Rep. Derek Wulf (R-Hudson),

Last week, we passed the government reorganization bill through the lowa House. It has been 40 years since lowa reorganized its state government. This bill will streamline government, increase efficiency, eliminate redundancies, save taxpayer dollars and ultimately ensure state government better serves the people of lowa. The bill shrinks government from the bloated number of 37 state agencies, down to 16. No state services for lowans will be lost and no state employee will lose their job. We had over 8 hours of subcommittee hearings on this bill and it passed through both the State Government and the Appropriations committee. House Republicans made several changes to the bill through the committee process. We have been careful to do our due diligence on this bill, as it is a very big piece of legislation.

This year, we set out to pass a bill to protect lowans’ money from activist Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) policies. This bill, passed through the lowa House last week, requires that public funds act only in the best financial interest of the fund and its beneficiaries and not make decisions based on a political agenda. It also prohibits public entities from entering contracts with companies who participate in economic boycotts. There are three industries that we know are being boycotted against in the US are fossil fuels, gun manufacturers and the agriculture industry. All are important to the state of lowa and deserve protections from unfair, politically-charged investment policies.

HF 662 gives schools guidance on bathroom and locker room requirements. The bill states that people may not use a multiple occupancy bathroom or changing area that does not correspond to the sex on their birth certificate in K-12 schools. It specifies that this applies to any locker room or changing area for extracurricular activities and for overnight trips. The goal of this bill is to respect the privacy of all children at school. For decades we have separated bathrooms and locker rooms by biological sex. That policy must remain. Accommodations absolutely should be made to keep that child safe and comfortable as they change or go to the bathroom. However, that accommodation should not have to come at the expense of the privacy of our other children, particularly our daughters. This bill gives schools the guidance that many of them have asked legislators for to be able to maintain their bathroom policies and accommodate students when necessary.

Last week, I lead the House Floor through HF 661. The bill modifies code provisions that provide for county wide food inspection licenses for food sold at farmers markets, and temporary food establishments that are time/temperature food safety consumables to make such $150 licenses and $200 respectively statewide for any given vendor rather than on a county-wide basis. Currently, vendors would have to pay multiple such fees in each of the counties they sold such products at farmers markets or at different temporary food establishments. This bill helps ease redundant costs and simplifies the process for farmers and producers who choose to market their own products locally.

Finally, the House Ways and Means Committee unanimously supported House Study Bill 224 last week. The bill relates to property tax on commercial child care centers. Current law provides that a child care center or child care facility are commercial properties and as such are assigned a 90 percent rollback. This means they pay property tax on 90 percent of their assessed value. House Study Bill 224 provides that for assessments years beginning January 1, 2013, and after, property that is primarily used as a child care center or facility, although a commercial property, will be given the same rollback as residential property (this year 54

percent). This will result in a huge property tax cut for the much needed child care facilities in our state.

Rep. Wulf’s district, Iowa House District 76, includes the communities of Traer, Dysart, and Buckingham in Tama County. He can be reached via email: derek.wulf@legis.iowa.gov.