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Washington Evening Journal
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Washington, IA 52353
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Mothers influenced the nation’s founding
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
As I mentioned last week, the legislature is in “overtime” now. Several members of the legislature are unwilling to vote on a budget until the Senate votes on the bills we have passed in the House to protect landowners from unconstitutional eminent domain.
Things could get pretty interesting this week
Founding mothers
In American politics, we talk a lot about the Founding Fathers, and that’s perfectly appropriate. But mothers were incredibly influential in our nation’s founding as well.
So I wanted to share some words of wisdom from my favorite Founding Mother, Abigail Adams.
Adams wasn’t just the wife of one President and mother of another. She was well-educated and ran the family farm for many years by herself. She also repeatedly pointed out to her husband John that it was hypocritical to demand freedom “for all” while slaves and women weren’t given the same rights.
Here are some bits of wisdom she wrote in letters to her husband and son:
- We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.
- I am more and more convinced that man is a dangerous creature; and that power, whether vested in many or a few, is ever grasping, and, like the grave, cries, “Give, give!” The great fish swallow up the small; and he who is most strenuous for the rights of the people, when vested with power, is as eager after the prerogatives of government.
Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.
Budget progress
The legislature and Governor agreed this week on the total amount that will be spent in Fiscal Year 2026: $9.425 billion. This represents an increase of $478.1 million (or 5.34%) over the previous year’s budget.
Some House priorities are being funded from the Sports Wagering Fund, which has been collecting taxes on sports betting since it was legalized in Iowa. Those priorities include:
• $14 million for Paraeducator Pay
• $5 million for the Special Education Division
• $8 million for the Public Safety Equipment Fund
• $1.5 million for the Length of Service Award Program for volunteer first responders
The accompanying graph shows the breakdown on how the overall budget is divided up into big categories.
As Republicans, our caucus uniformly agrees that we need to be fiscally responsible when we budget. But we also have serious debates among ourselves as we put the budget together.
House Republicans have fought hard to secure additional funding for school paraprofessionals, nursing homes and community colleges.
The House and Senate are still hammering out the final details of the budget. We will be back in Des Moines this week (May 12) to (hopefully) wrap up the 2025 legislative session
