**Senator Dix’s opening remarks as prepared**

For years, Senate Republicans had been calling for change in the Iowa Senate, and for legislation and reforms to improve career opportunities for Iowans and create an environment for stronger economic growth.

The people of Iowa responded, and we were given the chance to lead, a chance to show our citizens we are more than just talking the talk. We’re here to walk the walk. Or, as many of you remember, we’re here to kick the door in.

And we kept our promises.

One year ago, we started our journey. We passed legislation on the Second Amendment and voter ID, a joint resolution to let the citizens of Iowa vote on putting a 99 percent expenditure limit amendment in the state’s constitution, changes to reward our state’s best teachers, and give our school districts more control and flexibility. We passed legislation reducing the regulatory burden on Iowa’s job creators and eliminated hurdles to growth for other industries, improving career opportunities for every Iowan while ensuring our state remains a beacon of enterprise and ingenuity.

Here we are today, ready to write chapter two.

Our state is full of motivated, ambitious and hard-working individuals – everyday Iowans who get up before the sun rises and go to bed long after the sun goes down. They are single parents who work multiple jobs to make ends meet and still find the time to help their kids with homework. They are students who work hard to learn a trade so they can find a stable career, start a family, buy a house, and join Iowa’s healthy and growing middle class.  They are aspiring small business-owners who are working to turn a hobby into something a little bigger.

Our goal is simple. We want our local businesses – our coffee shops, tire stores, and family diners – to grow and prosper, our communities to grow and thrive, and our children to grow up prepared to tackle the world. We want to relieve the tax burden on the people who make our state what it is, and ensure that every Iowan has the opportunity to thrive here at home.

The objective has always been the same – for more money to be kept by those who earned it.

Tax relief is about emboldening our middle class and encouraging our citizens to invest in themselves, their local businesses, and our state. It is about giving Iowans a little more cushion in their family budget, a little extra to put towards their student loans, or a little more towards that big family vacation. It is about growth and opportunity.

As I’ve stated before, our priorities are no different than they have been in the past. We were sent here to do a job – we were elected to balance the state’s budget, foster an environment of job growth and prosperity, and enact policies that will allow teachers to give our children the education they deserve.

But growth and opportunity don’t just apply to our state’s families. We are also giving our schools and school districts the tools and control to adapt, to innovate, and to spend taxpayer dollars doing what’s right for the students in their community.

While we will again tackle a difficult budget, we will keep our promises to create a better environment for job growth in our state, provide our children with an education that ensures competitiveness both at home and abroad, and ensure everyday, hard-working Iowans get to keep more money in their pocket.

In 2017 our agenda was big and bold. In 2018, Senate Republicans will move an agenda that will again be big and bold because this state deserves big and bold. The changes we make will move our state forward in a positive direction, felt for many generations to come.

The success of our time here should not be measured in how many dollars were spent, or how many dollars saved. Success is determined by how many opportunities that can be created, businesses that can start, and families that stay here in Iowa and continue to call it home for generations to come.

Let’s make it happen!