Des Moines, Iowa — Legislative leaders expect the 2023 session of the Iowa General Assembly to conclude today (Thursday).
Lawmakers took final votes yesterday (Wednesday) on more than a dozen bills, including a plan to let older teens work later hours and apply for state waivers for jobs 16 and 17-year-olds cannot take today. Senator Adrian Dickey, a Republican from Packwood, urged senators to agree to House changes and send the bill to the governor.
Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls says the bill, while improved, still allows kids to work in questionable settings.
Governor Reynolds is scheduled to sign the legislature’s property tax reduction plan this (Thursday) afternoon. Another bill headed to the governor’s desk is designed to close loopholes so school districts can find out if an applicant has been accused of acting inappropriately with students in another district. Republican Representative Brooke Boden of Indianola says lawmakers from both parties put a lot of work into the bill over the past three years.
Legislators have approved nearly all of the bills that outline next year’s state budget. Representative Brian Lohse of Bondurant says during budget negotiations, Governor Kim Reynolds rejected the legislature’s plan to provide three percent pay raises to judges.
Year three of a five-year plan to hire more district court judges has been put on hold, too. Lohse calls the backlog of cases in the state court system a crisis.
Representative Ken Croken, a Democrat from Davenport, says the situation is frustrating.
Democrats say Republicans have not set aside enough money for the state’s Area Education Agencies that provide a variety of services to Iowa schools. Senator Jeff Taylor, a Republican from Sioux Center, says the AEAs will get a small budget increase.
The legislature has also voted to have Iowa join 36 other states and set up a state licensing process for midwives.
