Iowa legislators in sight of finish line

DES MOINES — Iowa House Speaker Linda Upmeyer says she wants the 2019 legislative session to end in a month that starts with an A — which either means lawmakers wrap things up in the next nine days or they’re in it until August.

The smart money is on April. Iowa Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver even is pushing to finish this year’s session work by Friday.

“It’s going to take a lot of work and it’s going to take some major policy pieces falling into place as well,” Whitver said Thursday. “But if those policy bills fall into place and we don’t have any hiccups in the next 24 hours, I think we can make a run at next week.”

This year’s legislative session began nearly 14 weeks ago on Jan. 15. Among the major policy bills still awaiting agreement are efforts by majority Republicans to slow the growth of property taxes collected by local elected officials; plans by Gov. Kim Reynolds to empower rural Iowa in areas of broadband and housing and make Iowa’s workforce “Future Ready;” and bipartisan measures to legalize sports wagering and extend school infrastructure funding to 2051.

Read more: https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/iowa-legislators-in-sight-of-finish-line-20190421

The Democratic viewpoints about the legislative session are buried several paragraphs later in the article.