Following Governor Kim Reynolds’ Condition of the State Address last week, a local legislator shares her thoughts. 

District 14 Senator Sarah Trone-Garriott says while the governor talked about some of the failed policies that have led Iowa to being last in economic growth in the nation and number one in cancer risk, she didn’t hear her discuss solutions to help Iowans.

“In the Condition of the State Address, I did not hear the governor talk about real strategies to make life more affordable for our neighbors. A lot of Iowans are struggling with rising costs for healthcare, for food, for housing, for all of the things they need and a lot of folks are falling behind.”

Trone-Garriott adds that Reynolds also talked about tax cuts for corporations and wealthy Iowans along with cancer research.

“We did hear some talk about grant funding from the federal government for cancer research. But I’m concerned that the amount of grant funding that we’re getting is not going to make up for the Medicaid cuts that we are going to be seeing very soon from the federal level. And so significant cuts are happening, we’re already hearing about rural hospitals and clinics scaling back and making plans to close. And it’s related to this issue, these cuts are making a big negative impact and some grant funding to try and provide people access to care isn’t going to make a big difference when clinics and hospitals in the area have closed.”

Trone-Garriott details that it’s important to make sure Iowans can get healthcare where they live. She adds that healthcare providers also need to be supported so that they can be in the community to serve local residents.