Iowa Senator District #29 

 

Read the latest ‘Capitol Corner’ newsletter Sandy sends out regularly. They will include current status of bills or actions that impact her Senate District constituents and all Iowans. You’ll see photos of events at home and photos of friends who stop by the Iowa Senate. 

What Sandy Believes in and Will Work for

Economic Conservatism and Fiscal Responsibility
Create jobs by establishing a favorable climate for economic growth and opportunity through limited government:

• Balance the Budget – live responsibly like we in our households have to do – spend no more than we take in
•  Stuck by conservative budgeting principles for 11 years in a row
• Cut Taxes – so businesses will want to expand and jobs will be created and to help families and those on fixed incomes keep more of their own hard-earned money - Supported: 
• 2023 - Historic property tax reform - controls growth of property taxes
• 2022 - Largest ever Iowa tax cut! Reduces tax rate for all Iowans to flat rate of 3.9%; gets rid of tax brackets; exempts retirement income and special exemption for retired farmers
• 2021 - Comprehensive tax reform - implemented 2nd round of income tax cuts from 2018 with highest tax bracket at 6.5%; phased out inheritance tax; phased out mental health services property tax levy
• 2020 - Exemption of federal COVID stimulus and grant money from state taxation
• 2018 - Historic income tax relief and reform 
• 2018 - Lowering of energy bill "tax"
• 2014 - Home Base Iowa Act to exempt veterans’ military pensions from state income tax 
• 2013 - Property tax reform
• Cut Regulation – maintain liberty and allow business owners and farmers to expand and create jobs - Supported:
• 2023 - Midwifery - Licensed certified professional midwives
• 2023 - Rural Emergency Hospitals - a new license allowing rural hospitals to receive more funding under Medicare
• 2022 - Allowed patients to contract directly with their health care providers
• 2021 - Eased regulations to allow counties to make EMS an essential service
• 2021 - Prohibition on mask mandates during COVID for cities and counties
• 2020 - Cut red tape for occupational licenses
• 2020 - Continued COVID-related expansion of teleheath services and of continuing education online for after the COVID emergency ends
• 2018 - Allowing for affordable health care with health benefit plans and association plans
• 2017 - Rebalancing the workers' compensation law to bring fairness and equity to the system
• 2017 - Removing requirement for project labor agreements
• 2017 - Medicaid Income and Asset Verification system bill
• 2017 - Allowing farmers flexibility to do electrical work on their own farms
• Protect the Taxpayer - Supported: 
• 2023 - State Government Reorganization - Streamlines agencies of the state government
• 2019 - Extended SAVE penny for schools and property tax relief
• 2019 - Transparency in local government property taxes
• 2017 - Public employee collective bargaining reform
• Rein in Spending – let future generations be debt-free – let’s not depend so much on government – don’t use one-time use funds for ongoing expenses  -  don't intentionally underfund programs and say you've balanced the budget
• Boost the Workforce - Supported:
• 2023 - Youth Employment bill - cut regulations on employment for youth
• 2023 - Teacher Workforce - eased restrictions and regulations for teacher candidates
• 2022 - Unemployment Insurance Reform - lowered unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 16 weeks incentizing unemployed to return to work sooner
  
• Uphold Right to Work – no worker should be forced to join a union or pay their dues
• ESG - Prohibit the use of Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) scores to be used in public or private financial transactions - still needs to be done 

Agriculture

•   Lifeblood of Iowa’s economy – let’s support it – get government out of the way
• 2023 - Raw Milk bill - legalized production and sale of raw milk
• 2022 - Biofuels Standard - Raised the standard for ethanol to E-15
  

Education 

• Greater local control of schools – decentralize it - let parents, school boards, teachers, and administrators, handle it – they are capable – let’s support them - Supported:
  
