The Carroll Chamber of Commerce’s and Carroll County Growth Partnership’s (CCGP) legislative forums for the 2023 session return this weekend. Matt Meiners, the chamber’s economic vitality director, helps plan and organize the community meetings with our local legislators, District 6 Senator Jason Schultz, and District 11 Representative Brian Best. Meiners says it is critical residents and businesses regularly speak with their counterparts in Des Moines, and the staff is excited to again offer this opportunity in 2023.
The Chamber’s Legislative Committee helps plan and organize the forums each year. They are held at 10 a.m. on the fourth Saturday of January, February, March, and April. Meiners explains how questions are selected for the legislators during the forum.
Each forum typically lasts around an hour. Again, the Saturday, Jan. 28 forum begins at 10 a.m. at New Hope in Carroll. The bill that was believed to be the most hotly contested during the 2023 session, the Students First Act, which provides state funding for families wanting to send their children to private school, has already been signed into law. Other priorities expected for the session include expanding apprenticeship and employment opportunities throughout Iowa, improving support for at-risk families, particularly for fathers, tackling the opioid crisis, and protecting Iowa’s healthcare system through payment caps on non-economic damages
