Representative Jennifer Konfrst

The 2023 Iowa Legislature officially hit overtime this week. The scheduled adjournment date was April 28, but there still hasn’t been much progress on the state budget.While I haven’t been in the Iowa House very long, I’ve seen enough of these shutdowns to recognize not a lot of good gets done in the waning days…

Last month, Iowans got our bill for property taxes and then a week or so later we received a new assessment on our homes and property.For many, it was a big shock. I’ve heard from folks in my neighborhood and all over the state about assessments that rose anywhere from 25% to well over 50%. …

To the outside world, it seemed like a busy week at the State Capitol. Several controversial bills were debated that made big headlines again. In reality, the Iowa Legislature is no closer to adjournment than last week. The Republican leaders in the Iowa Senate called off debate again this week and haven’t passed a single bill…

The Iowa Legislature is supposed to wrap up work at the end of April, but progress slowed significantly this week. The reason for it is pretty simple – politics – and it’s no secret at the State Capitol. Things have ground to a near halt because the Republican leaders running the House and Senate aren’t…

All session long, we’ve been working on priorities that a majority of Iowans support and turning those into legislation that will impact the lives of Iowans. We know folks are tired of politics and division they just want lawmakers to work together to make their lives a bit better. One of the priorities we’ll be…

When we’re all at the State Capitol, it sometimes feels like we’re in a big bubble. In today’s hyper-partisan political environment, it isn’t always easy to figure out which bills are important to Iowans and how many are just driven by the politics of the day. To sort it all out, I try to listen…

Just a few weeks ago, Missouri became the latest of our neighboring states to legalize recreational marijuana. Minnesota is expected to follow suit in the next few months and Illinois legalized recreational use a few years ago. I think it’s time for Iowa to do the same. Not just because our neighboring states are doing…

We’re now just over a month into the legislative session. While a handful of bills have been approved, there’s still a lot of time to get some good things done. There are a host of issues that I think can find strong bipartisan support if lawmakers can put politics aside, work together, and develop some…

It’s been a busy first month of session and we’ve gotten a lot of feedback from Iowans. While vouchers have dominated the communications we’ve received from constituents so far, we’ve gotten a lot of feedback on other issues like property taxes, medical malpractice, and book bans. If there is one common thread to all the…

Despite Iowans speaking out in record numbers in opposition, Governor Reynolds signed her voucher bill into law on Tuesday. The bill, which takes away resources from public schools and gives it to private schools instead, takes effect quickly for new kids entering private school in Fall 2023. The bill was fast-tracked this session because the…