Week 4 of the 91st General Assembly has come to a close. As session continues on, weeks can blur together as we go to subcommittees, committees and on to floor debate. This week brought with it a somberness that we will carry with us for some time. Our colleague, Representative Martin Graber passed away unexpectedly last week and his funeral was on Tuesday. The House took the day off to attend his funeral and give honor to an amazing man and the life he lived.

Rep. Graber served 32 years in the Army National Guard, retiring as a Brigadier General. He was elected to the Iowa House in 2020, a man known for his kindness, hard work and service.

His presence in the Capitol will be dearly missed. While I only served with Rep. Graber for a short time, he was a friend to all. His love and genuine care for everyone that crossed his path was visible in his words and actions. My thoughts are prayers are with his wife of 49 years, Coni, his two daughters and two granddaughters.

Martin, you will be missed. God weaved you into our lives and you made an impact. We give glory to God for how He reflected His life through you.

Committee Updates

• Appropriations

Early on in session, Appropriations typically does not meet on a regular basis. We are always on call, but not until later on in the session will we regularly meet. Iowa’s budget is not an easy task, so they break it down into budget subcommittee’s that meet earlier in session to start the process.

• Transportation, Infrastructure and Capitol Appropriations Subcommittee

We met on Monday this week and heard presentations from the Iowa Board of Regents on their deferred maintenance proposals, the University of Northern Iowa’s proposal to fund the UNI Public Policy Center, and from the Department of Administrative Services on their major and routine maintenance allocations.

• Veterans Affairs

On Wednesday, Veterans Affairs passed HSB 28 out of committee. Under current law, the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs is required to submit an annual report to the Governor and The General Assembly including the county commissions of veterans affairs’ training compliance and hour of veterans’ services provided during the previous calendar year. This bill requires the information in the report to be from the previous fiscal calendar year. It also requires an executive director or administrator of a county commission of veteran affairs to meet continuing education requirements established by the commandant of the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs and removes the requirements established by the Commandant of the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs and removes the requirement that an executive director administrator meet the continuing education requirements of the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers.

• Commerce

We typically meet every Tuesday, but with Rep. Graber’s funeral, the Commerce Committee met on Thursday. We passed 7 bills out of committee, including a couple that I had the pleasure of serving on the subcommittee.

• Local Government

We met on Thursday and passed out two bills, both involving EMS services. I was thrilled to be a yes vote on both!

As always, thank you for the honor to serve you in the Iowa House! Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or issues. I’d love to have visitors, so don’t hesitate to come to the Capitol and say hi.

********

David Blom, a Republican from Marshalltown, represents District 52 in the Iowa House.