(EDITOR’S NOTE: Today’s Times-Republican features Q&As with two local legislators regarding the upcoming Iowa Legislature session. The remaining two legislators were featured in Friday’s paper.)

The Iowa Legislature will begin the second year of the 91st general assembly on Monday. Representing the T-R coverage area are Sen. Kara Warme of District 26 (R-Ames) and Reps. Brett Barker of District 51 (R-Nevada), David Blom of District 52 (R-Marshalltown) and Dean Fisher of District 53 (R-Montour),

The T-R sent them a list of questions to get their stances on issues which have been focused upon within the state recently, and to find out what their priorities will be. This second part features answers provided by Barker and Warme.

Barker, first elected in 2024, is the vice-chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee and also serves on the Commerce, Economic Growth and Technology and Natural Resources committees.

Warme, who was also first elected in 2024, is the chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and also serves on the Commerce, Appropriations, Technology, Transportation and Veteran Affairs committees.

Barker will work on affordable, accessible health care

What will be your primary focus during the upcoming session?

In addition to the larger House priorities, I will be focusing on ensuring we have an affordable and accessible health care system and effective human services through my work as the Health and Human Services vice chair.

What do you think should be done with property taxes, and how do you propose to do that?

It’s clear that a “one size fits all” approach to property taxes does not work. We should ensure increased transparency for local voters to provide accountability to local officials. We also should ensure that any property tax relief provides broad relief to residential property tax payers.

Food insecurity is a growing problem. What do you think the state should do to address it?

In addition to continuing to ensure that state programs and our nonprofit partners have sufficient resources, we should ensure that Iowa has robust employment opportunities and that we are focused on improving the affordability of necessities like housing, healthcare and energy. We also should continue to work to fill the needs in rural food desserts.

Will the legislature take any action on economic development tools, such as TIF? What do you think will be your vote on such actions?

While we need to ensure that any abuses or loopholes with TIF are addressed, it is a critical economic development tool for local governments and must be protected.

How should the state go about bringing factories to the area and rebuilding the workforce?

The state has worked to make sure that our tax and regulatory environment fosters and attracts business to our state. We should continue to align our state economic and workforce development programs to be outcome-focused in an improved tax and regulatory environment.

Will you support any legislation that will attract or maintain healthcare providers in the state? Please elaborate.

Yes, we have passed and will continue to pass legislation addressing our shortage of healthcare workforce.

Child care deserts seem to be expanding. What can the legislature do to address this problem, which will help children, families and businesses?

I will be supporting legislation to make permanent a child care assistance pilot program that incentivizes child care workforce in addition to other improvements in our child care assistance program. We also can make sure that child care continues to be considered a significant economic development need.

Will you support a higher amount of state supplemental aid for school districts? Please explain.

The House took a strong stand last year for SSA and for paraeducator pay. While we didn’t get everything we asked for, the House was able to attain additional education funding. While we continue to fund our schools, we also must be focused on outcomes, which are not always correlated with dollars.

Libraries have been an off and on focus for the public during the last few years. Do you think libraries should be reined in? What sort of legislation will you support to either limit or expand what libraries do? Please elaborate.

No answer provided.

Final comments:

Last year, I was proud that in my first session there were 14 bills I sponsored or floor managed that passed the House. I look forward to working on bills that didn’t get all the way last year along with additional new bills for this year.

Warme says people are tired of ‘political rhetoric and divisiveness’

What will be your primary focus during the upcoming session?

My focus will be listening to my constituents, community stakeholders and my fellow legislators so we can work together to find data-driven, collaborative solutions that improve affordability and quality of life opportunities for all Iowans. I hear from so many people that they are tired of political rhetoric and divisiveness. It’s my great honor to represent you in the Iowa Senate and I want to do so in a way that makes you proud and hopeful for the future of our state. 2026 will be a year of many leadership transitions in Iowa government and a consequential election. We need steady leadership, responsible management of taxpayer dollars, positive vision and teamwork to preserve and enhance the state we love.

What do you think should be done with property taxes, and how do you propose to do that?

