State Representative Shannon Latham of Sheffield is serving on the local government, economic growth and technology, commerce and appropriation committees.
Latham tells RadioOnTheGo News how serving on the appropriation committee helps her to better understand the state’s finances.
“It’s really interesting to see a broad view of the state budget because so many of those dollars are already allocated. The biggest expenditures are Medicaid and education. We’ve got to consider the entire state budget. Like I said, Medicaid has actually increased from 7 to 21 percent just in recent years. That’s something we don’t have control of. And then there are other things that were obligated to fund. So we need to take a look at where all of these obligations are, see what money we do have left to work with and then see how that all fits into SSA. And of course, you know, the governor came out and said that she supports 2% increase in SSA. We need to work through that in the House and then the Senate will be working through it as well.”
SSA stands for State Supplemental Aid for school districts.
Latham says she wants to hear from her constituents on a couple of topics being discussed in Des Moines.
“Property tax reform is not something I’ve heard a lot from my constituents. I did hear, you know, when the assessments came out, I did receive quite a few emails and phone calls then. So I hope that forums will be able to talk more about that. Again, the property tax reform, we need to take a look at what implications that will have. I know I’ve heard a lot from our local and county officials about just how hard that would be for them on that reform. And those are the ones that I’ve heard the most from. Cell phone regulations. Yeah, I’m really interested, I think it’s interesting in that I have not heard from too many parents on that as well. And so I’m looking for input on that as well.”
Latham represents Iowa House District 55 which includes all of Franklin and southeastern Wright County.
