[simage=1746,200,y,left]
Today kicks off the 84th Iowa General Assembly and this year’s legislature will be quite different than it has been in recent history. Senate Republicans in Iowa picked up seats in November for the first time since 1996. During last year’s session Democrats had the majority with 32 of the 50 seats. However, during the recent election Republicans flipped a record breaking 6 seats from Democrat to Republican narrowing the Democratic majority to only 26 of the 50.

Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley of Chariton says his party will be able to shape debate and discussion far more than they’ve ever been able to do, but it will be on a case by case basis and he says their goal is to bring jobs to Iowa and cut state spending.