Government : Hello, Iowa House District 84 from the State Capitol!

V-S School Staff impressed with a trip to the top of the Capitol!  From left:  Le Cox, Alexa Francois, Wesley Recker, Kyle Koeppen, and Rep. Gerhold

Week three is now "in the books", as the saying goes, voting on the first three bills of the year. Two were passed unanimously, House File 117 and 118. HF117 has a purpose of offering scholarships to National Guard members who seek an educational field approved by the adjutant general from a community college, private or regent institution that will be relevant to their service in the National Guard. For example, it could be for cyber security, IT, emergency medical services, etc. HF 118 also helps National Guard members by making improvements to the National Guard Service Scholarship Program. In a nutshell, it will make the program more efficient and potentially free up dollars for more recipients.

The third bill that passed on the House floor was HF 144, which addresses the moratorium on the issuance of new gambling licenses. This bill passed with a very bipartisan vote of 68 yeas and 31 nays. Of the yeas, 79% of Republicans, including me, and basically half of the Democrats voted in favor. In some ways, this was a difficult bill to vote against. Yes, it would have brought a lot of jobs to Linn County, but at a substantial cost to several casinos all over the eastern half of Iowa.

There were two studies conducted, both can be found here: https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/market-studies-reveal-big-risks-for-proposed-cedar-crossing-casino. Both concluded that the gambling market in Iowa is saturated, meaning any new casinos will take gamblers away from other casinos. Riverside Casino would lose between $16.6 and $34 million (about 26% decrease). Waterloo's casino would lose between $6.2 and $8.8 million (almost 10%). Meskwaki Casino would lose $14.1 million (about 11%). Dubuque's casinos would lose $5 million. In other words, there would be a huge impact due to cannibalization. Gambling is down 2.4% in the last two fiscal years, and in the first 4 months of FY2025, it's down 2.5%.

On Tuesday, January 28th, I enjoyed visiting with Vinton-Shellsburg Superintendent Kyle Koeppen, Middle School Principal Alexa Francois, school board member Le Cox, and 7th grade Social Studies teacher Wesley Recker. After discussing the upcoming Education budget for public schools and their priorities, we all were able to find time to venture to the top of the golden dome for a wonderful view of Des Moines. We were very fortunate to have sunny skies and relatively balmy temperatures for late January! (See the Vinton Shellsburg newsletter concerning the trip!)

Little did I and the rest of the legislators under the golden dome know that Thursday would be the last time to say hi or bye to a fellow representative - Martin Graber of Fort Madison. Friday, January 31st, he was called to his heavenly home after suffering a massive heart attack. Rep. Graber represented House District 100, which was most of Lee County, which he called the "Florida Peninsula of Iowa". Graber also served his country and state with distinction, giving 32 years of his life to the Iowa National Guard, achieving the distinguished rank of Brigadier General. Nobody at the Capitol could say a bad thing about General Graber, as he was that well liked and respected. Please keep his wife Coni and family in your thoughts and prayers, as he has a daughter and her family lives in Vinton. His obituary can be seen here.

I hope you have a safe and healthy week and support our local businesses!