(Des Moines, Iowa) – Southwest Iowa (District 21) House Representative Thomas Moore, of Griswold, Thursday, released his view of the 2025 Legislative Session that began Monday:

“The 1st Session of the 91st General Assembly convened on Monday January 13^th, 2025. It is always fun to get back to the Capitol to renew relationships with Legislators, Lobbyists, and other personnel. Mostly the anticipation of what the session will bring creates excitement to get back to work. The first week often remains very ceremonial but also sees the meeting of Legislative Committees for the 1st time. Not much action takes place but getting back in the groove is nice. My committee assignments have not changed this year as I am on Education, Health and Human Services, Economic Growth and Information Technology, and Labor and Workforce. New to my assignments this year is that I am Vice Chair of the Health and Human Services Budget Committee.

“We heard Opening Day Speeches from Minority Leader Konfrst, Majority Leader Windschitl and Speaker Grassley. The speaker spoke of the impact of past legislation, all leading to the fact that Republicans now represent all or part of ALL 99 counties. He spoke of the many issues before us for this legislative session with emphasis on Property Tax reduction and Child Care issues. On Tuesday January 14th at 6:00 PM, Governor Kim Reynolds gave her eighth annual Condition of the State speech before the House and Senate. She began her speech with a list of accomplishments that has put Iowa in a very respected and valued position nationally. Iowa ranks #1 nationally as a state for retirement, for millennial home ownership, and fiscal responsibility. We are #2 in cost of living and #3 for opportunity. We’re also #4 for healthcare and educational choice. Significantly we are the 6th best state overall. Iowans have so much to be proud of!

“As a result of the efforts to make gov’t more efficient and reduce costs the passage of the Gov’t reduction bill has already saved the taxpayer $217 Million. There will be efforts to seek more efficiency cuts. She spoke of the loss to the state of Bill Northey and Jim Leach. Education is an annual topic and this year she spoke of the support for public schools which teach 92% school age Iowans and how Iowans were using different avenues to meet their children’s educational needs. Of that number 43,000 public school students took advantage of Open Enrollment to move to another public school, nearly 28,000 are using education savings accounts, and in the last two years we have gone from 3 to 17 high-quality public charter schools. Last year we passed important legislation to increase literacy by creating personalized plans for student who weren’t reading proficiently at grade level. The governors proposal is to do the same for Math!

“The governor also spoke to the issue of cell phones in the classroom and on the road. Research shows 7 in 10 high school teachers say it’s a major problem. Some districts are addressing this but the governor believes that doing nothing is not an option. She is proposing that instructional time is to be kept cell phone free. As for the road she is asking legislation restricting the use of the phone while driving. Child Care is a growing and critical problem area for Iowa families. A new pilot program called Community Solutions Funds and the Iowa Women’s Foundation the state has created 9 regional community solution funds using $3 M. to raise childcare workers wages without raising costs on families. The governor is proposing a statewide solutions fund to which individuals or businesses can donate to enhance childcare workers wages. Another childcare challenge is the difficulty of coordinating transportation between childcare and preschool during the day. The proposal is to establish an Early Childhood “Continuum of Care” program that will provide 3 year grants to integrate these services. The funds could be used to defray transportation cost or pay for the teacher at a local childcare center, or childcare staff at the local school.

“Reynolds spoke of the ever growing need for medical professionals statewide. To address this she is proposing to double our investment in loan repayment to anyone committing to practice in rural Iowa for 5 years. Residency slots are critical to doctors staying in Iowa so she is seeking to procure $150 M. in federal funds to create a projected 115 new slots each year at our 14 teaching hospitals. That would mean a possible 460 new physicians trained here in Iowa. Also, $3 M. in grants would increase and train more nurses, CNA’s, and LPN’s. Medicaid rates were also on the list of things to review and adjust where necessary. She spoke of the tragedy of Cancer. For 2 years now Iowa has been 2nd nationally for new cases of cancer and we are one of only 2 states with rising rates. Why and how are the things we have to resolve. Iowa is 5th nationally for binge drinking and Iowa is in the top 5 for alcohol related cancers. She is announcing a partnership between HHS and the Univ. of Iowa to establish a dedicated team of epidemiologists to research all factors that might be playing a role.

