The 2nd Legislative Session of the 91st General Assembly convened on Monday. It was my honor to ceremonially notify the Governor that the House was duly organized and ready to receive whatever messages she wishes to convey. With this being a shorter session, deadlines come more quickly and the hard work has already begun.

Thanks to the many great conversations and cups of coffee I shared with constituents throughout the district in the interim, I was prepared to hit the ground running this week. I sponsored 15 bills addressing topics including childcare workforce and affordability, helping our schools retain support staff, improving our foster care system, reviewing unfunded mandates on local governments, and protecting our rural healthcare infrastructure. While this is a good start, I have more still in drafting that I look forward to sharing with you next week.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to work hard on your behalf in Des Moines! Follow “Barker for Iowa” on social media channels to stay up to date on my work. Please reach out to me about any questions, concerns, or suggestions at brett.barker@legis.iowa.gov.

Bills Sponsored

• HF 2008 A bill for an act relating to state child care assistance payments to child care providers for days a child receiving foster care is absent from scheduled child care.

• HF 2009 A bill for an act relating to manufacturers and distributors of 340B drugs.

• HF 2018 A bill for an act relating to stickers affixed to county and city motor vehicles operating on ethanol blended gasoline.

• HF 2030 A bill for an act relating to state child care assistance payments.

• HF 2033 A bill for an act relating to the provision of accessible prescription-related measures for persons who are blind, have a visual impairment, or other print disability.

• HF 2035 A bill for an act increasing the reimbursement rates child care providers receive through the state child care assistance program.

• HF 2036 A bill for an act relating to the confidentiality of the residential addresses of foster parents.

• HF 2055 A bill for an act relating to epinephrine delivery systems in schools, food establishments, carnivals, recreational camps, youth sports facilities, and sports arenas.

• HF 2075 A bill for an act relating to the operation of mini-trucks on highways, and making penalties applicable.

HF 2076 A bill for an act relating to billing methods for distributed generation customers.

• HF 2077 A bill for an act authorizing the expenditure of funding from the secure an advanced vision for education fund for certain insurance costs.

• HF 2080 A bill for an act relating to bona fide retirement and subsequent employment as school district support staff under the Iowa public employees’ retirement system.

• HF 2083 A bill for an act requiring the department of health and human services to pay for child care provided to a foster child participating in the state child care assistance program at the same rate as child care provided to a child with special needs.

• HF 2107 A bill for an act appropriating moneys to the department of health and human services for the statewide child care solutions fund program.

• HF 2109 A bill for an act relating to the disposition of collected criminal case fines and establishing a victim restitution fund.

Subcommittees Assigned

• HSB 524 A bill for an act relating to interest rates and charges on regulated loans, and consumer credit transaction service charges.

• HSB 521 A bill for an act authorizing the transfer of funds to assist the state load forecasting center.

• HF 2056 A bill for an act relating to the dispensing of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin through a standing order in the state.

• HF 2055 A bill for an act relating to epinephrine delivery systems in schools, food establishments, carnivals, recreational camps, youth sports facilities, and sports arenas.

• HF 2009 A bill for an act relating to manufacturers and distributors of 340B drugs.

• SF 319 A bill for an act relating to certain cost controls for health care services.(Formerly SSB 1029.)

• HF 304 A bill for an act relating to rate-regulated utilities, including telecommunications and electronic transmission services.(Formerly HSB 65.)

HSB 505 A bill for an act relating to training requirements for the licensure of individual child foster care providers.

• HF 2036 A bill for an act relating to the confidentiality of the residential addresses of foster parents.

• HSB 500 A bill for an act making children of child care workers eligible for the state child care assistance program.

Subcommittee hearings are the first step to gather public input on a proposed bill. This is a time that the public can provide testimony and share comments and concerns about a bill, which can then be shared with the full committee. Subcommittees are not bills that we sponsor, but are bills that we are assigned to gather input about. Committee chairs and ranking members assign subcommittee members.

Property Taxes

Iowans have been loud and clear about the need for property tax reform and it will be the top topic of conversation this session. Seniors are being priced out of their homes, young people are struggling to buy their first house and families are seeing their bill rise.

This week, we saw property tax proposals released from the Governor’s Office and the Iowa Senate Republican caucus. Our House Republican caucus has been working on a proposal of our own that we will release as early as next week. The fact that the Governor, the Senate Republicans, and the House Republicans are all leading with property tax plans shows Iowans how committed we are to delivering significant relief this session.

I will continue too use my voice to advocate for reforming the property tax statements to provide for better understanding and transparency to allow local voters to provide feedback to their local elected officials. I also believe that our one size fits all system is broken and that Waukee’s budget challenges and Zearing’s budget challenges are not the same.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks as these conversations continue and House Republicans release our own proposal.

Keeping Iowans Safe

Central to our state’s identity is that Iowa is a safe place to live and raise a family. Here in Iowa, we expect that you can trust your neighbors, leave your car unlocked, or let your kids play at the park. We’ve seen what happens when our neighbors in Chicago and Minneapolis go soft on crime. We will not let those failed policies cross our borders. We are taking action now to ensure Iowa remains a safe place to call home.

We see headlines that pop up on our phones everyday about the horrors that take place across our country. In too many of these incidents, the perpetrators are repeat offenders with a long history of violent crime. Too often, these career criminals are released back onto the streets where they become a risk to our children and loved ones. There are instances of this kind taking place in Iowa and we refuse to sit back and wait for the tragedies to pile up before we take action.

That’s why House Republicans will be pursuing a tough on crime agenda this session. We will be proposing a 3-strike policy that keeps dangerous criminals repeatedly breaking the law off the streets. This legislative session, career criminals will get the message – they are not welcome here in Iowa.

State Budget Debate

House Republicans have become known for our responsible budgeting principles. We have been able to put record funding toward Iowans’ priorities like public schools, nursing homes, and public safety while lowering your taxes and eliminating taxes on retirement income.

Now, our 3.8% income tax cut has fully gone into effect, making Iowa’s income tax the 6th lowest in the country. Because of this tax cut, state revenues have decreased. Despite the fact this was expected and planned for, Democrats are telling you it’s time to panic.

Here’s the truth behind this debate: the state government was collecting too much of Iowans’ money. The state was collecting so much money that our reserve funds were full, the budget’s ending balance was over $2 billion dollars, and our Taxpayer Relief Fund had reached over $4 billion dollars. House Republicans don’t believe it is responsible for the government to be sitting on so much money. It should be back in Iowa’s economy.

Unfortunately, there are some that think this is their money and it should be used for more government spending. They believe the government bureaucracy knows better what to do with your hard-earned money than you do. Republicans, on the other hand, know that this is your money. And that you deserve your money back.

So, we cut income taxes and created a responsible plan to navigate a temporary decrease in state revenues by using money from the Taxpayer Relief Fund. t’s worth noting that this has worked in the past when the Legislature cut income taxes in 1997 and 2018 and in both instances initial declines gave way to increasing revenues.

We’re not talking about the reserve funds. We’re talking about the over $4 billion dollars sitting in the fund that was created specifically for the purpose of cutting taxes. So Iowans – ignore the fear mongering and enjoy the extra cash in your wallet