(Radio Iowa) – Former President Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis say they’re counting on hundreds of precinct level volunteers to spur turn-out in the Iowa Caucuses NEXT Monday, despite frigid temperatures in the forecast. Trump told a crowd in Newton this weekend that next Monday’s forecast of a deep chill was good news for his campaign. “My people will walk on glass. They don’t care,” Trump said, to cheers and applause. A few hours later in Ankeny, DeSantis joked about how cold it was going to be next Monday night. “You all are still going to turn out, though, right? It doesn’t matter — o.k.,” DeSantis said as the crowd cheered.

Dean Grossnickle of Gilbert was in the crowd applauding. He’s a precinct captain for DeSantis. The role isn’t just about Caucus Night. It’s about recruiting people now who’ll caucus for DeSantis next week. “Talking to my neighbors, talking to my ‘friend’ list, the people that I have influence with,” Grossnickle said. Gary Leffler of West Des Moines who was a congressional candidate two years ago, is a 2024 Iowa Caucus Captain for Trump. He says it’s pretty straightforward stuff, like contacting potential Caucus-goers. “Call my list. Get my people there like I’m supposed to do in my precinct. Show up. Be positive. Be enthusiastic,” Leffler says. Explaining what will happen inside a caucus is part of it, too.

“The Iowa GOP has done a good job of refining it, making it fairly simple,” Leffler says. “I think my biggest concern right now is January 15 is supposed to be 10 degrees.” Leffler was wearing one of the white baseball caps the Trump campaign is giving its Caucus Captains. Chris McAninch of Grimes had one on, too, as he waited in line to see Trump in Newton. McAninch says part of the role is being the Trump campaign’s official observer of the hand count of ballots at his precinct. “Watch and regulate the caucus,” McAninch says, adding he doesn’t expect to see problems: “I expect to see a lot of Trump ballots.”

Joyce Schmidt, the pastor of St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Bode, is a precinct captain for DeSantis. It all started in June, when someone from a political action committee backing DeSantis knocked on her door. A few weeks after that Schmidt hosted a dozen people in her home in Bode for a private meeting with DeSantis. In mid-December, Schmidt gave the opening prayer at a DeSantis campaign event in Fort Dodge. “I try to do as much as I can, but I have to be careful being a pastor. I can’t push a whole lot, but they know where I stand and I think the majority of the people in my church are Republicans and I think I’ve converted them from Trump to DeSantis,” she says, laughing. “I guess we’ll find out.” DeSantis says candidates who haven’t organized down to the precinct level “always under-perform” on Caucus night.

“Caucus is a commitment. You’re talking about mid-January. It’s going to be cold. It’s on a school night. You’re going to be there for a couple of hours,” DeSantis says, “and so identifying those people who are committed to doing it, which we’ve done in the tens of thousands, organizing these areas so that we can bring more people out, that’s just how you win these things.” Trump held four more of his “Commit to Caucus” events in Iowa this weekend. A video about how the Caucuses work is played as the crowd waits for Trump, then Trump singles out the Caucus Captains when he takes the stage.

“This is a special group ’cause you’re going to be out there on the 15th,” Trump said. “…This time we have the best team anyone’s ever assembled for Caucus.” Trump, who finished second in the 2016 Iowa Caucuses, says a massive victory for him next Monday would send a thunderous message about the 2024 campaign.

(Radio Iowa) – The 2024 Iowa legislative session begins later this (Monday) morning, with more tax cuts at the top of the majority party’s agenda. Governor Kim Reynolds will outline her priorities during a speech at the Capitol on Tuesday night. Reynolds has been saying elimination of the state income tax is a long-term goal.  “We’re sitting on a pretty good surplus and we’ve got money there and we’re going to turn it back to Iowans,” Reynolds said in late November. “…We need to be more competitive.” The state income tax is currently scheduled to shrink to one rate — of three-point-nine percent — for income tax payments due in 2027. Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver says expediting that tax cut is likely the first step lawmakers will take in the tax debate.

“And then what comes next will probably be the main conversation of the session,” Whitver says. House Speaker Pat Grassley says as discussion of eliminating the income tax begins, House Republicans will press to ensure the state can meet its spending commitments. “It’s going to be something that’s sustainable,” Grassley says. “Other states that have not passed sustainable tax policy, it’s backfired on them, so from the perspective of House Republicans, we want to get the money in the hands of Iowans, but at the same time making sure it’s a forward thinking vision.” Democrats say Iowans have more immediate concerns that should be addressed by lawmakers, like the lack of child care slots and affordable housing.

House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst. “I’m pretty tired of watching Republicans govern by headline,” Konfrst says. “I think it’s time we get down to business and we actually try to see what’s going to make a difference for Iowans.” Senate Minority Leader Pam Jochum, a Democrat from Dubuque, says it’s time for lawmakers to get serious about investing in a mental health care system for children. “We’ve had a problem for a long time. The pandemic has made it that much worse,” Jochum says. “We have seen more and more children with anxiety issues, behavioral health issues than we ever did before.” Republicans have held both the House, Senate and governorship for the past seven years. Senate Leader Whitver says aside from taxes, they’ve accomplished almost every other top policy item on the G-O-P agenda.

“We’re in a really great spot as a state. I think, frankly, we’re in the strongest position we’ve ever been as a state and so you don’t always need to invent new things to do,” Whitver says. “…We’ve checked off the major things that we want to do and let’s let the economy run like we’ve set it up to run.” House Republicans are calling for tougher penalties for groups caught stealing from retailers — so-called smash and grab episodes — that have taken place in other states. Grassley says House Republicans also plan to review K-through-12 education standards, school discipline policies and teacher pay — and investigate whether out of state staffing agencies are over charging Iowa hospitals and nursing homes.

“I don’t think just because we’ve done a lot of big things, we can now be all of a sudden like, ‘Well, here we are. Let’s take a time out,'” Grassley says. “I think that’s not why Iowans sent us here or will send us back.” The House and Senate are scheduled to convene at 10 a.m.

(Creston, Iowa) – A man from Adair County was transported by private vehicle to the hospital in Creston, following a single-vehicle rollover accident Saturday morning. Authorities say 32-year-old Bryan Dean Schultz, of Greenfield, was driving a 2014 Ford Focus north on Highway 25 at around 12:25-a.m., Saturday, when he lost control of the car. The vehicle left the road and went down a slight embankment before rolling over and landing in a creek bed.

Upon further investigation, it was discovered Schultz suffered injuries as a result of the accident. He was also suspected of OWI, with charges pending blood test result from the lab.

The car, registered to a woman from Greenfield, sustained $15,000 damage.

(St. Charles, Iowa) – A crash involving a cargo truck Sunday night in eastern Madison County claimed the life of a Winterset man. The Iowa State Patrol reports 41-year-old David Blair, of Winterset, was traveling south on Upland Avenue at around 7:50-p.m., Sunday, northwest of St. Charles, when he lost control of the vehicle on a curve near 230th Street, causing the cargo truck to roll over.