support.
What a difference a week makes. There was floor debate every day this week. The bills we are passing now are the bills that survived last week’s first funnel.
The pace of legislation has slowed as we passed the funnel deadline last week. The focus is now to pass Senate files and send them to the House for their committee system to consider. The next deadline is March 20. By that day a Senate file must be out of the House committee or House file ou…
February 27, 2020
We just finished the first funnel week for this legislative session. This week was very busy attending last minute subcommittees and attending standing committees. Here are some of the significant bills that made the deadline.
OUR VIEW: It's great to be back doing what we love
OUR VIEW: A clean break is needed, not timid hedging that hopes he’ll go away on his own
OUR VIEW: Democracy shines while Trump and transparency tumble
STATE JOURNAL VIEW: Congress should allow fair negotiations with Google and Facebook
Growing up I remember hearing the phrase “Have you no shame?” That question must have held some power back in the day. But if you asked that now, some shapers of our current political culture would respond with a resounding “No.” Hyper-partisanship has moved us into a post-shame world.
On this episode of the Utterly Moderate Podcast, we answer your mailbag questions!
Santos denies claim of sexual misconduct from former staffer.
Should the law do more to punish lying about elections? Careful: Such proposals can curtail legitimate speech and give the government power it’s likely to misuse.
Content by Chief Agri. With in-house engineering and superior quality materials, Chief Agri produces a wide range of grain storage solutions, from farm bins to commercial silos that protect your grain from the elements.
Content by Chief Agri. Chief Agri domestic sales manager Shad Singleton offers his insights about what makes the company successful and teases a new and improved product line.
Content by Chief Agri. For over 60 years, farmers have relied on products from Chief Agri for their farming operations. There are five main reasons farmers have put their faith in Chief products for so many decades.
Content by Chief Agri. Chief Agri is a brand of Chief Industries, a business that supports the agricultural community in more ways than meets the eye.
According to the United Nations, over 2.5 million Ukrainians have been forced to flee into neighboring countries such as Poland, Moldova, and Bulgaria, resulting in one of the fastest-growing refugee crises Europe has seen since World War II.
Larry says that state legislators do not “listen to his concerns.” I have had numerous communications with Larry. I do not believe that listening to concerns means that I must agree with them at the end of the discussion.
We need to restore the political balance in lowa so that the rest of us - Democrats, independents, and moderate Republicans - will be represented by all levels of government. My state legislators, our 4th district Congressman Randy Feenstra, and Senators Grassley and Ernst do not listen to m…
National Ag Week is March 20-26. As a corn, soybean, and livestock farmer in Crawford County, I’m proud to celebrate that the crops I grow and the cattle I raise here in our community can be found across the world in the form of animal feed, fuel, food products and more.
