From the Desk of Senator Trone Garriott
Selfies! Clockwise starting from top left: Iowa School Social Workers Association and the Iowa School Psychologists Association, UNI students advocating for the state to invest new money to expand mental health resources on campus, Grandview University social work students, Firefighters asking Senators to move their bills forward, More Grandview Students, Early Childhood Iowa Board Members showing up for quality child care.
Hey…What’s Going On?
It’s been a weird week.
On Tuesday the Senate version of the Area Education Agencies bill SF2386 was supposed to come up for debate. We had some unexplained recesses (breaks) and then finally, we were told that the AEA bill was not going to be debated. This is an extremely rare thing to happen in the Senate. The word circulating in the building was the Senate Republicans did not have the votes they wanted from members of their own party — either not enough to pass it at all, or not enough to pass it without an embarrassing number of Republican members in opposition.
That’s a sign that advocacy is really working — but the public needs to keep it up! This bill could show up on the debate calendar any day and could be amended in any way. Debate is scheduled with very little notice, and the list of bills to be debated is only announced the night before. There is significant disagreement between the House and the Senate Republicans about this legislation. The House is especially unwilling to pass something as extreme as the Governor has proposed.
Meanwhile, the Governor is still rolling out her anti-AEA public relations campaign and putting intense pressure on Republican Members in both chambers, so… Contact Republican Senators and Republican House Members.
The Senate chamber was not the only place weird things were happening. On Wednesday, Senate File 455, a controversial storm water management bill, failed to pass on the House floor with a vote of 49 nays 49 and 44 yeas. That’s a rare thing, too, because a majority leader would not bring something to a vote if they weren’t certain they had the votes to pass it.
When it became clear during voting that the bill wasn’t getting the votes to pass, more House members jumped into the no category. Why is a storm water management bill of any interest? If you live in a city that has experienced flash flooding, like Clive, it matters a great deal. Rapid development upstream has contributed to some very scary and life-threatening emergency situations, as well as significant property damage. Cities have been adapting their development practices to address this, setting standards for storm water management that developers must follow and include in their construction costs. This bill would have discouraged improved standards and would shift costs for any storm water management to the cities, and therefore, the taxpayers.
Next week is the second funnel, requiring most policy bills to pass one chamber and out of committee in another to stay alive. Anything could happen next week! We expect to see a lot of bills moving through subcommittee and committee…or maybe not? There is concern that the House and the Senate may hold up each other’s legislation as a bargaining tool to get their version of the AEA bill passed. Despite being in the same political party, the House and Senate majorities have significant differences. This kind of back and forth between the two chambers over priorities, policies, and budgets is why the legislature usually goes into overtime every year.
Learn More About Iowa AEAs
AEAs offer a range of important and essential services to families and school districts across Iowa, often providing access that wouldn’t otherwise be available in small school districts and rural communities.
Click here for a quick explainer on what AEAs do.
Quick Updates
- Invest in Iowans with Disabilities. Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek, D-Council Bluffs, wrote an op-ed recently about the need for more robust state investment in disability services, and how current state practices are holding the disability community back.
- Nominate an outstanding teacher. The nominating period for the 2025 Iowa Teacher of Year is now open through April 1. Anyone is welcome to submit a nomination form to honor the outstanding teacher in their life. Nine semi-finalists representing teachers from all regions of the state will be selected and will interview in-person with educational leaders for the honor of being selected as Iowa’s 2025 Teacher of the Year.
- John Lewis Youth Leadership Award. The Iowa Secretary of State is calling for nominations for the John Lewis Youth Leadership Award, which recognizes Iowa residents 25 years and under for addressing civil rights issues and bringing about authentic change in their communities. Nominations close on March 15. Click here for more information.
- Trout stocking starts March 21. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will release between 1,000 to 2,000 rainbow trout in lakes across Iowa in March and April as part of its cool weather trout program. Anglers need a valid fishing license and must pay the trout fee to fish for or possess trout. The daily limit is five trout per licensed angler with a possession limit of 10. Iowans 15 or younger can fish for trout with a properly licensed adult, but they must limit their catch to one daily limit. Click here for more information.
- 2022 Census of Agriculture. The USDA recently released the 2022 Census of Agriculture, spanning more than 6 million data points about America’s farms and ranches down to the county level. Click here for the full report and check out these highlights:
- There were 1.9 million farms and ranches (down 7% from 2017) with an average size of 463 acres (up 5%) on 880 million acres of farmland (down 2%). That’s 39% of all U.S. land.
- Family-owned and operated farms accounted for 95% of all U.S. farms and operated 84% of land in farms.
- U.S. farms and ranches produced $543 billion in agricultural products, up from $389 billion in 2017. With farm production expenses of $424 billion, U.S. farms had net cash income of $152 billion. Average farm income rose to $79,790. A total of 43% of farms had positive net cash farm income in 2022.
- The number of producers under age 35 was 296,480, comprising 9% of all producers.
- In 2022, 1.2 million female producers accounted for 36% of all producers.
This Week in the Capitol
No AEA debate!
Storm Water Bill Fails in the House:
Reading with Shuler 2nd Graders!
We missed out an a big investment:
