Government : In the Statehouse: First week is always chaotic

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Our first week is always chaotic. Besides the several trips of moving your stuff down to Des Moines, you have the Governor’s Condition of the State address and the Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court’s Condition of the Judiciary, the swearing in, the picking of your seats, the first introductory committee meetings, the new legislators, the new secretaries (mine is Victoria), and then you have to learn to be ‘scatter brained’ all over again.

That’s right, scatter brained. What do I mean by that ( and no wise acre remarks either, ha!)? You absolutely have to be scatter brained to handle it. There is so much activity in your peripheral vision, you are being tugged in many directions at once and the amount of information coming at you is intense … I love it. Although you kind of feel sorry for the freshmen legislators coming in. They have the ‘deer in the headlights’ look the whole first week, but we get used to it.

Let me give you some details of the fun.

On day 1, we took our oaths, picked seats, started organizing files and training our secretaries, heard speeches from the Speaker of the House, the House Minority Leader and the House Majority Leader. All good for Iowa. The Speaker tasked me with responsibility in his speech and I will take it to heart.

“DO LESS"

The revenue forecast says we will have an additional $200 million to spend in Fiscal Year 2016. If we cannot fund Iowans’ priorities with an additional $200 million then that means two things: we have too many priorities and we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

Instead of more programs and endless expenses, let’s ask government to do less. Let’s instead create opportunities to make family life more affordable, upward mobility more likely and employment easier to find. We need to ensure the programs currently on the books are doing consequential things that improve Iowans’ lives and are worth the taxpayers’ investment.

Rep. Pettengill – you and your Rules committee have led the charge in removing barriers for Iowans’ when it comes to the rulemaking process. I want to encourage you and your team to continue this vital work on behalf of the legislative branch, ensuring the intent of the laws we pass is followed and onerous rules that hamper growth in our state are identified and removed.” - Speaker Paulsen

Minority Leader Smith had a wonderful quote in his speech, “There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm. -Willa Cather”. This is so true here at the Capitol and of course with life in general.

Day 2 began with more organizing, the Governor’ Condition of the State where he highlighted past work and looking to the future and we received his budget which isn’t due until 30 days of the start date. We are happy to have it early to be able to get started. There were some challenges that may not match up with the Legislature’s priorities, but keep in mind, his budget is the 2nd step in a long process. First the departments come to the Governor with their budget requests. Second, he puts his priorities in budget format. Third, the departments present their budget requests to us and we apply our priorities to their requests into a budget format. Then we beat the heck out of each other for every dollar until we come to an agreement. That may be where Leader Smith was going with the “things learned in a storm” quote and appropriately so.

Another fun thing, I was chosen to be the Head Teller who relays the 99 county vote canvass results for the Governor and at the Inauguration, sign a historical document that will be in the Governor’s records.

Day 3 we heard from the Chief Justice who gave us the goals of the Judicial Branch. They are protecting Iowa’s children, providing full time court services, open and transparent courts and fair and impartial justice for all. My committees began meeting. In Oversight, we are going to look at the new Ft. Madison prison and why we have an over $100 million dollar building that we can’t move prisoners into yet. Transportation Committee is charged with finding a solution on road funding. And Senator Greiner begged me to go to the Inaugural ball with her. A two day notice for a ballgown? Have no fear, I pulled something together.

Day 4 began and ended with committee work in Commerce and State Government and visits with different organizations in the rotunda. One sentence looks boring, but never around here.

On the 5th day, we had the honor of attending the Inauguration and Inaugural Ball. If you’ve never been to an Inauguration, you have to make it a bucket list priority. It is truly a humbling experience.

Many thanks to Belle Plaine’s Jim Shutts and Garrison’s Marvin Trimble for visiting on Day 2. It was fun to have you there for the Governor’s speech!

Question of the Week: Do you support an increase in Iowa’s fuel tax to support the annual $200 million shortfall in road funding? If so, reply yes. If not, please reply no and give me an alternative.

Victoria and I are working on scheduling our town halls for the session. We will let you know as soon as we get the dates and places set. If you have any concerns, questions or would like to receive my email newsletter, please contact me at dawn.pettengill@legis.iowa.gov or 515-281-6879. I’m here for you!