by Ken Rozenboom
Next week is the first funnel week of this legislative session, meaning all Senate policy bills need to be out of Senate committees in order to be considered for the rest of the year. This deadline forces us to focus on the bills that have enough support to advance through the process. I was happy to hear Governor Reynolds has signed Senate File 269, which was the education funding increase we passed last week. Setting this increase early in session is important so local school districts can start working on their budgets and know how much money the state will send to them next year. Also, because this is the largest single piece of the state budget, it allows us to begin discussion on the rest of the budget.
The Rozenboom Report by Senator Ken Rozenboom For January 22nd, 2021
We have completed the second week of the 2021 legislative session. While this week was shortened because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, the schedule was full of subcommittee meetings as we start going through the legislative process.
Subcommittees are the first step in the legislative process and are one of the ways Iowans can be involved in the lawmaking process. Subcommittees have been different than usual this year because of health precautions. All Senate subcommittee meetings are virtual for the legislative session due to the pandemic. Instead of large groups of people gathering in rooms throughout the Capitol, subcommittees are meeting on-line via Zoom. Generally, the Republican members of the subcommittee will be in one room while the Democrat member is in another, or is off-site. The Senate pages who are usually busy with work around the chamber, bringing in notes from visitors or phone messages