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Editorials

District 53 Newsletter: Feb. 15, 2024 Edition

Last week was “Funnel Week”, wherein we must have all our individually filed bills through committee. Fortunately, I have been able to move the bills I need to through the process already, so my work this week was focused on the many other bills moving through the committees I sit on, which ...

District 53 Newsletter: Feb. 8, 2024 Edition

The legislature is quickly approaching the “funnel” date of February 16 where individually filed bills need to be through the committee process in order to be eligible for floor debate. This week I floor managed through a subcommittee meeting and the full committee meeting HSB 636, that ...

Iowa Outdoors

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is hosting a series of town hall-style meetings where local staff provide updates on recently completed hunting seasons, discuss possible changes to hunting rules and regulations, and address other topics as requested. Locally, the Iowa DNR will ...

Winter storm demonstrates importance of diverse energy sources

Significant snow, wind, and brutally cold temperatures impacted Nebraska and much of the Midwest in January. Given the frequency of extreme weather events experienced across the U.S. during the past several years, preparing for emergencies is an important consideration for utilities and ...

Sweeney from the Iowa Senate: Week 4

We are finishing up the fourth week of this year’s session, and we remained as busy as ever as we worked on many major priorities in the legislature. It was a pleasure to meet with students from all across the district during FFA Day on the Hill on Tuesday. High school students came and ...

District 53 Newsletter: Feb. 1, 2024 Edition

As week four of the session comes to a close, the discussion on the governor’s bill to restructure the Area Education Agencies (AEA) appears to be coming to a resolution, at least for now. This week, Iowa House Republicans held a subcommittee on the Governor’s amended AEA proposal. In ...

Changes to crop insurance regulations demonstrate support for conservation

Crop insurance provides a safety net for farmers, protecting their operations from loss due to natural perils such as drought, frost, excess moisture, pest infestations, or disease. While essential for many farmers, the rules regulating crop insurance have often been at odds with conservation ...

District 53 Newsletter: Jan. 18, 2024 Edition

Week two of the session is done, this is the week when we begin our work on bills in earnest. I’ve chaired a few subcommittee’s this week for bill’s assigned to me by the Public Safety Committee chair, and served as a member of several others. I’m also working on writing and filing ...

New Tama-Toledo Christian School

Our children’s education is one of the most important and most sacred responsibilities of parents. Parents have the largest impact on their child’s education and parent involvement is one of the most significant indicators of a child’s success in school (Mapp, Carver, & Lander, 2017). ...

Rural voices essential to democratic process

Iowa lawmakers are gathering once again in Des Moines for another year of debating and passing legislation. The democratic process is something America prides itself on and one that requires input from citizens to thrive. As new bills are being introduced and debated, lawmakers need to hear ...