In my eight years of service in the Iowa Legislature, I do not believe I have seen a single week in which there were so many advances for freedom and common sense in Iowa. From stopping COVID restrictions to protecting women’s sports, and from revolutionary tax reform to our Governor speaking to the world about Iowa freedom, the advancement of liberty was front and center this week at your Capitol.
As I write this, only a few minutes ago, surrounded by female high school athletes, the Governor signed legislation to protect women’s sports in Iowa. We stood up for science, common sense, and protected the future of women’s sports with legislation that mandates that only those assigned female on their original birth certificate can play women’s sports in Iowa. This is about real fairness and equality based on science, and it was amazing to see these young women’s excitement as they stood beside the Governor in this effort and watched her sign this bill into law. Their courage should be an inspiration to all of us who understand the danger to the future of women’s sports that comes from biological males being allowed to play women’s sports in Iowa. A victory for truth and real equality.
The Iowa House also struck a blow for freedom as we advanced two pieces of legislation in response to the unprecedented assault on individual liberty during the COVID outbreak.
First, we passed HF 2298, which prevents licensed childcare centers, elementary, secondary, or postsecondary schools from requiring the COVID-19 shot for enrollment. This legislation will ensure Iowa parents can make their own decisions based on what is best for their child. Iowans have long been done with government mandates on this issue, and so are House Republicans. This includes patients being refused medications as part of their treatment for COVID, which brings me to the next bill we passed and sent to the Senate.
Iowa House Republicans passed legislation to add language in the Right to Try section of code to insist that patients have access to medications such as ivermectin, if the patient wants it and a doctor prescribes it. We have heard far too many stories from patients and citizens that some hospitals and physicians are refusing to allow ivermectin, and some pharmacies are refusing to fill prescriptions. I have held and participated in numerous meetings on this issue with the Board of Pharmacy, the Governor’s office, representatives of specific pharmacies and other legislators and groups. We are working to restore patient access and sanity to this process. We will not allow doctors to receive threatening letters of investigation from the Board of Medicine simply because they made a decision to prescribe ivermectin. The momentum on issues related to COVID restrictions is clearly shifting; freedom is winning.
Also, this week, on Tuesday Governor Kim Reynolds signed the most historic tax reform in the history of Iowa. This is the third time in the last few years that Republicans have cut taxes; this time the reforms revolutionize our tax structure, creating a flat 3.9% income tax rate regardless of income, exempts retirement income from taxes and reduces corporate taxes while also beginning the process of eliminating corporate tax credits. These reforms help ensure that Iowans are free from over taxation and will limit the size of government, thereby expanding liberty. As a result of these historic changes to tax code, as well as our focus on advancing freedom and protecting liberty in Iowa, which stands in stark contrast to the assault on freedom underway by Biden’s Democrat Party, it was clear that there was no one better than Iowa’s own Governor Kim Reynolds to deliver the response to the State of the Union address. Deliver it she did!
Governor Reynolds, in an Iowa nice way of course, exposed the hypocrisy of many Democrats in their “for thee but not for me” approach to COVID restrictions, while also pointing out the dangerous agenda being pursued by Democrats that is weakening our nation and endangering our national security. She contrasted these facts with the success that comes when our founding values and our liberties are respected, which is exactly the way Iowa is operating under Republican leadership.
As I said earlier, it was an incredibly eventful week for freedom and liberty in Iowa. It was also a great week to say, “That’s right, I’m an Iowan!
