As the Iowa legislative session wrapped up ahead of schedule this year, lawmakers were once again busy.

District 24 Senator Jerry Behn of Boone says they passed several bills, including additional funding in K-12 public education by investing $89 million of State Supplemental Aid. One bill he’s hoping will advance next year is the Education Savings Account bill, which he sponsored this year. The bill proposes allowing parents of special education students to use state funds for private schools or to be home-schooled.

“There are several states that have done that and I think it’s been highly successful. And I think it can illustrate the advantages of choice and what it can do in the systems. So yes I’m hopeful that we can continue to make headway on that and continue to work on that issue.”

He points out the reason why the session ended earlier than expected was because both the Senate and House agreed on their respective budget targets and those matched closely with the governor’s proposed figures. He was also proud of being able to couple the state’s tax laws to align more with the federal tax laws to allow Iowa to provide for more job growth in the future.

Behn welcomes feedback and comments from constituents during the interim of the legislative session. His personal email is jlbehn@msn.com.