A crowd gathered Saturday for the first legislative briefing of the session in Washington. Photo by Sally Y. Hart

The first legislative briefing of the session was held in Washington Saturday. Area residents filled the courtroom where the event was held with Representatives Jarad Klein (R) and Dave Heaton (R), along with senators Kevin Kinney (D) and Rich Taylor (D). Each began by providing a brief update of what has been happening so far in the session and then answered questions on a variety of topics from education to water quality, to collective bargaining to texting and driving offenses. De-appropriating the budget was the main concern, as the legislature has been focusing on the budget. Regarding collective bargaining and statewide health insurance, Taylor said, “As far as the governor’s idea on the statewide health insurance plan, I can’t condemn it because I haven’t seen it yet. It might be the best thing since peanut butter, but I doubt it. But I want to see it before I condemn it.” He added negotiations still need to be part of the process for each entity.

Heaton said he has concerns for the future and where things are headed. He noted schools are struggling, employees at the prison in Mt. Pleasant can’t get three days off in a row, and Iowa is 100 highway patrolmen short. He says the slogan “Smaller, Smarter Government” makes for great campaign material, “We’re getting to the point folks, where the quality of services that we’re supposed to provide for the public good, and public safety, and the education of our children, we’re getting to the point where ‘Smaller, Smarter Government,’ I think we’d like to be smarter, but I think we’re getting to the point where the ‘smaller’ part of it is starting to hurt. And we’re not promoting a better life for the people that live in our state. I think, we’re putting the squeeze on to put on the squeeze. And I’m starting to get concerned about how far we’re going to go.”

The next legislative briefing in Washington will be held at 10 a.m. February 18th.