• 2023 - Allowed K-12 schools flexibility in a variety of regulatory and curricular issues
• 2021 - Required K-12 schools to offer in-person learning during COVID
• 2018 & 2020 - Expanded options for online learning
• 2017 & 2018 - Flexibility for schools in use of K-12 funding
• 2017 - "Home Rule" for K-12 schools
• Unhooking from mandated Common Core, Next Generation Science Standards, and C3 Social Studies standards systems of federal control over our schools - still needs to be done
• Need to encourage the adoption of curriculum that teaches straight academic science and leaves out left-leaning biases
• Need to encourage the adoption of history, government, and civics curriculum that cultivates appreciation for American values, ideals, and citizenship instead of left-leaning ideas
• Cut regulations – keep freedom and stop strangling school districts and school teachers – let the teachers teach – cut the paperwork - need to still address Common Core and curriculum standards mentioned above
• Promote parental involvement – shift more responsibility back on the parents where it belongs and listen to the parents when they are exercising their responsibility for their child
• 2023 - Parents are required to be notified if their child requests to be called by a different name or pronoun due to their intent to present as a different gender identity
• 2023 - Parents are required to give prior written consent before a school can administer a formal examination or survey of a child's mental, emotional, or physical health or of a child's political or religious affiliation or sexual behavior
• 2023 - Schools are required to publish on the site a list of all books available to students in the school library and an explanation of the procedures to be used to remove a book
• 2023 - Schools are required to publish a policy for parents to review instructional materials and to notify the school if the parent wants their child to opt-out of using those materials
• 2023 - Parental Rights Act - Parents bear the ultimate responsibility and have the constitutionally6 protected right to make decisions affecting their minor child.
• Protect free speech in schools  - Supported:
• 2021 - Required training on free speech rights for K-12 schools and Regent universities and disciplinary processes when violations occur - continued vigilance is necessary
• More needs to be done to address the stranglehold on free speech that is the effect of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) offices at the Regents universities
• Eliminate indoctrination - Supported:
• 2023 - Prohibited sexually explicit materials in schools
• 2023 - Prohibited instruction and promotion of sexual orientation/gender identity confusion in schools so that children's mental health issues are not exacerbated
• 2023 - Requires bathrooms/lockerrooms/shower facilities are only to be used by persons of the same biological sex
• 2022 - Protected Women's and Girls' Sports in schools by ensuring participation is based on biological sex so that competition remains fair for females 
• 2021 - Prohibited "Critical Race Theory" (CRT) indoctrination in K-12 schools and Regents universities
• Better enforcement is needed for those schools that violate the prohibition on CRT
• Need to expand  preservation of access to bathrooms based on biological sex for the protection of children from schools to society-at-large
• Still need to remove the exemption for schools contained in Iowa's pornography laws
• Increase educational opportunities and innovations by expanding educational choices - Supported: 
• 2023 - Universal Educational Savings Accounts - Each family and child is unique, so the more options, the better student needs will be met, and the better education for our students will be
• 2022 - Elimination of the Open Enrollment Deadline - families can change their child's public school anytime during the year
• 2021 - Charter school expansion to allow more educational opportunities
• 2021 - Raised tuition and textbook tax credit and teacher expense deducation; homeschoolers included
• 2019 & 2021 - Raised program cap for STO's and allowed more students to become eligible
• 2018 - 529 plans for K-12 tuition

Pro-Life 

• Defend the right to life for the unborn child - Supported:
  
• 2023 - "Heartbeat" law passed again (temporarily struck down by court but governor is appealing)
• 2022 & 2023 - MOMS Bill - More Options for Maternal Support - state support for pregnancy resource centers that support healthy pregnancies, childbirth, and parenting instead of abortion
• 2021 - Led in passage of the Protect Life Constitutional Amendment - The Iowa Constitution establishes no right to an abortion nor any right to the funding of it
• 2020 - Established a 24-hour waiting period requirement
• 2020 - Alfie's Law - courts cannot refuse life-sustaining treatments to a child over the parents' objections
• 2018 - Led in passage of "Heartbeat" law - (struck down by court but court refused governor request to reinstate)
• 2018 - Ban on the sale of aborted baby body parts
• 2018 - Prohibition on wrongful birth/life lawsuits
• 2017 - Led in passage of a 72-hour waiting period requirement - (struck down by court)
• 2017 - Led in passage of  bill to strengthen the ultrasound requirement and require full informed consent for abortion 
• 2017 - Ban on abortion at 20 weeks
• 2015 - Ultrasound requirement for abortion
• 2014 - Ban on webcam abortion (struck down by court)  
• Human Life amendment for the U.S. and Iowa Constitutions/Life-at-Conception bill - still needs to be done
• No public funding for abortion or those who commit abortion
  
• 2019 - Led in passage of defunding of abortionists in federal grant money for sex education in schools
• 2017 - Led in passage of defunding of abortionists in state Medicaid money

 2nd Amendment Rights

• The people's right to keep and bear arms is not to be infringed
  
• Expand liberty of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves - Supported:
• 2022 - 2nd Amendment to the Iowa Constitution adopted by the people of Iowa in November
• 2021 - Second step to a "2nd Amendment" to the Iowa Constitution; will go on the ballot in 2022
• 2021 - "Constitutional" (permitless) Carry
• 2020 - 2nd Amendment Pre-Emption 
• 2019 - First step to a "2nd Amendment" to the Iowa Constitution
• 2017 - "Stand Your Ground"

Election Integrity

• We need common sense protections for our election and voting process so that fair and clean elections take place - we can have that without infringing on voter rights - Supported: 
• 2023 - Removed Iowa from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) & required participation in the Iowa caucuses be in-person
• 2022 - Prohibited private money from being used to administer elections, like "Zuckerbucks" in Wisconsin
• 2021 - Prohibited unsolicited absentee ballot request forms, severely restricted who can return an absentee ballot, shortened periods for absentee ballots and early voting, established and strengthened penalties for willful disregard of election law
• 2017 - Voter ID requirement
• Counterfeit-proof ballots (with security features); non-internet capable "counting" machines; empowering citizens to help clean up voter rolls; steering us back to in-person voting with absentee balloting only allowed under special circumstances; allow all cities, counties and school districts to opt out of using voting machines and instead use a system of hand-counting - still needs to be done

