Capitol Ideas: Millennials in Iowa Legislature would prefer ‘up-tempo’ pace

DES MOINES - If millennials ran the Iowa Legislature there would be less debate about social issues and more emphasis on addressing college costs and student debt and expanding access to medical cannabis.

And, oh, yeah, the legislative process would move faster.

'Change doesn't happen quickly here,” says Rep. Liz Bennett, D-Cedar Rapids. 'That can be frustrating.”

The intentionally slow - deliberate, if you like - pace of the legislative process can be hard on lawmakers who are used to the 'instant gratification” of living life online and on their cellphones, says Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, who would prefer a more 'up-tempo” pace.

'But there are 100 people with 100 goals, so this process was not made for speed,” he says about the Iowa House. 'The checks and balances in the process prevent rash decision-making.”

Like women and Iowans of color, millennials - those born between 1981 and 1997 - are among the underrepresented in the Legislature. Iowa isn't alone in that regard. A 2015 Pew Research Center study found millennials are 31 percent of the population, but just 5 percent of state legislatures.

In Iowa, 33 of 50 senators and 73 of 100 representatives are at least 50 years old. Despite millennials accounting for 22 percent of Iowa's population, they are less than 7 percent of the Legislature.

Sen. Jake Chapman, R-Adel, is the lone millennial in the 'senior” chamber.

In the House, there are eight millennials. However, Kaufmann, 30, points out many of them serve in leadership roles. Rep. Matt Windschitl, 32, Missouri Valley, is speaker pro tempore. Rep. Pat Grassley, 32, New Hartford, chairs the powerful Appropriations Committee.

Rep. Megan Jones, 30, Sioux Rapids, chairs the Environmental Protection Committee, Rep. Jarad Klein, 35, Keota, is an assistant majority leader, and Kaufmann chairs the Government oversight Committee.

In Bennett's Democratic minority, the lone millennial in a leadership role is Rep. Chris Hall, 30, Sioux City, ranking members of the Appropriations Committee.

Kaufmann, a farmer and small business owner, attributes that to a sense of 'respect for competence and people who are prepared and show respect” for fellow lawmakers and the institution. 'Respect isn't age-related,” he said.

More millennials - regardless of party - likely would influence what legislation - as well as the process - gets considered, according to Bennett and Kaufmann.

For example, college costs and college student debt are big issues with millennials, many of whom entered the workplace during and in the wake of the Great Recession, says Bennett, who works for GoDaddy.com.

'It cuts across party lines,” she says. 'We need to find solutions because it's impeding millennials from starting businesses, buying cars and buying homes - all things that stimulate the economy.”

Kaufmann sees student debt as more of a federal issue, but says along with college tuition and workforce development, 'it would be a bigger issue” if there were more millennials in the Legislature.

Both think the issue of medical cannabis would be, well, less of an issue.

'For non-millennials,” Kaufmann said, 'there's a stigma attached to anything to do with marijuana.”

Millennials, who grew up with 'Just say no” and DARE - programs Bennett says were 'slightly overblown” - are more likely to embrace medical cannabis as well as reforming drug laws.

'Paying to incarcerate people or to take parents away from their children for something we don't see as harmful doesn't seem like a good investment of tax dollars,” she says.

In that way, she says, millennials are like older Iowans.

Given their place in life, Bennett says, 'They want to know that their tax money is being well-spent, well-invested.”