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Week 5 is in the books with the pace not slowing in the Iowa legislature.  A significant number of groups from my district and surrounding area were at the capital this week, including STEM groups, a group of young Kingsley-Pierson students showcasing a technology program, a cyber security high school team and a four-person delegation of young leaders from India, part of a multi-state visit to focus on political involvement in their country.

I was honored as a freshman senator to address the Prayer for Life rally in the Capitol along with our Governor Kim Reynolds and new Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird.  It was great to see the many people who are engaged on this important issue and am encouraged the movement to value all life from conception to natural death is alive and well.

Both the House and Senate passed Senate File 192, which finalized educational funding in Iowa for the next year with an increase of $107 million for local schools.  Governor Reynolds signed the bill into law on Wednesday.

This week also saw passage of House File 161 through both the House and Senate, a bill that implements a limit on non-economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits, which was argued could reduce liability costs for hospitals and health providers.

Again this week at the Capitol were landowners who are very concerned about the looming construction of a liquefied carbon dioxide pipeline through their property and the threatened use of eminent domain to cross their land without their consent.  Justified with bad “science” and subsidized with federal tax dollars, I am opposed to these pipelines and continue to support bills from fellow senators working to protect the rights of Iowa citizens.

I have initiated a bill on personal medical freedom and hope to get one more submitted before the upcoming session deadline.  I believe the past three years of pandemic-justified reductions of our Constitutional rights cannot be ignored.  The right to be employed, keep a business open, travel, not wear a mask, or decline an experimental drug must never again be infringed and I hope to make progress on this critical issue.

Author: Kevin Alons

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