With the 2025 Legislative Session starting in Iowa, one legislator looks back on the previous session.

House Representative for District 23 Ray Sorensen says that looking at the 2024 Legislative Session, he’s happy that both chambers were able to come together and pass bills on raising teacher pay, expediting the tax cut to 3.8%, and prioritizing history and civics in K-12 education. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio another piece of what he’s happy passed.

“We also worked on school safety infrastructure and personal funding and changes. Everybody wants their kids to feel safe in school, and with what’s kind of been happening across the country, that’s just a big piece that we prioritize each and every session.”

Sorensen mentions that there are a few bills he wished had passed in the 2024 session, like the Seizure Safe School Bill that he’s put forward since he first was elected. He adds that there was also an artificial intelligence (AI) bill he worked on, but that while he wishes that it had passed, he’s also okay that it didn’t, because he also doesn’t want to rush and put out something that may hinder any work with AI.