The 2018 Iowa legislative session begins today, and state senators and representatives are gearing up for what promises to be a busy year.

Jake Chapman, Senator for the 10th District, which includes Dallas and Guthrie counties, says he’s looking forward to the session and building off of what was accomplished in 2017. “Last year we had a tremendous year. It was a historic year with a number of pieces of legislation passed. And I think 2018 holds a lot of promise for building upon what we’ve done last year. I’m very excited and optimistic about our tax policy that’s going to come forth this next year, and we’re going to look at ways to put more money back into the pockets of hardworking Iowans. And so we’re going to take a real hard look at our income tax structure, and see if we can reduce rates, reduce the number of brackets, and eliminating the death tax in Iowa. And I’m hopeful we can incorporate that into part of the tax policy that we’re going to propose this next year.”

One of Chapman’s focuses for this session is his work on the Commerce Committee, which he is chairing for the first time this year. Two topics he’ll be paying special attention to are combating fraud in workers compensation, and the food assistance program. He’ll also join in the combined effort to solve the $90 million budget shortfall, which he believes starts with retooling the Revenue Estimating Conference.

To learn more about the legislative session, listen to today’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.