Government : Fifth Week of the 2025 Legislative Session

I had the opportunity to meet with students from the Iowa Skills USA Program at the Capitol on Tuesday. They were bright students who shared the skills and experiences they have gained through this program. 

It was a pleasure to have met with this young man from the Technology Student Association, a national non-profit career and technical student organization of middle and high school students engaged in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Kirkwood Community College was also at the Capitol on Tuesday. I was pleased to engage with them and gain some more insights on the work that they are doing in our community

I enjoyed meeting with these culinary students with my colleague, Senator Donahue.

Regardless of the weather, week five in the Iowa Senate remained busy with us passing legislation in subcommittees and committees. We also debated bills on the floor for the first time this year, sending a couple of potential laws over to the House of Representatives for their consideration.

This week, the Iowa Senate passed Senate File 152, waiving certain testing requirements for an Iowa driver's license for military drivers who drove as part of their service. This will make it easier for those who are qualified and did not have a state-issued driver's license prior to their military service. Military members would be able to get one due to their experience operating a motor vehicle during active duty and get rid of unnecessary requirements for them (the written exam and eye exam will still be required). We want to continue to do everything we can to give back to our men and women in uniform, and this bill is a great step in that direction to make life easier for those who serve our country and the great state of Iowa.

We also passed SF 146, which prohibits the creation of a bot to purchase event tickets online, while also placing several restrictions to prevent circumvention of a fair ticket-buying process. For too long, many people have been unable to purchase tickets for a future event because of the overwhelming use of bots to overbuy, upsell, and horde available tickets to the consumer. The prevention of bots from this process should make access to high-demand tickets fairer and help Iowans hoping to see their favorite events live.

More proposals have also been moving through the committee process. One of these bills the Senate has discussed many times. Senate File 22 was passed by the Judiciary Committee this week, prohibiting the use of cell phones while driving. We have heard a lot of comments over the years about this proposal, and with support from the governor this year, we are hoping to see it make it over the finish line. This is an important piece of legislation to prevent dangerous driving and keep Iowans safe on the roads.

Senate Study Bill 1010 was approved by the Local Government Committee this week. This bill prohibits cities from implementing citizen review boards as part of its civil service protections for law enforcement. Citizen review boards have increased in popularity over the last few years, mainly in large cities, but some do exist in Iowa. The rationale given for them is to involve the public in the investigation and potential discipline of police officers. However, these boards consistently turn into star chambers, denying law enforcement officers the due process they are constitutionally entitled to receive and prejudicing further proceedings. This policy is one more item the Senate is pursuing to continue to demonstrate our years-long commitment to back the blue.

Senate File 167
Senate File (SF) 167, the State Supplemental Aid (SSA), or per-pupil state funding for Iowa's K-12 schools ran this week. The Senate proposed 2%, and the House 2.25%. Last year was 2.5%.

I voted No on the 2%. Iowa is a compulsory school system, meaning you are legally compelled to educate your children as required by the government. This places the responsibility on the government to properly fund the education system. 2% does not meet that requirement. Simply put, the school systems that do not meet their "budget guarantee" will be forced to supplement their funds, either through increased revenues (local taxes), or decreases (cuts such as teachers). About 160 school systems fall into this category, some of which are in my Senate district.