Representative Tom Moore, a Republican from Griswold, was sworn-in to the Iowa Legislature Monday, during a ceremony in the Iowa House chamber. He took the oath of office just as the second session of the 86th General Assembly kicked off at the Capitol in Des Moines. Moore won a special election for House District 21 in December. He replaced Jack Drake, who died suddenly in October, at the age of 81.

The 2016 Iowa legislative session kicked off this week amid the traditional pomp and circumstance including speeches by legislative leaders, Governor Branstad’s Condition of the State address and the Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court’s Condition of the Judiciary speech.

Rep. Moore taking the oath of office.

Rep. Moore says that balancing the state’s budget and quickly setting education funding are among his top priorities: “The state needs to budget just like Iowa families and businesses do,” said Rep. Moore. “That means we must continue to spend less than the state collects, and fight against using one-time money to fund ongoing expenses.

Additionally, the House will look to set school funding as quickly as possible. It is important to our local school districts that we get this done early, but it is equally important that they can depend on the commitments the Legislature makes.”

The legislative session is slated to last 100 days, ending April 19th. Last session the Iowa House approved a state aid increase just two weeks into the session only to see it languish in the Iowa Senate until spring.

During the current session, Rep. Moore can be reached at tom.moore@legis.iowa.gov or through the House switchboard at (515) 281-3221.