~by Senator Jesse Green
January 22, 2021
Last week I talked about some of the unique things I experienced being a first time legislator. In the newsletter I referred to the reality of our situation at the Capitol with this being the largest Republican trifecta since at least 1970.
To describe the situation I used the farmer illustration, “When the sun is shining, it’s time to make hay.” For week 2, I will continue to build on that illustration to describe this week’s events. The tractor is now fueled up, the bailer has plenty of twine, some but not all of the hay is raked up and ready to bale.
Subcommittees have begun for me but only for the Labor committee, where I serve as vice chairman. The chairman, Sen Zach Whiting, has a vision laid out, and is cranking out the subcommittee assignments as fast as he can.
I was honored to chair my first subcommittee meeting which was for SSB1030. This bill addresses how employers treat new adoptive parents. If this legislation passes, it would make it so that adoptive parents be treated the same, and given the same benefits, as biological parents. This is a bipartisan bill, and passed out of subcommittee easily. Other subcommittees I was a part of dealt with tax credits and property tax incentives for new resident employees that move into our state.
The big issues that are getting attention this week is the Life Amendment. Senate president Jake Chapman proposed it in the Senate, and it has already passed out of subcommittee in the House. To remind readers, if this passes, it will not eliminate one single abortion. What it will accomplish though gets right at the heart of democracy, which is it allow Iowans to have our say at the ballot box, rather than unelected judges, to have our voice be heard on this issue. If the voters pass it, this will lay the foundation for a possible future “Heartbeat Bill”, which I personally believe is the compromise bill that will bring future healing to our political dialogue on this divisive issue.
Education is gearing up to sort through Gov Reynolds’ proposal. The 30,000-foot view on education right now is that we want all schools to be provide the option for in-person learning. We also want parents to have the resources they need to make the best education decisions they can for their children.
Next week, to draw from my farm illustration, I expect to see more hay windrows raked, and ready to bale with the Bottle Bill, and ag items in particular. If you’ve heard me speak my mind before, you know how strong my desire is to create more competition in the meat industry by helping our lockers, and also how we need to finally fix the broken Bottle Bill.
I believe the childcare issues our state faces will be discussed soon. One county in our district says that this is the most pressing issue they face. We must find solutions for this problem. Thank you for reading, it’s such an honor to serve you.
God bless you and have a great week!
Senator Jesse Green, 24th Senate District
