The start of the 87th General Assembly

     Monday, Jan. 9, marked the start of the 87^th General Assembly at the Iowa Statehouse. I am honored to represent the people of Jackson, Jones, and Dubuque counties.

     A lot of big issues will be coming up this year in the Senate. Governor Branstad has proposed $114,390,803 in cuts, with the biggest cuts hitting higher education. He proposed a cut of $25.56 million from our public universities and $8.70 million from community colleges. I believe we need to keep education funding at the top of our list of priorities. College should be affordable to every young person in Iowa because it is our best investment in the future.

     While I disagree with Gov. Branstad’s decision to cut funding for college education, there are many issues that we can work on together. This includes the continuing growth of Iowa’s renewable energy industry – wind, solar, biofuels and more. Gov. Branstad stated, “We now generate over 35 percent of our electricity from wind and expect this number to exceed 40 percent by 2020.” I am eager to work on making this a reality.

     Improving our distracted driving laws has been a passion of mine for the last six years. In 2015, there were 315 deaths on our roadways and that number increased to 402 in 2016. Over the years, I led passage in the Iowa Senate of bipartisan bills to strengthen our distracted driving laws multiple times. It is past time for us to act to reduce the needless fatalities and accidents caused by distracted driving.

     I look forward to serving the people of State District 29 this session. As work gets under way, it’s imperative that I receive your feedback on issues that will be considered. If you’re interested in following what’s happening at the State Capitol each week, subscribe to my newsletter at www.senate.iowa.gov/senator/bowman/newsletter/subscribe.

     To contact Senator Bowman when the Legislature is in session, call the Senate Switchboard at 515-281-3371. Otherwise he can be reached at home at 563-652-5499. E-mail him at tod.bowman@legis.iowa.gov.