Des Moines, Iowa — It’s the end of the 2022 Iowa legislature’s 12th week and some of the priority issues Republican Governor Kim Reynolds unveiled in January remain in legislative limbo.
Reynolds wants to establish state scholarships for parents to send their kids to private schools. Senate Republicans voted for her original plan last year and this week they passed the governor’s revised proposal. Speaker Pat Grassley says Republicans in the House are working through concerns raised by rural lawmakers, discussing alternatives, trying to line up more yes votes.
Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, a Republican from Ankeny, says any adjustments House Republicans hope to make have to get a go ahead from the governor.
Reynolds says she meets regularly with these two leaders and is optimistic they’ll find a path forward.
House and Senate Republicans have voted for the governor’s plan to reduce the maximum number of weeks someone can receive unemployment from 26 to 16 but only the Senate has agreed to a one-week delay in payment of the first week of unemployment benefits.
Whitver says these two moves have been priorities for the governor from day one of the 2022 legislative session.
Grassley says House Republicans approved the major piece of this particular puzzle reducing the duration of unemployment benefits by 10 weeks to ensure the solvency of the fund that covers the checks.
Reynolds, who served two years in the state senate, says momentum for reaching agreements and ending the 2022 legislative session will build as the temperature outside the Capitol rises and it feels more like spring planting season.
