Today (Monday) marks the first day of the 2019 Legislative session, and District 12 Iowa House Representative, Brian Best, says he is really looking forward to getting started. He will be sitting on several committees again since earning re-election for his third term this past November, and will be chair of one.
The Republican Party is in control of both the Senate and House as well as in the governor’s seat. Best says that sometimes when you get the “trifecta,” there are high expectations that a lot will get done on the conservative agenda.
He adds he doesn’t want to get caught up in getting taxes as low as possible but having some of the necessary services suffering from that. He adds it is very important for both parties to work together. All of the senators and representatives were elected by their constituents to have their voices heard at the statehouse. One of the items that Best believes will come back around this year is a change to minimum wage, which he says is not a livable amount for the major bread winner of the family.
Best says he is a proponent of allowing the free market to guide the wage, unless there are cases of abuse and people are getting hurt. Last year, several counties made changes to increase their minimum wage, and Best says generally he is for local control, but this situation could create chaos. If one county is higher than others, you could see migration for wages alone. Best sees a focus on rural Iowa in this year’s session with the Future Ready Iowa initiative to drive young people and those seeking employment toward high-demand positions. He says he doesn’t want to throw out a number for school funding in the state’s budget, but does say that things have changed over the years. In 2006, nine percent of the budget was Department of Human Services and Medicaid. As of 2018, it was 18 percent.
He says we need to make sure the SAVE fund, which provides support for school infrastructures, gets extended and indicates that another priority will be the mental health issue across the state. He says we need to get caught up because there are a lot diagnoses out there we are not equipped to handle, even with the professionals we have in place. Gov. Kim Reynolds will deliver the Condition of the State 2019 address on the second day of the session, Tuesday. This will be broadcast live on KCIM 1380 AM and 95.1 FM beginning at 10 a.m.
