Iowa State Representative Brooke Boden has completed the first funnel of Iowa legislation. One of the key bills she is focusing on for local government is adjusting city and school elections to even year general elections. Boden says voter turnout is a critical point to this issue.

“It’s really important for a lot of people. We know that at midterms we just have a lower turnout. We think that a lot of times we have more people interested and onto the ballot, sometimes you get more candidates. It just seems like a pathway forward, and honestly we’re going to save a lot of money. The more elections, and the more people we have on the ballot. I think we end up having voter fatigue.”

House File 2623 is the legislation working its way through the Local Government Committee. Additionally, House File 2636 is under consideration to raise the threshold for a petition to zoning changes from 20% of property owners of the affected area to a majority and lowers the threshold for a city council to approve a change following a filed petition from 3/4 to 2/3.