This week House Republicans passed a bill to protect girls’ sports in Iowa, and at the same time this newsletter is going out, the House is debating the tax plan that will go to the Governor for her signature. Both bills are huge for Iowa and something we should all be proud of. For many legislatures, either of these bills are something that would take an entire year to enact.
The emotions are high on both sides of the issue of girls’ sports but perhaps the most compelling story is of Ainsley Erzen, who recently broke the Iowa State Record in the 800-meter run and won the national title to the 800-meter run. Ainsley ran the race at 2:06.52, which made her the fastest woman of all time in Iowa. Some people tell me that there is no reason to prevent boys from playing in girls’ sports, but here is a cold fact; 85 Iowa High School boys would have beaten Ainsley in 2021, the same year she broke the record. To say it another way, the slowest boy was easily 10 seconds faster than the first-place girl.
This is just one example of why we need to act now. Women have fought long and hard to secure their level playing field, and girls deserve equal opportunity in athletics. Therefore, the bill that we passed, and will likely make it to the Governor’s desk, requires that biological females, according to their birth certificate, are required to play school-sponsored girls’ athletics. This gives a level playing field for all children and fair competition. Every child can participate in sports and should. The question is who they should be allowed to play with.
On Thursday, February 24, the Iowa House stayed late into the night to debate a change in the tax bill that we sent to the Senate last week. This historic tax reform will give every Iowan more money in their pocket at the end of the workday. The specifics of the plan include:
- 3.9 percent individual, LLC, and S Corporation Rates
- 5.5 Corporate Rates
- 0 income tax on retirement income to include farm rental income for those who are 55 years old and meet other qualifications.
- Cuts corporate tax credits to pay for the new corporate rate.
This is very much the readers’ digest version of the bill, but it will return an average of more than 1,300 dollars per family. During this high inflation, it is more important than ever to make sure Iowans can keep and use their hard-earned dollars.
It is always a good reminder that what happens on the national level often affects us here at the local level of government, and we are seeing that with the inflation we have experienced in the last 12 months. This week we passed more than 59 bills that will make Iowan’s lives better and keep Iowa a competitive state in the nation, and so while the two bills I discussed are good, many other great things were happening in our State.
Before I go, have you heard that Governor Reynolds was selected to give the Republican response to the President’s State of the Nation Speech next week? It just shows that Iowa and Iowans are doing the right thing when our leader is selected to give the response to explain the great things that happen in our free state.