Private Property Rights - Carbon Capture Pipeline

• We need to protect our 5th Amendment right to restrict use of eminent domain to seize private property only for public use and not to benefit a private company. The proposed carbon capture pipeline does not serve a public use but only serves those who receive monetary benefits from a federal government program paid for by taxpayers that offers them incentives. Further, this government program is based on the highly debatable ideology of man-made climate change and the Green New Deal.  Public policy that inflicts damage on citizens' property should not be adopted when the underlying science is not fully known or understood. Carbon sequestration is taking a known harmless substance, carbon dioxide, which all plants need and is an extremely small percentage of the earth's atmosphere, and turning it into something deadly, which presents the possibility of health risks should rupture occur in the pipeline. Promises over the years during pipeline projects to return soil to its original condition once a pipeline is laid have not always been kept. This project threatens to inflict major disruption and damage to farmland soil health and proper conditions necessary for optimal growth of agricultural crops as well as damage to carefully laid tiling systems. - Nothing was done in the 2022 or 2023 sessions - disappointing!

Immigration

• State and local government should cooperate with federal immigration authorities as we have done in decades past. Government should perform its duty to protect our communities and remove dangerous criminals, whether they are citizens or not - Supported:
• 2018 - Ban on "sanctuary cities"

Religious Liberty

• Protect and reinforce the 1st Amendment right to live and work according to your beliefs without fear of punishment by the government - Supported:
• 2019 Campus Freedom Act - religious freedom and free speech protections for students
• Religious Freedom Restoration Act for Iowa - still needs to be done
• Protection of conscience rights of health care providers - still needs to be done
• Protection of mental health counselors and clients to conduct and participate in practice according to their faith - still needs to be done

Big Tech Censorship

• Protect 1st Amendment free speech rights on social media - still needs to be done

Constitutional Rights and Liberties in a Health Emergency

• Prevent the loss of rights and liberties specified in the Constitution as occurred across the country during the COVID pandemic for citizens, families, businesses, and churches - still needs to be done
• 2022 - Prohibition on schools requiring the COVID shot for enrollment
• 2021 - Requires employers that mandate the COVID shot must honor an employee's request for a medical or religious exemption
• 2021 - Partial Ban on Mask Mandates by K-12 schools, cities and counties 
• 2021 - Partial Ban on COVID Vaccine Passports - State, city, and county governments, schools, retailers, non-profits, etc. are required to respect 4th and 14th Amendment rights to privacy and liberty as well as HIPAA law. They cannot require their customers to show proof of a COVID shot. More needs to be done to protect employees and patients and visitors to hospitals, nursing homes, and doctor's offices. 
• Still need to prohibit COVID shot mandates
• Need to prohibit medical boards from disciplining doctors for prescribing drugs off-label for COVID, such as ivermectin
• Need to expand Right-to-Try law for COVID patients
  

Law Enforcement

• Strongly support funding law enforcement to do its job to protect and defend life and property
• 2023 - Help not Harm Act - Protected youth from sex change treatments
• 2023 - School Investigations Reform - Law to protect children by preventing shuffling "bad actor" school employees from one school to another
• 2022 - Elder Abuse Law - Increased penalties for crimes against seniors of physical, psychological, and emotional abuse and financial exploitation
• 2021 - Passage of "Back the Blue" bill - Created and strengthened laws against violent protests and riots, including increased penalties and boosted benefits for law enforcement officers
• 2021 - Increased protection for sexual abuse victims

Restrooms, Locker Rooms, Women's Sports, Women's Shelters

• Protect privacy and safety of women and children by preserving traditional access to public restrooms, women's shelters, women's prisons - still needs to be done
• 2023 - Requires bathrooms/lockerrooms/shower facilities in schools are only to be used by persons of the same biological sex
• 2022 - Protected Women's and Girls' Sports in schools by ensuring participation is based on biological sex so that competition remains fair for females 

Human Trafficking and Pornography

• Continue to combat human trafficking and pornography. Pornography is a feeder for human trafficking and is a serious public health crisis today.
• 2023 - Raised penalties for human trafficking crimes
• Require internet-capable devices to have their filters turned on when purchased - needs to be done
• Require age verification to enter pornographic sites to keep minors out - still needs to be done
• Adopt an "anti-grooming" law which prohibits minors viewing exually explicit and pornographic materials, programs, and performances both in and out of school - needs to be done

Welfare Reform

• Preserve state benefits for only the neediest Iowans - require those who are able to work 
• 2023 - SNAP (Food Stamp) Reform - establishes income, asset, and identity verification  eligibility requirements in real-time
• 2021 - Created an "off ramp" for those on state assistance for child care by addressing the "cliff" effect - allows employees to take a raise or promotion at work
• Supported work requirements for state benefits - still needs to be done

Judicial Reform

• Curb judicial activism by selecting more conservative judges. The bench should better reflect the people of Iowa. - Supported:
• 2019 - Judicial Reform - Tilts power for selection of justices on the Iowa Supreme Court away from lawyers not elected by the people and toward the governor who is elected by the people. 

Pro-Traditional Marriage

• Only marriage between one man and one woman should be valid or recognized in the U.S. or in Iowa
• Supported letting the people vote on the Iowa Marriage Amendment