Rob Hogg
Democrats in the legislature are seizing on what they consider an olive branch from Iowa’s new governor.
Senate Democratic Leader Rob Hogg of Cedar Rapids attended today’s ceremony installing Republican Kim Reynolds as governor and he heard her first address.
“On the issues that she laid out, those are issues that we’re willing to work with her on,” Hogg says. “Tax reform that is fairer and simpler and helps ordinary Iowans, we’re interested in working on that as long as it’s not just a guise for a tax giveaway to the wealthiest Iowans.”
Reynolds also listed renewable energy and education as priority issues and Hogg says Democrats are ready to work with her on those issues as well.
“We’ve got good ideas,” Hogg says. “We hope she’ll reach out to us and we hope she’ll insist that Republican legislative leaders include Democrats in the process.”
Republicans hold a majority of seats in both the House and Senate, which means the GOP decides what is debated. Reynolds said today that party labels didn’t matter nearly as much as getting the job in the small towns where she’s lived. Hogg says the new governor’s promise of “bringing people together to work for Iowans,” is something he and other Democrats embrace.