One of the biggest topics of the year will be property taxes. Affordability is a big issue everyone is talking about right now, and Iowans being able to afford to buy and live in a home is a significant part of that, especially for older Iowans on a fixed income. Our focus will be providing major reform to help bring relief to Iowans. We started last year in proposing options and allowing taxing entities (more than 2,000 statewide) to assess impacts. The system is complex and broad input helps prioritize critical services and identify opportunities for efficiencies. I would like to see incentives and support for more sharing agreements between local governments to reduce overall costs. Iowans would also benefit from more clear and understandable property tax statements to increase local accountability for spending decisions.

Food insecurity is a growing problem. What do you think the state should do to address it?

This summer I had the pleasure of volunteering at a Healthy Kids Iowa site in Marshalltown, and I am glad to see the goals of both programs come together as we return to the EBT cards, but with a focus on healthier foods. As we move toward programs helping people get back to work and supporting themselves and their families, I believe it is also important to encourage healthier eating and help provide access to foods that will facilitate healthier lifestyles.

Will the legislature take any action on economic development tools, such as TIF? What do you think will be your vote on such actions?

I am a huge proponent of economic development and appreciate the great work our local chambers of commerce and the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) do to increase opportunities in Iowa. While TIF can be an effective tool for economic development, we also see examples where it becomes more like a property tax loophole and isn’t used as intended. The Senate passed a bill last session to modernize TIF, and I hope the House will take up that bill and continue the reform work this session.

How should the state go about bringing factories to the area and rebuilding the workforce?

If we want to attract business to our area and to our state and rebuild our workforce, we have to continue making our state one that people want to live in. The policies necessary to attract new jobs are affordable, reliable energy, low taxes, a skilled workforce and reasonable regulations. Many policies we pursue in the legislature are focused on achieving those goals, and public-private partnerships are key in this space. We can all play a part in telling the story of Iowa as the best place to grow a business and a family.

Will you support any legislation that will attract or maintain healthcare providers in the state? Please elaborate.

We have done extensive work in the legislature to attract and retain healthcare workers and last year we funded 115 new residency slots to train additional doctors in Iowa, focusing on local and rural candidates. This year I will introduce legislation to reduce administrative burden and outdated regulations so providers can spend more time with patients instead of on paperwork, and we can both reduce costs and retain quality healthcare providers, especially in smaller communities.

Child care deserts seem to be expanding. What can the legislature do to address this problem, which will help children, families and businesses?

The legislature has taken a number of steps to address childcare in our state, like cutting burdensome regulations to put us more in line with other states. Last year the Senate passed a policy introduced by Gov. Reynolds to improve the continuum of care for children in Iowa, connecting preschools, day cares and elementary schools to ease the burden on parents of young children. I hope the House will pick that policy up to improve childcare in Iowa.

Will you support a higher amount of state supplemental aid for school districts? Please explain.

Every year, taxpayers send billions of dollars to schools to support Iowa kids. Last year, the legislature passed an increase of $240 million for K-12 education. Including state and local funding, K-12 students in Iowa receive over $6 billion. Education is a huge priority for me, and I will continue to engage with our school districts and work with my peers to responsibly fund education. I will also celebrate our many educational success stories with cell phones out of classrooms, improved reading scores, reduced absenteeism and innovative work-based learning opportunities. Iowa is well on our way back to the top of national education ratings and I believe we can get there!

Libraries have been an off and on focus for the public during the last few years. Do you think libraries should be reined in? What sort of legislation will you support to either limit or expand what libraries do? Please elaborate.

There are always bills that pop up on a number of topics, due to constituent concerns or issues that arise throughout the year. Libraries are valuable resources in our community and something my family uses extensively. I will evaluate proposals as they come across my desk during the year.

Final comments:

As someone who has worked with our state’s youth and mental health services, I am excited to be starting my first session as the chair of the Health and Human Services Committee. This is an area I feel very passionate about, and I’m looking forward to the work we will do this year, like discussing cancer rates in Iowa, the healthcare workforce and helping youth and families. With the awarding of $209 million in federal funds for our Rural Health Transformation Program, we have tremendous opportunities to help Iowa families access affordable and excellent health care. We also have some big issues we are working on this year, like property taxes, and I am ready to have collaborative conversations and deliver solutions for Iowans.