ASK THE ADVOCATE

Question of the Month
Will legislators work at the Capitol during the summer and fall? 
No, legislators are back at home now and will rarely be at the State Capitol until the session begins again in January 2011.  You can best reach them at their home phones (click here for contacts).  Many do not answer their legislative emails, so it is a good idea to ask them for their home email addresses.

2010 Question Archives
2009 Question Archives

We know from experience that if one person has a question, there are many others that want to know the answer, but were too afraid to ask the question.  So send us your questions.  We'll post your question & our advocate's answer here (we won't use names).

2010 Questions

QUESTION #1
Is okay to contact my legislators at home?  Yes!  Your legislators are only in Des Moines at the State Capitol full-time during the months of January, February, March, and April.  The rest of the year they work out of their homes and businesses.  Contacting your legislators at home during the months of May-December is the only sure way of talking to them.  Just make sure you don't call too early or too late, and be respectful of dinner hours.  You can also call your legislators at home on weekends during the month of January-April, as they are home from the Capitol for the weekends.

QUESTION #2
Do committees stay the same each year?
Usually, yes. But this year, with two new legislators and a few changes in leadership, House committees have changed some.  No changes were made in Senate committee assignments. 
The changes are very few, but you can see them here.  
You can also view each legislator's committee assignments here.

QUESTION #3
How do I find out how a legislator voted on a bill?  
Bill vote information is available in the house or senate journal. The votes of individual representatives and senators are available only if (1) a record vote is requested at the time the vote takes place; or (2) when a record vote has not been taken within a specified time limit, a member registers a request to have his or her vote recorded in the journal. 

1. Find out the date when the vote was taken. You can do this by looking at the bill history - just type in or select the bill number here  and find the date of the vote.  Note that it will also list the House or Senate Journal pages the vote is listed on (H.J.# or S.J#).  Noting the date of the vote and the journal page number will make finding the vote quicker.
   
   
2. Go the the House Journal (for House votes) or Senate Journal (for Senate votes).  Select the correct date, and find the correct page number. Your vote will be listed on that page.
   
   
3. If there is an important disability policy vote, we will likely have it listed on our website here.

QUESTION #4
What happens if legislators go beyond their 90-day deadline this year? 
Legislators set this deadline to save money, so they voluntarily passed rules shortening session.  They can continue beyond that deadline, but they will not longer be paid their per diems (the money they get for room, food, and mileage while serving in Des Moines).  They will also have to serve without the help of their legislative clerks.  These administrative assistants will no longer be working, so legislators will have to read their own mail, file their own papers, answer and return their own phone calls, do their own newsletters, and respond to constituent emails without help.

2009 Question Archives

Question #1
I do not know the names of my state senator and state representative.  How do I find out?
If you return to our homepage (link will follow), you can type your street address into the "Find Your Legislator" box.  It will tell you who you the names of all of your elected officials, both state and federal.  It will also tell you how to contact them.  Click here to try out the "Find Your Legislator" feature.

Question #2
I have never met my legislators. How do I contact them? Is it better to e-mail, call, or write?  Should I call them at their Capitol office, or at home?
These are excellent questions.  Let me answer them backwards.  First, legislators work full-time at the Capitol Monday-Thursday during the months of January, February, March, and April.  It is best to contact them at the Capitol during those times.  It is important to note that legislators have their own voice mail and e-mail addresses, but they do not have offices (just desks on the Senate and House floors). Click here for your legislators' Capitol contact information.

If you want to contact your legislators when they are not at the Capitol (weekends during session, or May-December), you should contact them at their home addresses.  It is important to know that legislators usually do not check their legislative e-mails when they are not in session.  If you wish to e-mail your legislators when they are not in session, it is best to ask them for their home or personal e-mail addresses. Click here for your legislators' home contact information.

Secondly, there is no "best" way to contact your legislator (except a face-to-face meeting).  E-mails, calls or letters (as long as they are personal letters, and not form letters) are all good ways to contact your legislators.  I would ask your legislators what works best for them - how they want to be contacted.  If you have time for a face-to-face meeting, the most effective is in the legislator's home districts (either a personal meeting or by attending one of their legislative roundtables).  Click here for tips on making your contacts effective.

Finally, you can find contact information for legislators at home or at the Capitol by clicking here.

Question #3
I have an idea for a bill. How can I get it introduced in the Iowa Legislature? Do I have to write it myself? The only people allowed to request bills in the Iowa Legislature are legislators, the Governor, and state agencies. The Governor and state agencies must request their bills before session starts - but legislators have until February 20 (this date changes each year) to request a bill. Legislators that are committee chairs can request bills at any time.

