Thanks to the spread of COVID-19, people across the state are discovering that they have an unexpected amount of free time and fewer options to fill it. Staying home means staying home, which is apparently new territory for a lot of people.
Don't worry though. I'm here to help.

It has been an exhausting week for many Iowans as we make immediate lifestyle chang-es to protect our families, workplaces and communities from the COVID-19 outbreak. Our jobs, schools, routines and plans have all been impact-ed.
As a legislator and fellow citizen, I am doing what I can to ensure this time of uncer-tainty is as short lived as pos-sible.

As you know by now, the Iowa Legislature suspended session late on March 16 for 30 days. It may be necessary to extend it further, but we will be back to finish our work when it is safe to do so. It was important to lead by example as the Governor made her deci-sions on keeping Iowa as safe as possible. If anyone has questions, please let me know.

More and more of the world is getting put on hold every day in response to the spread of COVID-19.
Movies are being postponed, including "The New Mutants," which just can't catch a break. This is a movie that finished filming in 2017 and has been delayed six times since then. It almost feels like a time traveler is trying to keep this movie from ever coming out and utilizing increasingly extreme measures to do so.

Iowa faces a workforce short-age and over the last several sessions, House Republicans have made it a priority to ad-dress this challenge. Over the years, legislators have worked in a bipartisan way to pass the Future Ready Iowa Act and Last Dollar Scholarship pro-gram to help Iowans access career training programs and advance in their careers. The next step to ease Iowa’s work-er shortage is addressing the issue of child care.

Iowa has been one of the worst states for protecting pets, but the Legislature is finally acting.

In the men's room at the Windsor Theater in Hampton reads a sign instructing employees to wash their hands. Then under that it says, “Actually, it is probably a good idea for everyone to wash after using the bathroom.” Wise advice.

This week marked the 50th day of the 100-day legislative session. The first funnel dead-line has passed and the second funnel is coming up soon. De-bate is picking up in both chambers as the House and Senate work to advance priori-ty legislation.
Here is an update on where House Republican priorities currently stand:
Child Care
HF 771: Expanding the child care tax credit to more families – Passed House in 2019

Iowa needs more health care providers, especially in our rural areas. Two bills will in-crease access to health care by expanding eligibility for the Rural Iowa Primary Care Loan Repayment Program.

So, have you heard about the Coronavirus?
I'm being silly. Of course you have. Everybody has. It's all anybody is talking about.
The viral spread of COVID-19, aka Coronavirus, started late last year in China. Shockingly, the Chinese government's policy of pretending that the virus wasn't spreading did little to slow its spread, so now this young viral upstart is taking its act global one cough at a time.

In a previous column I mentioned that I had “fled” Cali-fornia. Yes, it's true. Am I a pansy, or do I have too much self respect?
The house I lived in was on a busy one-way street with a German Shepard on the other side that liked to start barking about bedtime; my bedtime anyway.

With the first funnel week complete, the house chamber is continuing to prioritize necessary legislation and focusing on debate. I am so thankful for all of the dedication and team-work from both sides of the aisle. Both parties are striving to meet the needs of Iowans and drafting positive legislation as the outcome. In this week's newsletter I have included a couple positive bills which passed through the Iowa House.

Teachers and schools will have more tools for addressing disruptive student behavior, if a bill that passed the Senate becomes law.
Under SF 2360, there will be new guidelines for handling violent behavior in classrooms, including standards for “class-room clears,” a technique used to calm a disruptive student by removing all other students from the classroom.
The legislation does the following:

A new era of Star Wars is on the way.
Now that the sequel trilogy has mercifully wrapped up, Lucasfilm is moving forward with a new project to direct their attention, and advertising dollars, towards. "Star Wars: The High Republic" isn't any one thing, but a series of interconnected stories set roughly 200 years before "The Phantom Menace" to be told in a series of novels and comics.
Not movies.

I avoid saying I grew up in California for two reasons. First is that I didn't have to grow up until I met Dawn, who married me when I grew up. Second is that I don't want people to laugh at me.