The second major legislative deadline for bills has ended and now, week thirteen has too.
This week has been spent working with the House on compromises in order to move forward with the Legislative session. On Monday the 3rd, we hosted FIRST at the Capitol. FIRST inspires young people to be innovators and leaders in robotics and technologies. Members of FIRST range from grades K-12. They came to the capitol to show their accomplishments in technology and robotics. We are happy to support young Iowans wanting to pursue technology/robotics. This session, we passed Senate Bill 398 which would make robotics teams a state-sponsored activity, meaning it would receive support from the Department of Education.
Governor Reynolds signed SF 514, the state government alignment and reorganization bills, into law this week. SF 514 is the first major reorganization of Iowa’s state government in 40 years. The goal of this legislation was simple, even though the bill itself was over 1,500 pages long. This legislation will have Iowa operating with 16 cabinet-level directors and over the next four years there will be an estimated cost savings of over $200 million. SF 514 created many moving parts in state government. With the changes going on, the Senate has started the appropriations process this week. These bills addressed budgets, but the Senate and the House must be in agreement. The budget target set by Senate Republicans and Governor Reynolds is $8.486 billion. The House’s budget is about $95 million more.
I’ve continued to hear questions and concerns from taxpayers all over the state as counties send out updated property tax assessments to Iowans. We have heard these concerns, and it is our primary focus as we head into these last scheduled weeks of the legislative session. Several proposals in the legislature to address these concerns and alleviate the burdens on Iowa property taxpayers are being considered in both chambers. Senate Republicans are focused on getting to the core of the issue by simplifying and consolidating the number of levies used by local governments, limiting levies that seem open-ended for additional spending, reinstating hard levy caps, providing a series of controls to protect taxpayers, and eliminating loopholes abused by local governments to exceed limits that had been set by law. Senate Republicans have used these principles to guide us for the last several years, putting us in the strong fiscal place we are today.
Governor Reynolds also signed Senate File 445 on Tuesday. It allows ten-member boards of review to meet in groups of at least three to hear assessment protest cases. Like our own subcommittees, which get input on bills before the full legislative committee, these sub-units would provide a recommendation to the full board for a final decision. With the number of Iowans preparing to protest their property tax assessments this year, this change will allow larger boards to hear more cases and get through more of them quickly.
I encourage my constituents to continue contacting 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 42
From the Statehouse: Government reogrganization bill passed into law
Sen. Charlie McClintock
Senate District 42
April 13, 2023