As the Iowa Legislature is in recess through April 30th due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the question of what the session will look like when it resumes has no concrete answer.

State Representative Chris Hagenow, (R) District 19, feels the longer the hiatus lasts, the shorter the session will be. He says there’s still a lot that needs to be ironed out before they can adjourn for the year, though, and he predicts they’ll need a considerable amount of time to get it done. “I doubt that we come back and that it happens in one day, like we did when we came back to pass the extension. But I also think that it’s highly unlikely that we come back and just pick up where we left off either. It takes several days to fully pass the state budget and shut (the Legislature) down for the year, because these budget bills are very lengthy and all the different line items; and just drafting it and passing it can take two or three days. I struggle to see that final part of the session taking any less than a week, but we’ll just have to see what the needs are and where we go from there.”

Hagenow also firmly believes that the Legislature’s agenda will be greatly pared down from what some representatives may like, even with conversations continuing during the interim. To learn more about this and other legislative topics, click the link below to listen to the recent Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program with Hagenow.

https://www.raccoonvalleyradio.com/2020/04/13/lets-talk-dallas-county-4-13-2020-chris-hagenow/