Legislative session ends

The final week of the Iowa legislative session focused on budget and tax bills. These bills are now in consideration by the Governor, and I will highlight specific legislation in future reports.

In the form of a summary of this year’s legislative session, I am sharing my closing remarks:

The 2025 session of the 91st Iowa General Assembly has been marked by a number of pieces of common-sense legislation. As I spoke about when we opened session, Iowans made a choice, and they chose common sense.

This year, we passed common-sense legislation to allow Iowa businesses to keep more of their money to reinvest in growth, wages, and employee benefits. This legislation cuts taxes by $1 billion. That’s $1 billion businesses will invest in our economy. It’s common sense to take less from Iowans and allow the market to dictate how to invest in our state.

We continued to enact common-sense laws to restore and protect the rights of Iowans. We took additional measures to secure our elections, protecting a fundamental right of our citizens. Iowans can continue to believe in Iowa’s elections and know our elections meet the highest levels of integrity. We repealed an antiquated law regarding the manner of firearms conveyance. No longer do Iowans need to be concerned about whether or not they are in compliance when exercising their right to protect themselves while traveling. It’s common sense to protect the rights of law-abiding Iowans.

It’s common sense. There is dignity in work, and the vast majority of Iowans know this. Having a sense of purpose and accomplishment is not only good for one’s well-being, but it is good for our state. Enacting policies that help put people back to work, like work requirements for able-bodied Iowans on assistance programs, provides opportunities for Iowans to earn a living, find a sense of purpose, and contribute to the growth of our economy. I’m proud of the work we did to enact legislation to this effect. It’s common sense that there is satisfaction in a good day’s work.

As we return to our regular lives at home, I wish each of you the best this interim. I hope you all take pride in the common-sense legislation we passed this year knowing we continue to make Iowa the best place to live, work, and raise a family. I look forward to seeing you all back next session as we continue our work on behalf of Iowans. Thank you, may God bless you all and continue His blessing on the State of Iowa.

Thank you to all of you who have called, written, or visited me this year. Your input is truly appreciated, and I enjoy representing you in Des Moines.