Government : HELLO HOUSE DISTRICT 75 FROM THE STATE CAPITOL!

Emmet Cummings, of Urbana and History Major at UNI visited the Capitol for UNI Day

This last week was the first "funnel week", which was the last chance to get individual bills out of committee in either the Iowa House or Senate that are not in the Appropriations or Ways & Means committees.

Some very important bills that made it are for rural Emergency Medical Services: HF 2224, 2280, and 2434. These will assist local governments in offering these services to their residents, helping counties have the ability to make long-term investments in EMS programs and infrastructure and proposes additional funding to local EMS.

The House Republicans in the Commerce Committee have passed House Files 2023, 2107, 2213, 2242, and 2459 which will expand high-speed broadband to underserved parts of the state.

The Iowa House Agriculture Committee passed two bills by unanimous vote. The bill directs the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) to study and report back to the Governor, and General Assembly on the adequacy and resiliency of the Grain Indemnity Fund and whether there might be a way to extend grain indemnity coverage for deferred payment grain sales where grain has been delivered and a specific price set.

The second measure passed was House Study Bill 684 that removes obsolete and code provisions, and includes extensive new Code language providing IDALS with the means to expeditiously deal with catastrophic contagious foreign animal disease (FAD) outbreaks.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) awarded the Benton County Soil & Water Conservation District $803,975 over the next three years to improve conservation practices around Hinkle, Mud, Opossum, and Wildcat Creeks, which are part of the Middle Cedar River watershed. This is an extension of work already happening around Wolf, Rock, and Pratt Creeks. Please go to www.middlecedarwma.com, www.cleanwateriowa.org, https://iowaagriculture.gov/news/adds-3-watershed-coordinators or www.iasoybeans.com/upl/downloads/publications/middle-cedar.pdf if you would like more information.

Not all bills filed are good for Iowa. Republican-led House committees stopped several that would've had a deleterious effect on Iowa's agriculture by creating an Iowa version of the "Green New Deal". They would've made it more difficult for Iowans to go into agriculture, increased costs for production, and raised taxes on family farms.

House File 96 wanted to turn Iowa's health care system into a government-run, socialist health care system. With regards to the Second Amendment, several bills that were introduced intended to ban and confiscate commonly owned firearms like shotguns, hunting rifles, and pistols that are used for self-defense. Republicans also stopped a bill filed that would confiscate firearms from law-abiding Iowans without due process.

February 17th was UNI day at the Capitol, and I had a chance to talk with Emmet Cummings from Urbana, a freshman majoring in History Education who loves and was promoting UNI

Have a great week and as always, please be safe out there!