It has been a rewarding experience serving District 22. As a public servant who embraces Christian values, serving is a calling that carries deep meaning. It means leading with integrity, humility, and compassion—qualities that align with faith-based principles of justice and service. What I have learned is that change takes time, and focus should remain on our steadfast commitment to the people of Iowa.
As the session progressed, I continued to hear this phrase, "What about the separation of church and state?" At the time, I was advocating and moving legislation that would authorize school districts to hire chaplains in schools, offer an elective course in biblical literacy as part of literature class and define release time for religious instruction during school hours, plus speaking publicly about school choice policies that would give parents freedom to enroll in religious education. This question was brought up as a counter to why we can't move these polices forward.
I recently addressed this push back in an article to discuss the real history on the separation of church and state. Many believe it's in the US Constitution, and, therefore, cannot be any faith in our state Capitol. This is not true! Read more in the Iowa Standard, "The Truth about Separation of Church and State."