Opinion: Working together in 2025

By Iowa House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst

The 2025 legislature is back in session until early May. With the election behind us, Iowans expect us to put politics aside and work together to improve their lives.

The Governor laid out her priorities for the year and there are a host of issues that can receive bipartisan support. Some of the ideas we can work together on include cancer research and prevention; hands-free driving; government efficiency; limiting cell phone use in schools; and rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure.

Those are a good place to start, but there’s certainly more we can do this year to lower costs for Iowans and help the family budget. Frankly, some of the biggest issues facing Iowa families weren’t addressed by the Governor. There was no mention of affordable housing and, while there was some talk about childcare, she offered no proposals to actually lower costs for families.

Given recent layoffs and a slowdown in the ag sector, the Governor didn’t offer any ideas to support workers who lost their jobs through no fault of their own or to raise wages and help families pay the bills. However, she did propose another $1 billion tax break for corporations with no guarantee workers will end up with more money in their pockets.

This session, House Democrats are going to be laser-focused on lowering costs for Iowans. At the end of session, we want Iowans to feel a difference in their pocketbooks by making the basics like housing, health care, and childcare more affordable. These issues aren’t partisan, but they’ve been ignored for far too long.

Perhaps the biggest news of the first week was the dramatic increase in state spending to pay for the Governor’s school voucher program. In fact, the Governor’s budget includes a whopping 44% increase in the amount of public dollars going to unaccountable private schools compared to a paltry 2% increase she proposes for public school kids. This makes private school vouchers one of the fastest growing parts of Iowa’s budget.

Like many folks, I’m experiencing some real sticker shock with that huge increase. In the first four years alone, vouchers are now expected to cost Iowa taxpayers about $1 billion. The increase next year is so dramatic because everyone is eligible to get almost $8,000 annually to send their kids to private school, which includes the multi-millionaires in Des Moines.

It’s no secret I’m a staunch opponent of vouchers - and so are most Iowans, including Republicans. I firmly believe that public money is for public schools. It’s frustrating so many of our hard-earned dollars are going to yet another break for those at the top and certainly another reason so many Iowans despise politics these days.

While we won’t agree on everything this session, we can lower costs for families if we’re willing to put politics aside and stay focused on Iowans.

Let’s put people over politics this session. It’s what Iowans expect us to do.

State Representative Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights serves the 32nd District in the Iowa House and is the Iowa House Democratic Leader.