~By Iowa House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst
April 8, 2023
The Iowa Legislature is supposed to wrap up work at the end of April, but progress slowed significantly this week.
The reason for it is pretty simple – politics – and it’s no secret at the State Capitol. Things have ground to a near halt because the Republican leaders running the House and Senate aren’t getting along with each other. The Iowa Senate didn’t pass a single bill all week.
Honestly, it’s really frustrating and I get why some many Iowans are tired of politics.
If leaders aren’t getting along, I don’t think we should be wasting time or taxpayer dollars. They should just drop all the political nonsense and work on bills that will actually improve the lives of Iowans.
I joined other House Democrats this week introducing several common sense bills to lower costs for Iowans. It’s a robust package that can get strong bi-partisan support and addresses the fact that, for too many Iowans, wages aren’t keeping up with the rising costs of healthcare, childcare, and utility bills.
Here’s our plan to put more money in the pockets of Iowans:
* Expanding access to high-quality, affordable childcare
* Creating more affordable housing, while providing opportunities for necessary home improvements for current homeowners
* Preventing employers from refusing to pay promised wages
* Lowering costs of prescription drugs for Iowans
* Expanding the use of renewable energy to lower utility costs
* Freezing tuition at state universities and community colleges to relieve the burden on college students
You can learn more about our bills to lower costs at www.iowahouse.org. There’s still plenty of time for each of these bills to be passed and sent to the Governor before we adjourn.
I’m not naive. I know not all of these bills will pass nor will they solve every financial challenge Iowans are facing today. But this package is a good place to start.
Iowans have made it pretty clear they prefer we work together on important issues that will improve their lives rather than get stuck on party politics and culture wars.
It’s time we put people over politics.
