Baxter and Guth-Legislative Update

Terry Baxter, House Happenings  February 24, 2022
 

The debate floor of the Iowa House has been very busy this week.  Yesterday, Wednesday, February 23rd, we passed 32 bipartisan bills off the floor of the Iowa House of Representatives. 

Overall, we have healthy and positive relationships between Republican and Democrat Representatives in the Iowa House.  Washington could learn some lessons from "Iowa Nice." Politicians can both agree and disagree with honor, respect and dignity.

But it was also a sad day for me personally as I was texting friends in Odessa, Ukraine. I have been there numerous times. The shadow of war with Russia was looming and military trucks were rolling.  By early this morning Russia was invading the Ukraine.  It screams that elections in the United States have far reaching consequences.  When our President is weak in foreign policy, people suffer around the world. 

My next concern relates to China.  It will be monitoring the US response to Russia invading the Ukraine as it calculates timing for a possible move on Taiwan.  When the United States has no comprehensive foreign policy, the whole world is destabilized.

You might wonder what policy in Washington has to do with Iowa?  I would encourage you to tune in next Tuesday to the State of the Union Address, followed by Governor Kim Reynolds Republican rebuttal.  So much historic legislation and bold leadership has come from Iowa the past two years that the ears and eyes of the world are focused on us.  I am an avid fan and supporter of Governor Reynolds. 

As we have been working on our landmark income tax cuts, as predicted, Iowa is quickly being looked at as a destination state.  Real Estate Agents and Residential Contractors alike are reporting a surge of interest in out of state people making plans to move to Iowa because of these tax cuts. 

Currently, much of this interest is focused on urban areas, but I expect the whole state will benefit.  Soon, the work force will be moving to Iowa to seek their field of dreams.   I am looking forward to voting this historic legislation over the finish line today and sending it to the Governor. 

Protecting Girls Sports:

This week, House Republicans passed a bill to protect girls' sports in Iowa. Under this bill, only athletes assigned as female on their birth certificate are allowed to participate in school-sponsored girls athletics. Every athlete has an equal opportunity to play sports. It does not tell any child that they can't participate in sports. It simply says they must participate in the sport under the gender on their birth certificate. Women fought hard to secure their own level playing field because males quite simply have a biological advantage.  Girls deserve equal opportunity in athletics and the chance to gain all of the important life skills that come with playing sports. This is an issue that members in every district are hearing from Iowans about. Iowans have been asking for action to protect girls' athletics, and sports organizations and school districts have been asking for guidance on the issue of transgender girls playing girls' sports.

The View From Here by Senator Dennis Guth

Last week was the deadline to get bills out of committee. Consequently, we shifted to more floor debate his week. We debated a number of issues, around 90% of those being passed without dissent. Some of those bills covered deer hunting licenses, fees for public records, and attracting people to the workforce. Schools should appreciate raising the limitation for IPERS retirees under 65, allowing teachers, but drivers and others to come back to work without affecting IPERS retirement funds.

The big news for week seven of the 2022 legislative session is the passage of comprehensive tax relief. Iowa’s economy has done very well prior to and through the Covid-19 challenge due to great leadership from our governor and her team. Cautious budgeting and keeping our economy open has given us a large surplus of taxpayer money on hand. Rather than sending taxpayers a one-time check, the legislature has opted to take this opportunity to reduce taxes and help make your tax bill smaller every year.

Individual income tax will be reduced to one rate of 3.9% for everyone in 2026. On average, the Iowa taxpayer will receive about $1326 in tax relief or around a 36% reduction. This will move Iowa’s income tax from one of the highest among the states to the fourth lowest. This reform will also eliminate all taxes on retirement income and on retired farmers’ rent income. Our goal is to make Iowa competitive among the states as a place to work and retire.

Governor Reynolds’s hard work for Iowans earned her the opportunity to deliver the official Republican response to President Biden’s state of the union address on March 1. This honor is given to a strong Republican whose actions and policies embody true conservative leadership. Her common-sense policies and conservative ideals have helped keep Iowa open, successful, and thriving. I look forward to watching Governor Reynolds deliver her speech and show the country how Iowans think.

On Wednesday morning, I had the opportunity to witness the oral arguments for Planned Parenthood vs. Governor Reynolds at the Iowa Supreme Court. This case is over the constitutionality of requiring a 24 hour waiting period before getting an abortion. The make-up of the Supreme Court has dramatically changed over the past 10 years. We can never predict an outcome, but I have high hopes for a decision supporting the 24-hour wait before obtaining an abortion.

I enjoy having constituents visit me at the Capitol. iJag students came on Monday from Algona to inform me about their program to interest students in what happens after graduation. It was encouraging to hear from a student who went from under-performing to totally getting engaged and using school to prepare him for the future. Connecting education with real life is always transformational. Farm Bureau members arrived on Wednesday from Hancock and Wright counties to visit with me about taxes, government land purchasing, and E-15.