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The second week of the legislative session started out relatively slow due to the observance of Martin Luther King Day on Monday and cancellations of committee work for weather-related reasons on Tuesday.
Floor action was limited to gaveling in and reading in bills. At this point in the process, most of the work is being done in subcommittees as bills are being assigned to groups of three to five legislators who make recommendations to the full committees. Session will begin to take shape as bills begin to make it through this initial stage as leadership and committee chairs begin to prioritize their goals.
Below, find a video of Governor Reynolds outlining her 2019 legislative priorities which include:
- Tax II: A clean up of the 2018 tax bill
- Education: Investment in K-12 and higher education
- Healthcare and Mental Health: Changes to Iowa’s healthcare system and improvement of mental health services and facilities statewide
- Jobs: Appropriating $20 million to the “Future Ready Iowa” initiative
Governor Kim Reynolds explains her 2019 legislative priorities
Other News
House District 55 Election Results
After multiple meetings of the Contest Committee convened as a result of the contested House District 55 election, the full House will most likely take up the majority report of the Committee next week. The majority report concluded that the Winneshiek County Attorney acted within the law and recommends that the election contest be dismissed and Representative Bergan declared duly elected. The Democrats on the committee issued a minority report that strongly disagreed with the findings of the majority report.
What’s Next
We can expect work at the committee level to pick up as many bills moved out of subcommittee this week but the bulk of the activity will continue to be at the subcommittee level. Also, the appropriations committee will be hearing more details about the Governor’s proposed budget numbers.
