House Speaker Pat Grassley says Republicans in the Iowa House have advanced bills they think are extremely important ahead of this week’s deadline for legislation to get through committees.
Grassley highlighted bills that seek to overhaul higher education in the state by banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and targeting majors to meet workforce needs. He also says bills to focus Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program (SNAP) benefits on healthy foods and put Medicaid work requirements in place are priorities.
“We’ve continued to come in and try to address the issues that we think are extremely important. Now, some of those are going to be, like cost of living, for example — issues that we’ve been talking about — you’re going to start seeing more of those conversations.”
Grassley says those will be tax-related proposals that aren’t subject to this week’s deadline. They include expanding eligibility for the child care tax credit and eliminating sales taxes on everyday products.
Democratic leaders say they’re frustrated because the GOP majority has been advancing bills that Iowans didn’t ask for instead of focusing on lowering costs.