By Sam Parsons

The Mahaska Chamber hosted another round of Eggs and Issues on Saturday with four Iowa state lawmakers present: Iowa House Representatives Barb Kniff-McCulla and Helena Hayes, and Iowa State Senators Adrian Dickey and Ken Rozenboom.

The first question that the panel received was about Iowa Senate File 85, which pertained to Social and Emotional Learning. Senator Rozenboom said that Senate File 85 wasn’t going to be seeing the light of day.

The panel was also asked about House File 297, which would change the structure of funding going to preschools. Representative Hayes said that while, in theory, increased preschool funding could help children, she was hesitant about what it would mean for families.

And the lawmakers were asked about the governor’s recently-introduced government reorganizational bill, and specifically how it would relate to agencies pertaining to arts and culture. Senator Dickey said that the bill wasn’t so much about changing the nature of government agencies as it was about streamlining the operation.

The next Eggs and Issues forum will be held on March 11 at Smokey Row with speakers from Mahaska Health and the Mahaska EMA.