Government : Hello, Iowa House District 84 from the State Capitol!

The Iowa Legislature just completed its fourth week, and it was a busy one! On Tuesday, January 30th, the Capitol had multiple waves of blue coats visit, also known as the Future Farmers of America students from across the state. I had a wonderful time with the FFA chapters from Benton Community, North Linn, and Vinton-Shellsburg, and all of the members were very polite and asked great questions. The Benton Comm. and V-S chapter members even took a trip up to the top of the Capitol dome!

Also on Tuesday, I led the passage of House File 2237 in the Natural Resources committee, which is a bill that, if passed in both chambers and signed by Governor Reynolds, will allow all-terrain and off-road utility vehicles to drive on the roadways of Iowa State Parks. These ATVs and UTVs must stay on roads and obey all laws that apply to autos in state parks. This isn't completely new to Iowa, as Backbone State Park already allows this, as do other states. Many state parks have state or county roads that traverse the parks, and since ATVs and UTVs already can travel on these roads, it can be economical and advantageous.

On Wednesday, a subcommittee was held for House Study Bill 542, also known as the Area Education Agency bill. This bill has garnered a lot of attention, which has been mostly against it. Even though the bill was amended, it gained little if any public support that I'm aware of. Thus, the bill did not receive any "yes" votes in the subcommittee, so the bill in its current amended form will not advance to the full Education committee. The senate did have a companion of this bill, and it did pass out of their subcommittee. At the time of this writing, I have no idea whether the bill will advance to the senate floor for debate.

At any rate, the bill will need huge changes before the House would potentially pass anything, and I would have voted no on this bill in its current form. I and several legislators spent over four hours at two forums this last Saturday, the first at the Cedar Rapids School District Educational Leadership & Support Center, and the second at the Alburnett Community Schools Auditorium. Both had area school superintendents, teachers, and concerned people passionately talk about AEAs, teachers, and students. My priority is to make sure no services are cut for the kids.

Have a safe week and be careful out there!