State Budget Must Be Treated Like a Family Budget

Jack Whitver: Passing a constitutional amendment to place the 99 percent expenditure limitation into the state constitution is advantageous for Iowa.

Education Remains A High Priority Of Mine

Jack Whitver: Despite limited resources in budgeting for the FY 17-18, Iowa Senate Republicans support adding $40 million in new K-12 education spending.

Iowa Senate Activity Begins Ramping Up

Jack Whitver: With the first debate now behind us, I expect activity to significantly ramp up in the coming weeks in the Iowa Senate.

Iowans Entrust Lawmakers to Be Frugal

Jack Whitver: It is imperative we have the resources to fund Iowa’s priorities while having the fiscal responsibility to ensure we pass a balanced budget.

Federal Coupling – Boring, But Important

Jack Whitver: By Iowa not coupling with the federal government, it would mean an effective tax increase on Iowans of almost $90 million.

Responsible Budgeting Prevents a Repeat of History

Jack Whitver: The choice between deficit spending or “not valuing our young people” is a false one. We can educate our kids while budgeting responsibly.

Iowa Code – 10,909 Pages and Growing

Jack Whitver: All Iowans would benefit if we limited lawmaking to only the truly important things instead of legislating what should be common sense.

Funnel Week Survivors

State Senator Jack Whitver (R-Ankeny) explains the funnel week process and highlights some bills that survived in the Iowa Legislature and some that didn’t.

Education Funding Debate Heats Up in the Iowa Legislature

One of the biggest issues every session is how much additional funding to allocate for Iowa’s K-12 schools, known as supplemental state aid.

Balanced Budget Amendment Key for Long Term Prosperity

While the 99% limitation sounds good in principle, it has flaws that could be fixed by passing a Balanced Budget amendment to our state constitution.

A Review of the Iowa Senate Procedural Process

As we complete our 3rd week of the session, the Iowa Senate procedural process begins to have an impact on what issues we ultimately will get to vote on.

Confidentiality Agreements Take Center Stage

Confidential settlement agreements with former state employees continue to be discussed in…

Fighting for Our State’s Future

Three and a half years ago, I made the decision to run…

Floor Debate Picks Up, Budget Process Continues

Following the conclusion of funnel week, many bills finally came to the…

Iowa Legislature Finishes First Funnel Week

This week was the first of two funnel weeks at the Capitol.…

Erasing the Deficits in State Government

When I decided to run for the state Senate, I did so…