Grassley sees Medicaid, rural development as key priorities for 2019

Now that Republicans have secured the governor’s office for at least four more years and maintained majorities in both the House and Senate, State Representative Pat Grassley (R-New Hartford) wants to turn legislative attention toward a topic that’s near and dear to his heart: promoting the state’s less populated areas outside of Des Moines, the eastern corridor and the cities along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.  
           
“From the conversations that I’ve had with other people and just hearing the governor speak at the Republican breakfast this morning, I think that she’s going to have an agenda that’s has a lot of focus on rural Iowa, which I would say is good for House District 50,” he said on Monday afternoon after the first day of the 2019 session.
           
For Republicans like Grassley, top priorities include setting state aid levels for public education, making the managed care Medicaid system work and funding water quality projects as Iowa attempts to reduce its overall nutrient load.
           
Medicaid was a particularly contentious issue during the 2018 campaign cycle: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Fred Hubbell made returning the system to state control a lynchpin of his ultimately failed bid, and Governor Kim Reynolds has been the most vocal proponent of the privately managed health insurance program for low-income Iowans. Before former Governor Terry Branstad signed off on the new system, state expenses were growing at around 15 percent per year. 
 
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