After one of our legislative deadlines last week, our focus in week 9 was on floor debate and sending important bills to the House to be considered for discussion. Debated this week was Senate File 507. This bill tackles the issue of state investing based on Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) performance. Senate File 507 would restrict public funds from entering into contracts with businesses who engage in boycotts of certain industries.
On Tuesday the Senate considered the proposal put forward by Governor Kim Reynolds to streamline state government, reorganize her team and the coordination of the executive branch, and work to increase efficiency for Iowans.
Senate File 514 represents the first comprehensive review of government and how the governor’s office manages its own departments in almost 40 years and accomplishes a number of goals we have as advocates for smaller, better government. Iowa currently has 37 cabinet departments. This bill, reduces that number to 16 cabinet departments, eliminates 513 currently unfilled positions, saves Iowans money, and consolidates technology and departments to improve operations.
Wednesday we were honored to welcome the Iowa Cattleman’s Association in the rotunda for Cattlemen at the Capitol Day. It was great to meet with cattlemen from my district and listen to their concerns.
This week the Iowa Senate and House passed SF 538. This bill made it illegal to perform transgender surgeries or sex changes on children in Iowa. The state has a responsibility to protect its citizens, especially the children living here. Surgeries and massive amounts of cross-sex hormones have substantial and permanent consequences to children. These medical procedures are not FDA approved. These hormone treatments and surgeries are irreversible, dangerous, and experimental procedures performed on children and marketed as “care.”
State law prohibits children from getting a tattoo, buying alcohol, gambling, or entering into a contract because they are not equipped to appropriately understand the risks associated with those behaviors. For the same reason, gender reassignment surgeries and hormone therapies should not be available to Iowa children.
This week the Iowa Senate passed another common-sense bill to provide clarity for Iowa schools regarding bathroom access. It simply says boys will use the boys’ bathroom and girls will use the girls’ bathroom. For generations this policy wasn’t controversial and there’s no reason it should be controversial now. Some schools have struggled with managing policies regarding children identifying as the opposite gender using locker and bathroom facilities of that gender. Some school board members have reached out looking to the state to provide clarity. SF 482 provides that clarity by simply stating children in Iowa schools will use the bathroom, locker room, or changing room of their biological sex.
On Friday the Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) met and confirmed that historic tax relief, pro-growth policies, and conservative budgeting are the right policies for Iowa. They announced a projection of nearly $2.7 billion in the Taxpayer Relief Fund and an ending balance of more than $1.7 billion in FY 2023. These numbers confirm that Iowa is in the strongest financial position the state has ever been!