D-21 (Rep.) Representative Thomas Moore. (Official photo, 2025)

“Iowa is over-collecting unemployment taxes as there is a $2 B. fund balance. Iowa collects, by law, taxes on wages up to $38,000 while our neighbors are closer to $14,000. The governor proposes to cut those payment by half, providing employers with a nearly $1 B. in savings. Nuclear energy exploration will expand the great footprint of pricing and reliability that Iowa has established. A task force to explore nuclear will be formed to resolve how to move forward. Lastly, she spoke of expanding our business opportunities by touting the great things Iowa has to offer like, low energy rates, #3 state for opportunity, we get an A for fiscal responsibility, and we are seeing interest in businesses looking to move to a more friendly model for the business. Iowa is a state of low taxes and cost of living, high character and value, quality education and a state with endless opportunity and timeless charm.

“Chief Justice Susan Christensen gave her 5th Condition of the Judiciary speech on Wednesday January 15th at 10 AM. Her previous themes have touched on hope, peace, listening and building connections. Her theme for 2025 is commitment. Her commitment to the people of Iowa is to ensure that our courts remain accessible, efficient and fair. She ask for legislative partnership in ensuring our courts have the resources needed to fulfill this promise to Iowans.

“More and more Iowans are navigating the courts without legal representation. To help address this gap, the judicial branch has developed fillable court forms available on our website for self-represented litigants. We also introduced interactive forms that function like Turbo Tax, guiding users through a question-and-answer process to complete forms to be filed online. Building on these innovations, we are recommending a modernization of our magistrate system. By reducing the number of magistrates required by statute—a step made possible by technological efficiencies—we can save taxpayers $2 million annually. The solution we propose is to reduce the number of magistrates required by statute and, when necessary, assign some magistrates to serve multiple counties to ensure workloads are properly aligned.

“Another commitment the judicial branch has made to the people of Iowa is Iowa’s business specialty courts—and for good reason. Last year, the business specialty court handled a record 60 cases—more than double the number just two years ago. This growth shows how valuable the court has become and how much trust Iowa’s businesses have in it. We’re proud of the court’s success and remain dedicated to keeping it strong and continuing to find innovative ways to support the businesses that are so important to our state.

“Even with last year’s 5% increase, our judges and magistrates still earn well below our counterparts in every state we touch. Nationally, Iowa ranks 41st in Judicial pay. Applications for Judicial vacancies has dropped by 56 percent over the past 20 years. proposing what we call the Kansas Plan. She is proposing what she calls the Kansas Plan. Under her proposal, a statute would set the salary of a state district court judge at 75% of a federal district court judge’s salary. A four-year phase-in period to ease the transition would be in place and salaries for other classes of judges would be calculated as a percentage of the state district court judge’s salary.

“The last commitment she spoke of was that of Indigent Defense and especially its effect on juvenile justice. Last fiscal year, our court system handled about 8,300 juvenile cases. While their numbers may not be as high as criminal defendants requiring court appointed counsel, their cases are often the most resource intensive and can span greater amounts of time. Just like the judicial pay issue, our contract attorneys are paid at a lower rate in comparison to every other state that touches Iowa. The Chief Justice is committed to talking about this issue until it is adequately addressed. Lastly Chief Justice Christensen will begin holding office hours at the capitol every Monday from 10 a.m. to noon starting January 27 through March 31 in the historic Supreme Court Chambers.

“Major General Stephen Osborn presented his 2nd Condition of the Guard in Joint Session on Thursday January 16th at 10 AM. Major General Stephen Osborn highlighted the numerous deployments around the world and here in Iowa emphasizing the Dual Roll of the Guard which is to serve Iowa and the Federal Government. He spoke of integrity, trust, and care for people as being critical to the Guard. Major deployment operations, to name a few were, 700 to Kosovo, 135 to Guam, 115 supported Operation Lone Star, also support of the Iowa flooding victims in 2024 in NW Iowa, and 63 are in Washington DC to help with the Presidential Inauguration. Major operations also were apart of Drug and Trans National Threats enforcement securing numerous arrests and large amounts of illegal drugs in the state. 150 Guardsmen will be returning home from Mideast deployment.

The Generals major areas of emphasis was the continuation of modernization, enhancing service scholarship, and eliminating the chronic absenteeism glitch that affects high school trainees. The Guard remains 99.5% ready and they are retaining Guard men and women at an 83% rate. Iowans should be proud of our Iowa National Guard as they are elite and at the ready to serve because their condition is excellent!”