Republicans hand out committe assignments

Leaders in the Iowa House have issued committee assignments. Republican Representative Bill Dix of Shell Rock, a farmer, will be chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Dix, who was first elected to the House in 1996, recently failed in his bid to become the House Republican Leader for the next two years. He’s now been tapped to be the Republicans’ point man on crafting a state budget. Representative Jamie Van Fossen of Davenport retains the title of House Ways and Means Chairman, which puts him in charge of drafting G-O-P tax plans. The new chair of the House Education Committee is Jodi Tymeson of Winterset, who is also an officer in the Iowa National Guard. She was just elected to her second, two-year term in the House.