Week thirteen has concluded and we are slowly, but surely approaching the end of the Legislative Session! Here are the weekly highlights.
The House has passed the final two budget bills necessary to complete its initial work on the Fiscal Year 2023 budget. This annual task was completed as the Health & Human Services and the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund (RIIF) appropriations bills were adopted by the House on bipartisan votes. With the passage of these two bills, all nine budget bills produced by the budget subcommittees have moved from the House to the Senate where they are all currently residing in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The Senate has yet to release the funding levels allocated to each budget subcommittee.
On Tuesday, April 4, 2022, the Iowa House considered, amended and passed House File 2581 by a unanimous 97-aye vote. The bill is the Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship (IDALS) departmental bill that includes a number of changes update Code verbiage, remove obsolete programs and Code Provisions and reactivate a IDALS sponsored ‘Choose Iowa´ promotional program for agricultural commodities grown and/or prepared or processed in Iowa.
After years of work, this week the Iowa House passed a bill to add meaningful protections for Iowans in mobile homes. Recently Iowa mobile home residents have seen an increase in out of state groups buying mobile home parks and make this affordable housing option less attainable. This bill provides protections for residents against retaliation from landlords, and requires a 90-day notice of any rental fee increase or cancellation of a rental agreement. It also gives legal remedies to residents if the landlord is not providing essential services, such as water.
It is an honor to be in Des Moines representing District 95 and the people of Iowa. I encourage my constituents to contact me using my legislative email ([email protected]) with any comments, questions, or concerns. I look forward to another great week of representing the people of District 95.