Fourteenth Week of Session 2019 We just completed the fourteen week of this legislative session, which leaves us only two weeks until the scheduled end of session. This deadline prompted discussion on a number of substantive topics and many hours debating on the Senate ?oor. On Tuesday the Senate passed a bill creating a children s behavioral health system in Iowa. After last year s improvements to the adult mental health system in our state, it was important to expand those services to children. The creation of the children s mental health system adds to the existing infrastructure for the adult mental health system and creates a board to oversee the system. The data collected will help policymakers make important decisions in the years to come. The House passed this bill last month and it passed the Senate 46-2. It will now go to the governor for her signature. Senate File 599 passed the Senate this week permitting Iowa farmers to grow hemp. Last year, the Senate passed a bill that would have allowed hemp production on a limited scale under a pilot program as required by federal law. The Farm Bill passed by Congress last year removed hemp as a controlled substance and legalized it as a commodity. Iowa is one of only 11 states without a hemp program. Senate File 599, the Iowa Hemp Act, sets up a program that limits the number of hemp acres a licensee may plant and requires THC testing of the crop prior to harvest. On Wednesday the Senate passed House File 692, a bill making a number of changes and improvements to how elections are managed in our state. It changed how the Secretary of State s of?ce manages proposed constitutional amendments approved by the legislature and allows these proposals to be published on a website rather than only in newspapers. This was done in order to prevent any further problems publishing proposed Constitutional amendments after repeated issues with the Secretary of State s of?ce. The bill also brings checks-and-balances to our county commissioners of elections while expanding their authority over elections and provides cost saving opportunities. Additionally, this bill works to increase transparency when it comes to election laws in Iowa and addresses uniformity across counties, parties, and non-party political organizations. The objective with this bill is to continue our goal of fair, safe, and secure elections in Iowa. The bill passed 31-18. SF 624 was passed out of the Senate Ways & Means Committee this week. This bill provides for the beginning farmer tax credit by expanding the amount of money available. It is very dif?cult for new or beginning farmers to start their careers and this program gives these individuals another tool to use to help them and our agricultural industry.