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Momentum grows to be Public School Strong

I don’t think I could’ve been happier seeing recent news that Urbandale, South Tama, and Cedar Falls school districts passed Public School Strong resolutions. Cedar Rapids was a week before, and they joined Albia, Belmond-Klemme, Decorah, Bennett, and Keokuk who passed resolutions late last year. It warms my heart to see communities across Iowa voice support for our kids and their schools. These resolutions call on the legislature to fund public education at a 5% annual increase in supplemental state aid and gradually phase out private school vouchers. Our public schools have ...

Don’t abuse the word ‘protest’

Alex Pretti wasn’t killed while “protesting.” This is a common description of what he was doing on a Minneapolis street the fateful morning when a confrontation with federal immigration agents ended in his tragic shooting. But if Pretti had been a mere protester, he’d very likely be alive today. Now that we’ve seen videos of an earlier struggle with federal agents and learned more about the organized nature of the anti-ICE resistance, it’s become clear that the better word for Pretti was agitator, or perhaps even operative. A protester, as typically understood, is ...

Learing lessons from Minnesota’s fraud ring

An audit found Minnesota paying millions of dollars for fraudulent child care services – nearly a decade ago! At that time, the state’s nonpartisan legislative auditor warned more needed to be done to combat child care fraud, including verifying attendance. Apparently, the state ...

2026 tax season delivers real relief for Iowans

As tax season begins, families across Iowa are taking a closer look at their paychecks, refunds, and household budgets. After years of historic inflation and economic uncertainty, many families have tasked our government with correcting the economic failures of the previous four years. ...

The Warme Wire: Week Three

I set a new personal record this week at the Capitol, leading four Health & Human Services subcommittees in one day. The meetings were on three different levels of the building and covered a broad range of topics including encouraging a strong pipeline of PAs, improving utilization of subacute ...

The Barker Bulletin: A scout is reverent

Thursday of this week was Scouting Day on the Hill. As an Eagle Scout myself, it was my honor to provide the invocation for the House followed by the pledge lead by Troop 128 Eagle Scouts Keygan Angus and Peter Thomas. Heavenly Father, We come before you this morning with grateful hearts. ...