Welcome to the first Minute with Mike of our first session of the 91st General Assembly. First of all, I want to thank you! The citizens of House District 7, (Calhoun, Pocahontas, Sac counties and the western side of Webster County) for this unbelievable opportunity to serve you in this beautiful building. I also want to deeply thank all of you who do not live in my district, but support my campaign. Thank you for believing in my ability to protect agriculture and keep Iowa moving in the right direction. I want to thank my family, especially my wife Becky. You cannot do this job without unwavering support back home. As challenging as this job is sometimes, it’s twice as hard being the one left at home to keep things on track.

I also want to personally thank all who helped with parades, community events, and putting up signs on behalf of my campaign. I cannot express how grateful I am to have all of you involved in our lives. I am always so humbled by the sense of community and support that has afforded me this privilege to serve.

With the 2024 campaign season and election over, it’s time for us to come together and do our best for the citizens of Iowa. As a state representative, I was elected to represent the whole of my district — including those of you that do not agree with me on issues. Please do not let this stop you from reaching out on topics that are important or concern to you. Unlike Washington DC, I believe it is my responsibility to listen to you and understand your points. We may not always agree, but I will work to understand the way you feel.

My goal with this newsletter is twofold: mixing some specifics of how the legislature works as well as addressing some of the bills and issues we are working on in the legislature. If you need more in-depth information on a specific subject or a bill, please just email us at mike.sexton@legis.iowa.gov. We can find the information you are looking for and get it back to you.

I will also share a little civics lesson in my newsletter each week such as: There is a new General Assembly every two years which coincides with the elections every two years in even number years.

This is the start of my 15th year in the legislature — having served for four years in the Senate from 1999-2002. I’m now starting my 11th year in the House. For those of you that are not aware, I served one term in the Senate and chose to not seek re-election due to the fact my family was just too young, and I decided it was more important to be a dad than to be a legislator. It was the right decision for my family, and I do not regret making it.

The Speaker asked — again — if I would serve as chair of the House Ag Committee. It is a responsibility I take very seriously. I have made it my job to promote and protect Iowa agriculture. I will also be serving on the Economic Growth and Technology Committee, Natural Resources Committee, Ways and Means Committee. I will also once again be serving on the Administrative Rules Review Committee.

We serve at the pleasure of the Speaker of the House, as he is the one that places us on committees and puts us where our strengths lie as well as where we are needed.

The first week mainly consists of speeches and the first committee meetings. Here’s and overview of the first week of session:

Tuesday — Gov. Kim Reynolds gave the Condition of the State

Wednesday — Chief Justice Susan Christensen presented the Condition of the Judiciary

Thursday — Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn gave the Condition of the Iowa National Guard

In addition to the speeches, each of the committees met for an organizational meeting which consists of introductions and short speeches from the chairs and ranking members. It is here where they share their thoughts on what their respective committees can achieve over the course of the session. We then adopt the rules for the committee and are ready to get to work the next week.

Highlights from Gov. Reynolds’ speech:

The governor talked about the daycare shortage still facing working parents in many parts of the state. She also proposed some options for improving health care access for rural Iowa. She also talked a lot about Iowa’s energy needs. This involved improving the grid as well as looking at all sources of energy including nuclear.

Your Ideas:

Many of you have talked to me or emailed me ideas for bills. One of those ideas I have heard from many of you is the frustration in working overtime to help out the company your work for to only be taxed to the point that most of your overtime pay gets taken away in taxes. I have a bill in drafting that will exempt overtime wages from additional state taxes

State Rep. Mike Sexton, R-Rockwell City, represents House District 7.