Spirit Lake, Iowa — Zach Whiting is an Iowa State Senator-Elect from our area, and he’s been making plans and setting priorities for when he gets to work in Des Moines this month.
Whiting was elected to take the place of Independent State Senator David Johnson, who decided not to seek election for another term after turning away from the Republican party after Donald Trump was nominated to serve as the party’s Presidential candidate in 2016.
Whiting is a conservative, and it shows in his legislative priorities for this legislative session. He says as a freshman senator, he doesn’t expect to run things.
He tells us what’s most important to him this session.
He says he wants to see gun rights legislation pass. Whiting says that behind the right to life, support for gun rights is the second-most common issue that comes up in his district.
He says tax reform is also important.
According to Whiting, his next priority is a long-term goal that won’t happen in just one bill.
He says our historic low unemployment is great, but that means we need workers. And he wants to help attract them to the state.
Whiting tells us that he also wants to work to protect the rights of crime victims better.
He says backfill funding for the Lewis & Clark Regional Water system to help them deal with the slow pace of federal funding is also a priority of his.
Whiting closed by telling us he also wants to reform the budget estimating process at the state level and eliminate mid-year budget cuts so that the government subdivisions and others can depend on those numbers and make their subsequent budget decisions in good faith.
The legislative session begins on Monday, January 14th.
