Iowa lawmakers discuss today’s political climate with area young professionals
November 13, 2019
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) Iowa lawmakers and local organizations said the current political climate in Washington is “bitter” at an event on Wednesday.
The event, hosted by ImpactCR at the Cedar Rapids Public Library, was aimed at discussing the topic with area young professionals. Speakers said what they’ve heard from young people is that what they care about most in politics is republicans and democrats working together to get things done, however, we haven’t seen that as much in today’s politics.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) Iowa lawmakers and local organizations said the current political climate in Washington is “bitter” at an event on Wednesday.
The event, hosted by ImpactCR at the Cedar Rapids Public Library, was aimed at discussing the topic with area young professionals. Speakers said what they’ve heard from young people is that what they care about most in politics is republicans and democrats working together to get things done, however, we haven’t seen that as much in today’s politics.
State senator Zak Wahls (D-District 37) and state representative Joe Mitchell (R-District 84) spoke about how they reach agreements in the state legislature. They’re both part of the Iowa Future Caucus, a group of the state’s youngest lawmakers dedicated to reaching bipartisan policies and impacting future generations.
Several attendees say there is an aggressive tone to discourse in politics right now that they want to find solutions to.
“With such the polarized political climate, I’d like to see how collaboration comes about,” Ryan Pratt said. “We hear a lot about national politics, but it’s important to see what’s going on on a local level because a lot of the changes that we want to see implemented come from a state level.”
Representatives with Impact CR said educating young people and giving them the opportunity to ask one-on-one questions of local legislators is one solution that will help lead to making political change.
Attendees also had the chance to put bipartisan dialogue into action today through exercises, where they were tasked with coming to a consensus on current policies.
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