But legislators do not think up these bills all on their own. They usually introduce these bills on behalf of constituents or groups that ask them for their help. If you have an idea for a bill, talk to your legislators and ask them to request a bill to address your issue. All bills start as an idea, whether an idea of an advocacy group, a person living in a legislator's district, or the legislator him/herself.

Finally, legislators have a staff of bill drafters who are lawyers. They are the people who write bills. If you can write your idea out in detail for your legislator, they can have it drafted into bill format by their staff.

Question #4
I wanted to read a bill that my legislator sponsored. What does all the underlining and strikethrough in the bill text mean?  Language that is underlined and striked shows changes in existing law. Underlined text is new language and strikethrough text is being removed. In the following example, the workforce development board is being expanded from eight to twelve people.

Section 1. Section 84A.1A, subsection 1, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:

1. An Iowa workforce development board is created, consisting of nine voting members appointed by the governor and eight twelve ex officio, nonvoting members.

Question #5
Is it possible to see all the action taken by the Legislature in a single day, in a single spot? There is! Iowa's legislative website has a great resource to help you keep track of daily legislative activity - the Daily Legislation & Analysis report.  There are two reports to choose from - the first one allows you to select the date and see all new bills introduced on that day. The second one allows you to choose the actions you want to see (leave all selected if you want to see all actions taken on a day) - just select the date you want to review. You can also subscribe to this service - every morning of session you will get an email with this information (telling you what happened the day before). It's free - just click here.

Question #6
I have an idea for a bill.  How can I get it introduced in the Iowa Legislature?  Do I have to write it myself?  The only people allowed to request bills in the Iowa Legislature are legislators, the Governor, and state agencies.  The Governor and state agencies must request their bills before session starts - but legislators have until February 20 (this date changes each year) to request a bill.  Legislators that are committee chairs can request bills at any time.

But legislators do not think up these bills all on their own. They usually introduce these bills on behalf of constituents or groups that ask them for their help.  If you have an idea for a bill, talk to your legislators and ask them to request a bill to address your issue.  All bills start as an idea, whether an idea of an advocacy group, a person living in a legislator's district, or the legislator him/herself. 

Finally, legislators have a staff of bill drafters who are lawyers.  They are the people who write bills. If you can write your idea out in detail for your legislator, they can have it drafted into bill format by their staff.
 

Question #7
Is there an easy way to find out who my congress people are, and how to contact them?  Yes! Click here

and put in your address and zip code.  You will get a complete list of your Federal & State elected officials.  Your congresspeople will be listed, including your US Senators (Harkin & Grassley) and your US Representative (one of the following - Boswell, Braley, King, Latham & Loebsack).  Remember, your FEDERAL elected officials (US Senators & US Representative) serve in Congress, in Washington DC.  Your state elected officials (State Representative & State Senator) serve at the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines.

Question #8
Is okay to contact my legislators at home?  Yes!  Your legislators are only in Des Moines at the State Capitol full-time during the months of January, February, March, and April.  The rest of the year they work out of their homes and businesses.  Contacting your legislators at home during the months of May-December is the only sure way of talking to them.  Just make sure you don't call too early or too late, and be respectful of dinner hours.  You can also call your legislators at home on weekends during the month of January-April, as they are home from the Capitol for the weekends.

Question #9
We've heard alot about the town hall meetings Congress had last month.  Do state legislators have town hall meetings too?  Yes, in fact, state legislators have town hall meeting even more often than Iowa's congressional delegation.  Typically, state legislators attend local public hearings once a month, some do it weekly, rotating to different cities around the districts.  Although some hold the meetings throughout the year, most only hold them during the legislative session (January - April).  You can find a list of local public hearings here. 

Question #10
Why did the Governor cut so much from the budget?  The Governor had no choice but to cut the state's budget just four months after the fiscal year started.  The state by law can spend only 99% of what it collects each year.  The state's economic advisors (called the Revenue Estimating Council) found the state was collecting less money than expected, so the Governor had little choice but to cut spending.  Much like if you were not earning as much money as you thought, you would have to cut your budgets too.  The Governor asked state agencies to cut 10% from their budgets.

Question #11
Why have we had two special elections this year?  Special elections for legislative seats are called when a legislator decides to quit in the middle of their two-year (Representatives) or four-year (Senators) terms.  This year, one legislator (Rep. John Whitaker) was appointed to a position in the Obama Administration, and another legislator decided to focus on family after losing a son in a car accident (Rep. Dick Taylor).  Both quit with a little over a year left in their terms, so the Governor called a special election to immediately replace them.  The voters in their districts decided who to elect to replace them in a "special election."

Question #12
When does the 2010 legislative session start?  The 2010 legislative session begins on Monday, January 11, 2010.  The legislative session by law starts on the second Monday in January.