Government : Hello District 75 from the State Capitol!

Representative Gerhold visits with Benton County Auditor Hayley Rippel

Week nine of the session was busy with committee meetings for all legislators. I passed out of the Transportation Committee Senate File 2139 with bipartisan support. This will help people selling a car with a salvage title. For example, a vehicle rebuilder has a car that was declared a salvage vehicle, which has a cost of repair exceeding 70% of the fair market value. The rebuilder can repair the damage but not be required to repair cosmetic damage, such as scratches, dents, paint chips, or hail damage in order to remove the salvage title. This will basically allow normal wear and tear for a vehicle deemed safe to drive.

The Justice Systems budget will provide additional funding to several areas. Among these, the budget will direct an increase of $3.1 million in fiscal year 2023 which will help the Iowa State Patrol and the budget will provide $2.5 million for the Public Safety Equipment fund. The Dept. of Corrections will receive an additional $7.1 million for next years budget. The Judicial Branch will see an increase of $7.36 million for the next fiscal year which will add four new associate judge positions and provide a 5.9% salary increase for judges.

The Iowa House passed HF2500, the Alternative Teacher Certification Program. This will permit a temporary initial license for applicants who hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university and successfully completes an alternative teacher certification program. This should help alleviate the teacher shortages.

The House also passed HF 2105, which would make daylight savings time the official time permanent and now goes over to the senate for consideration. Currently, federal law prohibits all states from going to daylight savings time permanently, but states are permitted to stay on standard time year around if they choose. If passed by the senate and Governor Reynolds signs it, Iowa will keep changing time in the spring and fall until the federal law is changed.

Wednesday was County Auditors Association Day at the Capitol, and our own Benton County Auditor Hayley Rippel attended to answer any questions by legislators.

Also on Wednesday, Governor Reynolds held a rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds to announce her candidacy to run for re-election this November. There was a good attendance, with probably at least 500 people.

Spring will be here on March 20th, and I saw a couple of robins in my yard - a sure sign of spring and warmer weather! As always, please be safe and healthy out there!