Americans for Prosperity (AFP) hosted a Townhall in Mt. Pleasant on Thursday, September 14th. Among the crowd were prominent figures in the Iowa House and Senate, namely Senator Adrian Dickey who covers district 44, Representative Jeff Shipley (district 87), and Representative Taylor Collins (district 95).
The Deputy State Director for AFP, Tyler Raygor, spoke on many of the group’s goals throughout the night. One main thing they want to do is to “reignite the American Dream” and they believe one way to help that is by getting rid of income tax in Iowa. Currently, income tax is 2.9% in Iowa, which has been steadily decreasing for some time. He mentioned how states with high income tax have citizens flocking to the states with little or no income tax.
Both Representatives and the Senator want to push school choice forward. Representative Shipley mentioned how there are communities in Southeast Iowa with teacher workforce shortages and believes the process to become a teacher should be “streamlined.” With a clear path, he wants people to finish the rest of their education during their first few years as a licensed teacher.
Representative Collins stated that education must be a priority in our state. “We don’t have to politicize these issues that are simple once we boil them down.” He is currently working on education reforms that he believes would benefit Iowans. Representative Collins wants the House to be focused on the things that prepare students for success later in life.
Senator Dickey spoke on the issue of youth labor laws. “It is absurd that we glorify sports over someone making a few bucks.” He went on to explain that students who are in a sports program sometimes do not get home until midnight. He thinks students of working age should be allowed to work until 9pm during the school year, and 11pm in the summer.