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District 53 Newsletter

As I write this, we are in our final hours of “funnel week.” In order for our individually filed bills to be available for floor debate they must be passed by their respective committee by Feb. 20. That deadline creates a flurry of activity as we press to get our individual bills through their subcommittees and through the full committee. Several of the bills I’ve filed have passed the funnel deadline, including a bill to give courts greater subpoena powers over online transactions by those that are behind on child support, a bill to make it illegal in Iowa to give an employer a ...

The Blom Bulletin

Wrapping Up First Funnel Week While the first funnel week of the session comes to a close, the house has worked this week to get all the proposed legislation finalized and through, especially Senate File 2201, making an agreement on supplemental state aid for K-12 schools in the house. Commerce HSB 691: This bill, brought to the committee by Representative Charley Thomson, allows for landowners to receive compensation for damages done and continued yield losses due to pipelines of all types (natural gas, hazardous liquids, etc.). This bill also allows landowners to file land ...

Iowa Republicans turn their backs on nursing home residents

It was disturbing, frustrating and sickening. But it was not surprising. And it’s happened six years in a row. Behind closed doors, secretively and quietly, Iowa’s Senate Republicans once again killed a bill that would improve, and possibly save, the lives of nursing home ...

Casper the Friendly Lawn Ornament Donkey

On the farm, pets tend to be of the wider variety than for urban folks. Pigs make good pets, as do chickens, horses, ducks, geese, cows, sheep, llamas, or anything alive on the farm. For Krista Jennings Hagge, southeast of Winfield, her pet was Casper the Friendly Lawn Ornament Donkey. On their anniversary, husband Jeff took Krista out for dinner and apologized for not having a present. But when they got home, lo-and-behold, there in the barn yard was, surprise, surprise, a pregnant donkey named Jenny. (Female donkeys are also known as Jennies.) Krista couldn’t have been more ...

Parallels and patterns: George Orwell’s 1984, Hitler’s Nazi and Trump 2.0

George Orwell’s 1984, a dystopian classic novel, is a staple in American high school English and social studies curricula. 1984 is taught in 9th or 10th grade and used to introduce themes of totalitarianism, propaganda and censorship. Likewise, studying Adolf Hitler’s accession to power in 1933 whereby Nazi’s set out to reconstruct German society is taught in the 11th or 12th grade in America’s school systems. All voting-age Americans are knowledgeable of Donald Trump’s attitude, opinions, values, actions, beliefs, behavior, practices and policies. Hence, as a result of ...

Barker Bulletin

It’s the week before funnel! It’s the week before the first legislative funnel deadline. Most House bills must pass a full committee by the end of next week in order to stay alive. This was a busy week full of subcommittee and committee meetings as we work to make sure our priorities advance. I look forward to reporting which of my bills survive the first funnel after next week! Tobacco and Cancer Iowans have been loud and clear that they expect the legislature to take action regarding cancer in our state. And as a healthcare professional who happens to be a legislator, I feel ...