News from “House to Home”

November 18, 2012

From Your State House Representative to Constituents in Cedar Rapids

• The election season is over and preparations are well underway for the 2013 legislative session which begins on January 14th.  Iowans chose divided government again with the expectation that all sides must work together and compromise the next two years.
• The Senate will again be controlled by Democrats with a margin of 26 to 24 seats, Governor Branstad has two years remaining in his term, and Republicans narrowly control the Iowa House with just 53 seats, after Democrats picked up seven seats.  In the Iowa House of Representatives we will have a freshman class of 26, which is over 25% of all legislators.
• Last week, I met with my colleagues in the House to select leadership and begin discussion on important issues likely to be addressed in the next session. House Democrats held our elections last weekend. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, continues as minority leader. We also elected Reps. Ako Abdul-Samad of Des Moines, Mary Mascher of Iowa City, Mark Smith of Marshalltown and Rep. Mary Gaskill of Ottumwa as assistant leaders.
• I’ve submitted my list of preferences for committee assignments in the next session.  With 19 different House committees and another 7 budget subcommittees, there are a lot of options.  The House leadership will make appointments to committees sometime in December – so that we can “hit the ground running” when the session starts in January.
• Immediately after the election I returned to teaching (the very next morning) while our “Team Staed” volunteers recovered nearly 500 of the 800 yard signs placed throughout the district.  Thanks again to the many awesome volunteers!
• After school on Thursday, November 8th, (yes. I teach until the session starts on January 14, 2013) Susan and I attended a meeting of local music therapists and discussed licensure/state certification issues regarding the music therapy profession.  One of my constituents alerted me to this issue, and I’ve begun the process of researching Iowa code for a solution.
• Friday night and most of Saturday involved meetings and discussions with my new colleagues in the Democratic Caucus in Des Moines.  Saturday evening, November 10, we attended the 7^th Annual Sleep Out for the Homeless at Veterans’ Memorial Stadium.  On Sunday, Veterans Day, I attended the dedication of the memorial to the Veterans of Linn County at the Linn County Community Services Building in Cedar Rapids. The memorial is the culmination of years of planning and effort by numerous individuals. I have been honored to meet with many veterans while door-knocking throughout the district and, as a legislator, I will continue to support and thank the men and women who give of themselves to protect and defend the United States of America.
• On Sunday afternoon we hosted a Volunteer Thank You Party and Victory Celebration at our home, culminating a year and a half of hard work.  This is the most rewarding part of the campaign – working with a great team of supporters and celebrating their success!
• Monday and Tuesday nights were spent drafting proposed legislation and researching issues.  This task has already been made a bit easier with the assistance of several professional legislative staff in Des Moines.  But this is work that I will do whenever there is an available block of time – large or small.
• Wednesday, after school, I attended the local Cedar Rapids Education Association teachers’ Representative Assembly at Kennedy High School to thank them for their strong support of education in Iowa and to invite them to contact me with issues and ideas important to them and their students.
• Thursday evening culminated with a landlord informational meeting about the nuisance code and housing code revisions proposed by the city of Cedar Rapids.  Friday it was a soup dinner at a local church which benefited three local missions and then on Saturday a constituent meeting addressing fossil fuel limits, renewable and alternative energy, conservation and reduction of energy demand.

Here are some upcoming events on my calendar:

• Tomorrow morning, November 19^th, I will be meeting with a constituent regarding CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) and their impact on the environment and local communities.
• Later, at 5:00pm I will attend a budget forum hosted by the Linn County Board of Supervisors – a forum that gives Linn County residents the chance to comment on priorities and other issues as supervisors prepare to write the budget for the 2014 fiscal year, which begins next July 1. The annual public forum is set for 5 p.m. Monday in the informal board room of the Jean Oxley Public Service Center, 935 Second St. SW. This is an opportunity to request sufficient financial support for sheltered workshops in Linn County.  Hope to see you there!
• Tuesday offers more meetings with the local Partnership for Safe Families here in Cedar Rapids in the afternoon and the East Central Iowa Council of Governments at Coralville City Hall at 4:00pm.
• Thursday, November 22, is Happy Thanksgiving!!
• Tuesday, November 27^th, at 4:30pm is the Linn County Rural Electric Coop legislative meeting with local legislators at 5695 REC Drive in Marion, Iowa.
• Thursday, November 29^th I will attend the Cedar Rapids Area Association of Realtors Legislative Breakfast at Cedar Rapids Country Club at 8:30am and the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators forum in the afternoon.

I am honored to be back, representing you in NE Cedar Rapids! I want you to know that I am actively working to find solutions to your concerns, and will be supporting legislation that will make our communities stronger, safer and more prosperous.

As your State Representative I am available to you at 319-899-4365 (legislative email will be available in January.)

Sincerely,
Art Staed
Representative-Elect
Iowa HD66