Comments from Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver as prepared for delivery are below.

Thank you Mr. President.

Friends and colleagues, I rise today to say thank you for the honor to serve as President of the Iowa Senate for the past year and a half. I am proud to be fair and impartial as I presided over this body.

Today, I rise to speak in a new role. I want to thank my colleagues for the confidence to help lead our Republican caucus going forward as Senate Majority Leader.

Though the office, title, and responsibility have changed – the goal has not.

I ran for office 7 years ago to make Iowa a better place. I wanted to be a part of a new group of leaders who were willing to look beyond the next election, and look to the next generation.

As a father of three young children, I have only one agenda. It is not a Republican agenda or a Democrat agenda. It is an Iowa agenda. It is one that ensures our kids and our grandkids have more opportunities than we have had.

I know all of us – regardless of party – have the same goal for Iowa – to be the best state in the nation! Though we may differ on that path – we cannot disagree on the result. We have made a tremendous amount of progress!

As we all know, Iowa was recently ranked Number 1 in the US News overall state ranking.  We rank Number 1 in infrastructure,  Number 3 in healthcare  and Number 5 in education.

While we have made great strides, there is always room for improvement. We must continue to promote and pass policies that make Iowa a place where our residents want to stay, work and raise their families as well as be a place to entice future Iowans to call home.

I look forward to a seamless transition as we continue work on our priorities. I look forward to passing a tax reform bill that reduces taxes on hard-working Iowans. I look forward to passing a Future Ready Iowa bill to ensure we have a workforce prepared for the 21st century. I look forward to passing a fiscally sound and balanced budget in the coming weeks. And, I am extremely excited to continue our goal of making Iowa the most job-friendly state in the nation.

As a former football player – I often heard it is much easier to get to the top than to stay there. I challenge this body to continue to make the tough choices necessary to stay at Number 1!

Thank you again for the confidence to lead, and I look forward to working with each and every one of you to ensure Iowa remains a model for 49 other states to follow!