The Iowa Legislature begins their session Monday, with Republicans again controlling the State Senate, House of Representatives, and Governor’s Office. State Senator Julian Garrett tells KNIA News he hopes with greater majorities picked up by the Republican Party, the legislature will have a greater chance of passing bills that may have failed in the past. Garrett tells KNIA News one of his priorities will again be the E-Verify Bill, which passed the Senate last session but not the House.

“What it does is requires Iowa employers to check with the federal E-Verify system when they are hiring new people to make sure they are in the country legally so they are not violating federal law. That program has been in existence federally for well over 20 years now, but is voluntary at the federal level. So some people use it, some people don’t. Here in Iowa there are over 5,000 employers that do use it voluntarily, but there are a whole lot more that don’t.”

Hear more about Garrett’s legislative priorities on today’s Let’s Talk Indianola.