We are back to business at the Capitol. Committee Meetings, Budget Meetings and sub-committee meetings are being held and moves the process along. I have introduced a bill on Prescription Drug Price Transparency that will hopefully help to lower the cost of prescription drugs at the pharmacy. This is an issue that I hear about often from constituents, especially those who are older and on a fixed income. There are many working parts to this legislation and many stakeholders are included in the discussion. I am confident we can get this passed and make a real difference on the pocketbooks of Iowans.
Many of you know that my family and I own a restaurant in Peosta. Our industry is slated to lose $1.4 Billion dollars in the state and it is projected that over 1,000 restaurants in Iowa will close due to the pandemic. Mitigation efforts that were placed on our industry were some of the most stringent and have decreased our physical capacity, limited services and enforced early closures. If you are familiar with restaurants and bars, you will know that our margins are tight and operating at a minimized capacity has dire consequences. We have lost businesses in District 57 due the restrictions. Thanks to the work of House Republicans, the Iowa Restaurant Association and our Governor Kim Reynolds, she has agreed to give $40 Million Dollars of CARES act money to this industry to help our smaller main street, locally owned, independent bars and restaurants as we work our way out of the pandemic. Program information will be available on the Iowa business recovery site next week at www.iowaeda.com/covid-19 the application process will open on Feb. 1st and close on Feb. 15th. We need to preserve these mom and pop bars and restaurants on our main streets and in our communities. We will work on expanding this to other business industries with the next CARES Act allocation that comes from the Federal Government, so stay tuned.
Thank you again for the opportunity to serve our great district. And as always feel free to call or email me with questions, comments or concerns. I am here to listen.
