With all that was accomplished last year many believed this would be a “do nothing” session.  Democrats will not let this happen and are excited about the new initiatives unveiled by the Governor in the State of the State address.  We are aggressively pursuing either a state wide smoking ban or a local option bill that allows community controlled smoking.  In addition to all we accomplished in education last year, this session we are committed to implementing the model core curriculum state wide for all schools.  We are also looking at a renewed emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math curriculum in both our K-12 schools and our institutions of higher education.  The interim Health Committee identified ways for all Iowa children to be covered by Hawkeye Program on the federal Medicaid program.  These efforts would make Iowa the first state in the nation to have all children covered with a healthcare policy.