The Dickey Dispatch by Sen. Adrian Dickey

The 91st Iowa General Assembly gaveled in on Monday, January 13th. We got off to a GREAT start by swearing in all of the recently elected/re-elected senators, which I was in that group. After that ceremony, there are now thirty-four Republicans in the Iowa Senate. Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver and Senate President Amy Sinclair gave speeches to the Senate laying out a clear path for the continued success of Iowa’s future. Tuesday Gov. Reynolds delivered her Condition of the State speech. On Wednesday, Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court Susan Christensen gave their remarks during the state of the Judiciary and the Guard. The week ended with the Adjutant General of the Iowa National Guard, Major General Stephen Osborn, where he delivered his remarks.

While this week was full of speeches and pageantry, the paper was flowing as well! I have already received stacks of bill proposals for the Senate Workforce Committee, where I will be the Chairman for the 4th year. Also, many bill proposals were placed on my desk for the other committees that I will be serving on this session. Those will be Commerce, Judiciary, Workforce, Rules and Administration, Transportation, and Ways and Means. I also will be on the Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee as the vice chair.

At 7 a.m. Wednesday, I spoke to the FuelIowa board of directors at their board meeting. Many of you know, our family business, Dickey Transport and Harold Dickey Oil, started in the 1950s and we have been members of FuelIowa for nearly 70 years! It is always extra special to be able to talk to their board, a board that my grandfather and my father have served as chairmen of over the years! The ethanol that you buy, the LP gas that you use, the fuel that we NEED comes from these members!

Later that day, I lead the first Workforce Committee of the year. During this meeting members of the committee introduced themselves and I gave an introductory speech. I reminded the committee that we work for the people of Iowa and we should respect their time by making sure we are using our time EFFECTIVELY and EFFICIENTLY. I am EXCITED to continue to help make Iowa a place where citizens and businesses thrive and help create growing communities.

A topic that I am very passionate about is the Senate’s progress in making living in Iowa as affordable as possible and one of the GREATEST ways we can do that is taking LESS of your money! When the calendar turned several weeks ago, you should have noticed a bump in your paychecks as the 3.8% flat tax that we passed last year went into effect on January 1. While this is an amazing start, we can help Iowans even more by addressing the concern of rising property taxes. Many Iowans are feeling the weight of increased property taxes over the last few years, making it difficult to afford and maintain the property they own. While the legislature passed major property tax reform in 2023, continuing to build on reforms for everyday Iowans proves one of the most important issues facing our state legislature in this upcoming session.

With the start of the new session, many times I have reflected back to my past election in November and how humbled I was to have received 70% of the vote in a district that is home to 63,000 Iowans. Please know how honored I am to represent the people of Senate District 44! It is my privilege to help Iowans’ voices be heard and I am GRATEFUL for your trust in me throughout this coming session.