Iowa State Senate

From dKosopedia

The Iowa State Senate has 50 members, who serve four year terms. In 2007-08, there are 30 Democrats and 20 Republicans. Only 12% of the members are women.

Half of the body is elected every two years, and in 2008 the even-numbered seats will be on the ballot. Of those 25 seats, 15 are held by Republicans, and 10 by Democrats.

District 1: Steve Warnstadt (D - Sioux City)
District 2: Dave Mulder (R - Sioux Center)
District 3: David Johnson (R - Ocheydan)
District 4: Jack Kibbie (D - Emmetsburg) - President
District 5: Rich Olive (D)
District 6: E. Thurman Gaskill (R - Corwith) - retiring in 2008
District 7: Amanda Ragan (D - Mason City)
District 8: Mark Zieman (R - Postville)
District 9: Bill Heckroth (D)
District 10: Jeff Danielson (D - Waterloo)
District 11: Bill Dotzler (D - Waterloo)
District 12: Brian Schoenjahn (D - Arlington)
District 13: Roger Stewart (D - Preston)
District 14: Mike Connolly (D - Dubuque)
District 15: Robert Dvorsky (D - Coralville)
District 16: Tom Hancock (D - Epworth)
District 17: Wally Horn (D - Cedar Rapids)
District 18: Mary Lundby (R - Marion)
District 19: Rob Hogg (D - Cedar Rapids)
District 20: John Putney (R - Gladbrook)
District 21: Dennis Black (D - Grinnell)
District 22: Larry McKibben (R - Marshalltown)
District 23: Herman Quirmbach (D - Ames)
District 24: Jerry Behn (R - Boone)
District 25: Daryl Beall (D - Fort Dodge)

District 26: Steve Kettering (R - Lake View)
District 27: Ron Wieck (R - Sioux City) - Minority Leader
District 28: James Seymour (R - Woodbine)
District 29: Nancy Boettger (R - Harlan)
District 30: Pat Ward (R - West Des Moines)
District 31: Matt McCoy (D - Des Moines)
District 32: Brad Zaun (R - Urbandale)
District 33: Jack Hatch (D - Des Moines)
District 34: Dick Dearden (D - Des Moines)
District 35: Larry L. Nobel (R)
District 36: Paul McKinley (R - Chariton)
District 37: Staci Appel (D)
District 38: Tom Rielly (D - Oskaloosa)
District 39: Joe Bolkcom (D - Iowa City)
District 40: James Hahn (R - Muscatine)
District 41: David Hartsuch (R)
District 42: Frank Wood (D - Eldridge)
District 43: Dr. Joe Seng (D - Davenport)
District 44: Thomas Courtney (D - Burlington)
District 45: Becky Schmitz (D)
District 46: Gene Fraise (D - Fort Madison)
District 47: Keith Kreiman (D - Bloomfield)
District 48: Jeff Angelo (R - Creston)
District 49: Hubert Houser (R - Carson)
District 50: Mike Gronstal (D - Council Bluffs) - Majority Leader

1 Committee Chairs
2 Other Leaders
3 2007 Events
4 2007 Major Bills
5 External Links
6 Related Articles

Committee Chairs

Other Leaders

President Pro Tem - Jeff Danielson
Majority Whip - Tom Courtney
Assistant Majority Leaders: Joe Bolkcom, Mike Connolly, Bill Dotzler, Jack Hatch, Amanda Ragan.

2007 Events

During the Republican leadership election, Paul McKinley led a walkout by eight conservatives who opposed Mary Lundby.
The Republican caucus threatened to block confirmation of all four of Gov. Culver's choices for the Iowa Board of Regents, but then quickly backed down and approved them all. They also confirmed Gene Meyer as Public Safety Commissioner, after first narrowly rejecting him.
After a Linn county special election that reorganized its Board of Supervisors, Mary Lundby announced that she would retire from her state senate when the 2008 session ended, and run for a seat on the new Board.
Senators Jeff Angelo (R), John Putney (R) and Thurman Gaskill (R) have also announced that they will retire after the 2008 session.
Ron Wieck was elected as minority leader in September 2007, defeating Paul McKinley. He replaced Mary Lundby, who resigned her leadership post.

2007 Major Bills

Increased state minimum wage to $7.25
Raised teacher salaries by $5,400/year over next two years, with a goal of matching the national average.
Began a state preschool program.
Increased the cigarette tax by $1.00/pack to fund health care.
Expanded state civil rights protections to include gays and lesbians.
Created a $100 million fund for renewable energy research.
Lifted restrictions on some types of stem cell research.
Regulated the car title loan business.
Required paper trails for electronic voting machines.
Allowed election-day voter registration.

External Links

IA Senate Pickup Opportunities In 2008 - analysis from Iowa Progress blog.

Retrieved from "http://localhost../../../i/o/w/Iowa_State_Senate_fba4.html"

This page was last modified 19:43, 27 September 2007 by dKosopedia user Corncam. Content is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.