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This week, the focus remained on passing bills out of subcommittees and committees. Next week is “funnel week.” Friday, March 8 is the deadline for House bills to pass out of House Committees and Senate bills to pass out of Senate Committees. Appropriations and tax bills are not subject to funnel deadlines however.
Governor Appointments
Governor Reynolds made a series of key appointments and re-appointments to her administration this week. In addition to the list of names below, a number of appointments were made to state boards. All of these appointments will need to be confirmed by a two-thirds vote in the Senate.
- Gerd Clabaugh – Re-appointed as Director of Public Health
- Geri Huser – Re-appointed as the Iowa Utilities Board Chair
- Larry Johnson – Formerly the State Public Defender, was appointed as the Director of the Department of Inspections and appeals
- Kraig Paulsen – Formerly served as the Speaker of the House, was appointed as the Director of the Department of Revenue
- Rod Roberts – Formerly the Director of the Department of Inspections and Appeals was appointed as the Labor Commissioner
- Beth Townsend – Re-appointed as the Director of the Department of Workforce Development
Senate District 30 Special Election Update
A special election was triggered in Senate District 30 (Blackhawk County) when former Senator Jeff Danielson (D) abruptly announced his retirement from the Senate in the first year of his fourth term in office. Now, both parties have chosen candidates for the special election scheduled for Tuesday, March 19th.
Democratic Candidate
Eric Giddens-Member of the Cedar Falls school board and employee of University of Northern Iowa
Republican Candidate
Walt Rogers-Former State Representative who was defeated in 2018 after 4 terms representing House District 60.
Senate Budget Targets Released
Senate Republicans released their budget targets Wednesday, February 27 proposing to spend around $7.62 billion, $40 million under the House targets. With Senate, House and the Governor’s targets released the budget process can begin in earnest.
| SENATE TARGETS | FY 2020 | Increase /(Decrease) FY 2019 |
| ADMINISTRATION & REGULATION | $55.58 M | $7.11 M |
| AGRICULTURE & NATURAL RESOURCES | $39.96 M | ($604,000) |
| ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | $41.63 M | $1.4 M |
| EDUCATION | $946.96 M | $34.3 M |
| HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES | $1.928 B | ($34.5 M) |
| JUSTICE SYSTEM | $763.24 M | $11.7 M |
| STANDINGS/SCHOOL AID | $3.84 B | ($20.6 M) |
| GRAND TOTAL | $7.62 B | $0 |
*Source: Iowa Legislative News Service; Volume 55, Bulletin #33 Wednesday, February 27.
