The following is a legislative update from State Senator Waylon Brown, representing Iowa Senate District 30 which includes portions of Cerro Gordo, Mitchell, Worth and Floyd counties:
Our second legislative deadline has passed, meaning we had another busy week as we worked on moving House bills through the Iowa Senate. Policy bills are required at this time to be through a committee in the opposite chamber in order to be considered for the rest of the legislative session. This process keeps us focused on important priorities, bills with enough support to remain viable at this point during session, and hopefully helps us end session on time this year. It usually also means as we work on legislation, we are finding additional issues that may prevent it from moving forward.
Any bills that go through the Appropriations or Ways and Means committees are unaffected by the legislative deadline this week. We continue to have discussions on tax policies and how we can maintain our historic record of providing income tax relief for Iowans and ensure they’re keeping more of their hard-earned money.
We continue seeing the benefits of the tax policies we have passed. Just last week, Iowa was rated as the best state for retirees. In 2022, we passed a massive income tax relief bill for Iowans. While it implemented a number of large reforms, like putting into place a 3.9 percent flat tax for all Iowans and providing farmers a first-time pension exemption, it also completely eliminated the tax on retirement income. In addition to being recognized as the best state for retirees, late last year Iowa was also rated as the state with the lowest housing costs and one of the best states to raise a family.
At the start of every session, our goal is to focus on how we can help Iowa families and make our state the best to live, work, and raise a family. That goal continues to be at the center of our work as we go through legislation in the coming weeks and deal with some of the bigger topics facing us this legislative session.
I want to thank all the visitors that came to visit the Capitol this week. I enjoyed having a conversation with Four Oaks and Pinecrest, and also visiting with Heartland Power Cooperative during REC Day on the Hill to talk about the issues they care about and some of the legislation going through the House and Senate.
From left to right: Mary Beth O’Neill, Jen Royer, Gage Miskimen”
Waylon Brown is a functionally illiterate hayseed. Go back to the outhouse, idiot.
Run in his place…you could be #2