Greetings to you all, Veterans Day is taking place on November 11th and it is our opportunity to support and recognize our Veterans for their service to our country. This coming Tuesday is Election Day and make sure you vote. Here is a link to help you with questions for voting. iwillvote.com Iowa has a ranking...Read More

Greetings to you all, The 2022 elections in Iowa will be starting Wednesday, October 19 and there are multiple ways to cast a ballot. Anyone wishing to vote absentee by mail will need to request an absentee ballot by October 24th. For information on how to do that, click here or here. Early voting at...Read More

Greetings to you all, School starts back up again, later this month. Hopefully, the school year will be a successful one, for the teachers, staff and students. Making sure that our students, teachers and staff are safe in our schools should be a priority for the upcoming year. Making sure that our students don’t have...Read More

Greetings to you all, Hopefully, everyone is getting out in the community to enjoy the summer weather and visiting with friends and family. The Cedar Valley has had several events including the recent My Waterloo Days and the upcoming Sturgis Falls event in Cedar Falls will be happening. It should be fun! The annual Sturgis...Read More

Greetings to you all, The legislature is still waiting for the majority party to bring the session to an end. Currently all of the discussions taking place are occurring behind closed doors. Hopefully, the majority party can reach agreements with the state budgets to bring closure to the 2022 legislative session. I attended the 2022...Read More

Greetings to you all, The legislature is still waiting on the majority party to get the session ready to adjourn for the year. The ability to bring the session to a close is something that should be moving forward but it isn’t. The barrier is still the governors private school voucher proposal. The majority party...Read More

Greetings to you all, I hope everyone is staying safe during the severe storms that passed through this week! The legislative session is winding down as we wait for the House and Senate to consider eligible bills and the appropriations bills that make up the state budget. The House only met on Tuesday of this...Read More

Greetings to you all, I hope everyone is doing great. Fingers are crossed that spring has finally arrived and hopefully warmer weather will be here soon! On Monday, the House debated and passed eight bills. Here are some of the highlights, and you can find the full list of bills here: SF 2260: An act which...Read More

Greetings to you all, I hope that everyone is doing well as the weather continues to change. This was a very debate-heavy week here at the House as we deliberated on a number of new issues. Beginning on Tuesday, the House debated and passed 10 bills. You can find all of the bills here, and review...Read More

Greetings to you all, I hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather. Hopefully spring is here to stay! On Monday, the House debated and passed 15 bills. You can find the full list of bills here, and review the highlights below: HF 2471: An act which allows for the use of inventory checklists at the start...Read More

Greetings to you all, It’s great to see that the weather is warming up and that spring is right around the corner! On Monday, the House debated and passed 8 bills. You can see all of the bills here, and below are some highlights: HF 2081: An act which eliminates the Praxis exam as a requirement...Read More

Greetings to you all, On Monday, the House began its week of debate on a long list of bills. Here are the highlights of the first 9 bills the House passed this week. You can find the complete list of bills passed on Monday here. HF 2123: An act which authorizes a criminal or juvenile justice...Read More

Greetings to you all, On Monday evening, the Iowa Caucuses took place across the state of Iowa. I attended our caucus and had a good group turn out. It was great to speak with those who attended in Cedar Falls. On Tuesday, I met with the Public Safety and Commerce committees. The Commerce committee reviewed HSB...Read More

Greetings to you all, On Monday, I attended a meeting of the Commerce committee, where we reviewed the following bills: HSB 547, a bill which institutes changes to the Insurance Division in order to meet membership requirements for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners HSB 587, a bill which amends investment law to make it...Read More

Greetings to you all, I hope that everyone is doing well and staying warm. In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I attended the MLK Back Packin’ the Dome event at UNI. Along with hundreds of other volunteers, we packed thousands of bags of food to help combat child food insecurity. Many thanks to...Read More

Greetings to you all, The House of Representatives began its 2022 session this Monday, and I am eager to get started working on behalf of all Iowans. This week, we heard speeches from both the minority and majority party, as well as the governor, outlining the legislative priorities for the upcoming session. In Governor Reynolds’s...Read More

Greetings to you all, The Dept. of Public Health issued a press release today, stating that the Department and the State Hygienic Lab have confirmed detection of the first case of the COVID-19 variant, Omicron, in an Iowa resident. The case involves an unvaccinated individual under the age of 18, who resides in Black Hawk...Read More

  Greetings to you all, Hopefully, everyone is doing great. For individuals that live in Cedar Falls, the November 30, 2021 Cedar Falls Mayor and Ward 3 Council member Runoff Elections will be taking place. Polls will be open from 7am-8pm. Questions may be directed to the Election Office: telephone number 319-833-3007, email address elections@co.black-hawk.ia.us. Here is...Read More

  Greetings to you all, Hopefully, everyone is doing great. I attended the UNI Business and Community Fair on Wednesday and it was great to see the number of businesses sharing the potential job opportunities that students could enjoy in the community. In the Statehouse Newsletter, you will find information about supporting Iowa workers, 2nd...Read More

  Greetings to you all, Hopefully, everyone is enjoying the days of October and enjoying the weather.  In addition to Halloween, there are many ways to celebrate in October. It is officially autumn, which means cozy apparel, your favorite chilly weather recipes, and beautiful foliage. In the Statehouse Newsletter, you will find information about what happened with...Read More

  Greeting to you all, Hopefully, everyone is enjoying the last few days of August. I recently had the opportunity to attend Chris Hoffman’s retirement party who has retired as the director of Pathways Behavioral Services in Waterloo. Chris and his staff have helped so many people who are struggling with addictions to drugs and alcohol...Read More

  Greeting to you all, Hopefully everyone is enjoying the warm month of August. I just finished riding my 35th RAGBRAI this year. I enjoyed the journey and the experiences, as we rode across the beautiful state of Iowa. I really enjoyed visiting all the towns on the RAGBRAI route this year. In the Statehouse Newsletter,...Read More

  Greetings to you all! Hopefully, everyone is able to get out and enjoy the summer weather. It’s great to see all the local events taking place again across Iowa. Test Iowa, the state’s COVID-19 testing program, will transition from offering COVID-19 testing at drive through locations throughout the state to providing Iowans access to...Read More

  Greetings to you all! June is over and July starts as we continue our 2021 summer. Hopefully, everyone has a fantastic summer. In the Statehouse Newsletter you will find information regarding new laws that will go into effect July 1st. There is information regarding expanding access to childcare, telehealth access for health care and...Read More

  Greetings to you all! After 3 weeks of overtime, the 2021 legislative session has finally adjourned for the year. The session was full of controversy and dealt primarily with partisan politics. I have not seen this type of legislative process in my years of serving in the legislature. We were able to pass some...Read More

  Greetings to you all! We are in the 2nd week of overtime of the 2021 legislative session. The process to end the session requires that the legislature establish what the budgets will be for the state in the upcoming year.  Several very important budgets are waiting for the majority party in the House and...Read More

  Greetings to you all! After this week we will have 4 scheduled days left of the 2021 session, but we could go past the official end date of Friday April 30th especially with the budget discussions taking place. We are continuing to have long debates as we wrap up the remaining bills. Tuesday a public...Read More

  Greetings to you all! We are nearing the end of the 2021 legislative session  with only two weeks left, if we finish within the 110 days scheduled. This week, only certain bills were eligible for consideration.  These would be  bills passed by both Chambers, Appropriation bills, Ways and Means bills, Government Oversight bills, Legalizing...Read More