Gov. Kim Reynolds issued her annual Condition of the State address Tuesday, focusing on education, mental healthcare, criminal reforms and issues facing rural Iowans.

Reynolds emphasized bipartisanship in her address, telling lawmakers that putting Iowans first should be a priority ahead of party goals.

“For those of us who have the honor to represent these Iowans, it’s our job to live up to the example they set,” Reynolds said. “And there’s no better time than the Condition of the State and the days that follow to set aside our differences and forge a common vision. Iowans expect no less. Working across the aisle isn’t an impossible task. We’ve done it.”

Education

Reynolds dedicated much of the first half of her speech to her commitment to education, touting K-12 STEM programs throughout the state and calling for even more funding.

“The budget I’m submitting today proposes over $93 million in additional funding for Pre K-12 education, which includes a 2.3 percent increase in per pupil funding,” Reynolds said. “I’m also requesting $11.2 million to reduce higher transportation costs for people and $1 million in new money for STEM funding. In total that would bring our Pre K-12 investment to almost $3.4 billion this year, an investment that we can be proud of.”

Jacob Minock, president of the College Republicans, commended Reynolds on her efforts to close what he referred to as the “Skills Gap,” a lack of skilled workers in a given trade.

“She mentioned apprenticeships and programs to give convicted felons the skills they need to start a successful career,” Minock said. “In addition, she is placing an emphasis on STEM in education [which]  will pay off tremendously in the future.”

Lucy Dougherty, the president of the Iowa State chapter of Save the Children Action Network, said that the Reynolds’ administration was on the right path for education reforms.

“I think it’s great that her administration plans on taking a more active role in making child education and childcare more accessible for Iowans,” Dougherty said. “However, there haven’t been many steps on budget yet, so until a lot of this is funded, that is the main hurdle. Having goals and plans is great, but until programs are actually funded, it won’t help the Iowans that need it.”

Mental Health

Reynolds furthered her commitment to children by pledging to implement a children’s mental health system across the state, a recommendation from the Children’s System State Board, which Reynolds created by executive order in April 2018.

Reynolds also called for an increase in funding for “home and community-based children’s mental health services” and $3 million in new funding “to help train our educators to better recognize early signs of mental illness.”

As part of her mental health initiatives, Reynolds also proposed funding for four additional psychiatric residencies at the University of Iowa, specifically for “doctors who will practice in rural Iowa.” She also requested new funding to train nurse practitioners and physicians’ assistants at Iowa.

“Iowa has seen mental health reform under Reynolds and as she points out Iowa’s mental health system ranks 7th in the nation,” Minock said. “But we can still improve as Reynolds plans to do, and she also plans to focus on children’s mental health reform as well. We currently rank 7th, but I hope with continued reforms we can rank #1 in this incredibly important metric that often goes unnoticed.”

Leah Beman, president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness on Campus (NAMI), expressed her concern that Reynolds’ claim that Iowa is ranked 7th may not be entirely accurate, as the number only expresses the number of Iowans who reported mental health issues rather than services available.

However, Beman was supportive of Reynolds’ focus on mental health.

“As someone who struggles and works to be an advocate for mental health, I am glad Gov. Reynolds plans to put a bill into place,” Beman said. “I am happy the bill would fund children’s mental health because it is extremely important and underfunded.”

Criminal Reforms

In her address, Reynolds called for an amendment to the Iowa Constitution to restore voting rights to felons in Iowa, citing a conversation with a voter whose rights she had restored as having a major impact on her decision.

“Through the power of clemency, the governor can restore those (voting) rights,” Reynolds said. “And I’ve done that 88 times since taking office, but I don’t believe that voting rights should be forever stripped, and I don’t believe restoration should be in the hands of a single person.”

Reynolds also called on the legislature to craft a bill protecting employers who hire Iowans with criminal records and announced a new “home-building” program at the Newton Correctional Facility, which will provide housing and training throughout Iowa.

“I’m fully supportive,” said Ashton Ayers, the political director for the College Democrats. “I think it’s interesting that this is a huge change that we are talking about after the election. The governor’s tone prior to the election was totally different, but I think this is an injustice to take people’s right to vote away, and I don’t think that taking the right of suffrage away from someone is a strong deterrent for committing crimes.”

Rural Iowa

In her address, Reynolds requested $20 million split over two years for broadband infrastructure to “to ensure that every part of Iowa has the same opportunity.”

She requested to double the amount of workforce housing tax credits for rural communities, which would bring the total funding to $10 million to make sure talented workers can find homes to work in all Iowa towns and cities.

Reynolds also announced the creation of a Center for Rural Revitalization within the Iowa Economic Development authority to “focus on making rural Iowa an even greater priority and give our main streets a roadmap for success.”

“I think it’s a phenomenal proposal,” Ayers said. “I question where the money is going to come from to pay for it. I know that in the past the Republicans in the legislature have continually refused to increase education funding to allowable levels above the rate of inflation, so they have been defunding our schools to pay for things. I’m personally curious where she is going to find the tax money to pay for a proposal like that.”