Iowa House Representative Gary Mohr is sharing his priorities and goals for the 91st Iowa General Assembly.
Representative Mohr represents House District 93, which covers the eastern half of the city of Bettendorf, Panorama Park, Riverdale, and the city of LeClaire.
“There is no bill at the present time, but I think listening to my counterparts in the legislature, we have an interest in slowing the growth of property taxes.” Representative Mohr said in an interview with WVIK. “So people, there's some predictability on the part of our citizens as to what property taxes are going to do from year to year.”
Representative Mohr says he is not sure the chamber will cut property taxes this session.
“Only because if you cut property taxes, then we're probably going to have to cut programs. And as you know, these property tax dollars are not dollars that come to the state of Iowa. They go to our cities, our counties and our local school districts,” Representative Mohr said.
The Republican from Bettendorf is also reiterating his intention to tackle eminent domain in relation to CO2 pipeline projects.
“I think there's a strong consensus, at least what I'm hearing, that we do not want to allow eminent domain to be used by for-profit companies,” Representative Mohr said. “ I certainly don't want for-profit companies acquiring my property or coming across my property, if I don't want them to.”
Representative Mohr also mentioned crime, specifically how the judicial system can balance the rights of individuals while ensuring repeat offenders are not returning to the streets: “So I think you're going to see an emphasis put on being tougher on criminals.”
Mohr currently chairs the House Appropriations Committee. He also serves on the House Commerce Committee, the Public Safety Committee, and the Legislative Council.
“Most of my time in the legislature is spent on the budget, putting the budget together for next year, listening to various groups that have needs for state dollars, visiting with department heads about monies that we're currently spending,” Representative Mohr said. “So my priority is to make sure that monies that we spend are being spent wisely. As you know, I was heavily involved in the tax cuts, the setting of the budget, doing away with income taxes for retirees. So most of my days are filled with financial matters.”
During the interview, Representative Mohr said many people ask him whether the work of the legislature matters. He shared two examples as to why the assembly’s work is essential.
“Last year, the legislature finally passed a hands-free bill. So that makes it illegal to drive and talk on your cell phone at the same time. We're already seeing some benefits of that,” Representative Mohr said. “The other one I will say is last session I worked with my counterpart in the Senate. We passed an opioid bill to fund helping people get off of opioids and keeping people from getting addicted to opioids. We've invested $56 million to help with that problem in Iowa. And I'm glad to say that $2 million of that comes to Davenport to Vera French for a facility to help with opioid addiction. And a million more dollars goes to Community Health Care to help treat people and to keep people off of addictions to opioids. So I want to assure my listeners and people of the Quad Cities what we do in Des Moines does make a difference. You don't always agree with us, but a lot of what we do does make a difference in their lives.”
This will be Representative Mohr’s tenth year representing his constituents. He was first elected in 2016.
The 2026 legislative session begins Monday, January 12th.
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