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The Weekly Scoop: Edition 6

The lowa Legislature is underway in promoting a sustainable budget for taxpayers along with our new State Treasurer, Roby Smith. For the State of lowa to prosper, economic prosperity is critical. The State Treasurer fits in with agencies such as Department of Revenue, Department of Administrative Services, Governor/DOM and the Auditor of State. It was great meeting with Treasurer Roby Smith and discussing priorities for the 2023 fiscal year. During the Administration and Regulations Appropriation Subcommittee last Monday, I heard from the staff of the Office of the Governor on how their budget has been distributed.

During the last eleven years, the governor’s budget has been maintained at or less than $2,400,000, and 95% of this total budget goes to the Governor’s staff. It’s great to compare low with other, similar-sized states which have higher budgets for their governor’s offices.

I was able to welcome a group from Hardin County to listen to their concerns about CO2 pipelines. As a State Representative, I will stand up in the House Chamber for landowners’ rights. Our goal is to maintain property rights for landowners while continuing to support the ethanol industry.

Oversight is the majority of emails I continue to receive from concerned citizens from my district. Some of these materials include highly detailed images and extreme graphic passages and we believe it should not be there in the first place. I want to be very clear the House Republicans are working on critical legislative solutions to rid schools of inappropriate

material. Giving parents a clear and equal path to challenge a book material they believe should not be in a public school.

I was happy to meet with folks on Second Amendment Day at our State Capitol last week and meet with members of the lowa Firearms Coalition. As a current State Law Enforcement Officer, I know the importance of keeping our Second Amendment rights. As your District 54

Representative, I will always and proudly stand in support of our Second Amendment.

As week eight starts off full throttle. There is a lot of unfinished work ahead of us with this week being funnel week. It’s important to work hard and stay focused so low’s prosperity will continue to lead the charge in Midwestern states where families can live and businesses can thrive.

Rep. Meggers’ district, Iowa House District 54, includes all of Grundy and Hardin counties and several rural townships on the far western edge of Black Hawk County. He can be reached via email: joshua.meggers@legis.iowa.gov.