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

2A Day at the Capitol with from left: former NRA President Kayne Robinson, Rep. Gerhold, and current NRA Executive VP & CEO Doug Hamlin.

Community College Day on the Hill with Kirkwood Community College represented well.

Major Jeff Struecker from “Black Hawk Down” is a Featured Speaker at 2A Day at the Capitol.

The warmer temperatures this week are certainly a welcome change!

Committees at the Capitol are being held to continue pushing many bills that are important to Iowans. However, a majority will not make it to the desk of Governor Reynolds. Those are the checks and balances we have on the state level.

On Thursday, Feb. 20th, we passed 17 commonsense bills on the House floor. A few of them were:

--House File 173, which increases penalties for drivers that fail to maintain control and cause an accident that results in bodily injury or death.

--HF 180, that increases penalties for grooming. Grooming is when someone, whether in person or using technology, attempts to lur a child to commit an illegal sex act. Iowa House Republicans led the effort to define grooming in Iowa code as a Class D felony. If signed into law, anyone convicted of this will be added to the Tier I sex offender list for 10 years and have additional monitoring.

--HF 303 will improve access to healthcare by requiring shorter responses by insurance companies to requests for prior authorization for medical procedures or medications.

--HF 312 speeds up treatments for psychiatric deterioration before it gets to a serious mental impairment. It also allows courts to order treatment for individuals experiencing psychiatric deterioration. This is when a person cannot understand the need for treatment and is unlikely to seek it. This intends to reduce the need for more intensive care in the future.

--HF 318 requires insurers to provide the same cost-sharing for supplemental breast exams and diagnostic breast exams as they do for mammograms.

--HF 330 removes the age and benefit limits from the autism coverage requirements of health plans in Iowa.

--HF 392 gives all accredited high schools the opportunity to apply for a year-round school calendar, like PK-8th is now.

These bills passed basically unanimously, except five Democrats voted against HF 180. These bills now go to the Senate for their consideration.

On Feb. 18th, the Capitol was a busy day! U.S. Representative Ashley Hinson, visited and gave an update in D.C. Also, it was 2A Day on the Hill, and the Iowa Firearms Coalition hosted Major Jeff Struecker and NRA Executive Vice-President and CEO Doug Hamlin. Major Struecker was a soldier and actually portrayed in the movie "Black Hawk Down"!

Feb. 19th was Community College Day on the Hill, and it was great to visit with President Kristie Fisher and others at the Kirkwood Community College booth! I had a detailed conversation with a student who is an apprentice of ALPLA (https://education.alpla.com/mechatronics-apprenticeship). This is a program where you can get paid while you learn in classes, get an associate degree and a high-paying job!

I hope you have a safe and healthy week and support our local businesses. March is right around the corner!