Although he has no basis for comparison because this is his first year in the Iowa Senate, 6th District Senator, Craig Williams, says some of the processes incorporated because of the pandemic make access to our legislative process easier for residents.
There were a lot of things for Williams to learn during this first session, and he says there was one thing difficult to adjust to and another he doesn’t think he ever will.
Going into the session in January, Williams says he did not have any major expectations. He wanted to lay back, seeing how things worked and rolling with the punches while ensuring he was watching the budget and being a good steward of the taxpayers’ dollars. Williams agrees with 12th District House Representative, Brian Best, that one of the best bills to that aim was one that was largely responsible for extending the 2021 session by 19 days–tax legislation. He says there was a lot in this bill, but it has a big benefit for taxpayers.
One of the 28 divisions of the bill removes the tax rollback for cities and counties that will be phased in over the next five to eight years. Other legislation that was put under a media spotlight this past year was changes to Iowa voting laws. When asked if that was needed in Iowa right now, he says it was a proactive step in making sure that every vote counts.
He adds the timing of that legislation also follows a voting process from 2020 in which several county auditors overstepped their legal boundaries during the election. Although there were no issues in our area, Williams says “in a more egregious example of auditor misconduct, one county auditor in eastern Iowa reportedly said, ‘I knew it was against the law when I did it. What are you going to do about it?’” The auditor was correct, he adds, it is against the law but there was no punishment attached to the violation and that flouting that fact was a very good reason for putting more teeth into it. We will bring you more from Williams in upcoming newscasts on bills that did not make it through and his priorities for next year. The full interview with Senator Williams can be found by following the link below.
_______________________________
Link to interview with Senator Craig Williams: https://www.1380kcim.com/episode/kcim-interview-state-senator-craig-williams-3/
