At Saturday morning’s Carroll Chamber of Commerce Legislative Forum, House Representative Brian Best, of Glidden, and Senator Mark Segebart, of Vail, answered questions from constituents regarding issues in the Iowa Legislature. Last year, Iowa saw a sharp increase in traffic fatalities, 403 in total, and the Iowa General Assembly is moving forward with regulations to completely bar the use of mobile devices while driving. Best says this is the most effective way to reduce deaths on the road, but they need to be careful with the bill’s language.
The next few months will be contentious in the legislature with collective-bargaining changes and attempts to defund Planned Parenthood on the docket. The nearest Planned Parenthood office is in Ames, and Best says diverting the money elsewhere will likely bring more services nearby.
Segebart noted that the resistance to these proposed bills is not indicative of the work the legislature does as a whole.
The next Chamber of Commerce forum takes place at the Swan Lake Conservation Education Center in Carroll on Saturday, Feb. 25 beginning at 10 a.m.
