My Return to Work Incentive legislation (SF 2161) is in response to conversations I’ve had with local employers. I believe this carrot approach to getting people back to work will be more successful than legislation unfairly targeting unemployed workers who lost their jobs to no fault of their own.

This bill provides a $100 a week benefit to encourage those on unemployment to get a job. The $100 incentive benefit is for up to 24 weeks (six months) for full-time work (at least 32 hours per week).

The claimant will have to prove every week that they are employed. Federal American Rescue Plan dollars will fund the program, which will end December 1 of this year.

Helping victims get justice in court

You might think everything is partisan down at the Statehouse. It isn’t. Lots of the law enforcement bills I work on get support from everyone in the Senate. 

Take, for example, Senate Study Bill 3018. The goal of this proposed law is to better protect victims of sexual assault who seek justice in Iowa courts.

So far, both Democrats and Republicans agree that a victim’s past, things that have nothing to do with the current charges against their abuser, cannot be used during the legal process to intimidate and harass them.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen this happen. Some attorneys used this tactic to discourage victims taking legal action against their abusers.

If SSB 3018 becomes law, that will no longer be allowed in Iowa.