coming up on K. C. C. I ate news close up. She led *** Republican red wave election night in Iowa kim Reynolds plans for the state over the next four years election recount. Several counties forced to go back through their ballots when the results from the election will finally be official historic start what it means for hundreds of high school girls. Now that wrestling is *** sanctioned sport for them. This is Iowa's news leader. This is K. C. C. I ate news close up good morning and welcome to close up. I'm Lauren johnson. It's been nearly two weeks since kim Reynolds won her second re election last week. The Republican Governors Association made Reynolds new chairperson. Reynolds spoke before the R. G. ***. About what she thought was behind republicans near complete sweep of state offices and her plans for the upcoming legislative session again. Just want to say thank you to everyone in the room for all that you do uh to help elect and reelect republican governors across the country. So four years ago we ran on *** bold agenda and not only did we lay out the agenda, we campaigned on what we were gonna do. I was fortunate enough to get elected in *** really tough year. I was running against *** self finance er R. G. ***. Helped me get across the finish line and then we did the next thing we actually did what we said we were gonna do and I think that's the expectation I know it is. So it's just the expectation of voters. So we followed through with what we said, we would do, I think another factor in the success that we had this election cycle was, I think for the most part Iowans were pretty happy with the way that we handled covid in the state of Iowa, we really took the approach of empowering people over government and that started with personal and economic freedom. Um, in Iowa we trusted Iowans to do the right thing and they did, we kept our businesses open, we got our kids back in the classroom and I can tell you probably, um, it was just unbelievable over the last two years, the number of moms and dads that would come up to me and moms would literally get emotional when they would say, I don't know why I'm getting emotional, but thank you so much for getting our kids back in the classroom. I can't tell you how much that mattered. I would have teachers lean in and literally whisper in my ear thank you for getting the kids back in the classroom. That was the right decision. That's what we should have done and I just appreciate you taking the role on that so that really mattered. And I think, you know, the nape scores that came out *** couple weeks ago, I think validated the fact that we could do it safely and responsibly and the impact that that had on our kids. So, so that had *** big bearing, I think too, the other thing, we cut taxes, we said we were gonna cut taxes. We were taxing like *** blue state. It was ridiculous. Um, I didn't cut taxes once but I cut them three times. The last one was the largest tax cut in the history of Iowa. You're gonna hear that as you continue to go down the line because the good news for all of you is every Republican governor is cutting taxes. So the competition is stiff At the time that we took that we started cutting taxes are individual income tax rate was nearly 9% when it's fully implemented. It will be 3.9% flat and fair, we have the sixth highest at the time individual income tax rate in the country. We will go to the fourth lowest were also beginning next year, which I'm really excited about. We will no longer tax retirement income so we're gonna keep our retire in the state. We were tired of sending them out there such *** valuable asset. They have discretionary funding that they can spend in our state. They work part time. So we, we made it clear we want you to stay in Iowa and then we're phasing out our inheritance tax as well. And so I'm hoping that the next four years because I got south Dakota to the north of me. So I got to get to zero. So we're gonna keep working on that too. We got people Back to work. We kept our communities safe. We passed an extensive back the blue bill in 2021 that included qualified immunity and really let additional protections for our men and women who put their lives on the line every single day to keep us in our community safe. So I was really proud that we were able to do that and then just common sense policies. I mean there's another novel uh idea, right? We protected girls sports for girls. We said no to critical race theory. We banned mask and vaccine mandates. We said parents matter and parents will have *** say in their child's education. We did open enrollment, we expanded charter schools and I'm really excited about implementing um school choice, uh, this next election cycle. So that's my top priority. So hopefully we'll get that done. And then the other thing that I'm really proud of that we've done is we have did *** comprehensive mental health redesign and, and actually in the first or second year stood up *** Children's mental health system and they had literally been talking about it for over two decades and we were able to through an executive order task force and then implementation with the legislature stand that up. So really really proud of the continuum of care that we've put in place to just address mental health. Um so proud of those things. Our fiscal health is strong. We've made record investments and priorities important to Iowans and still cut taxes and ended with *** significant surplus. So proud of that. I think islands were proud that their governor got to give the response to the state of the union. Um, just to tell our story. They were really proud uh, to, to have that story told and I said it was their story. I just got to tell it. And then lastly, um, we were ranked as, and we'll all have our rankings, right. So I'll just stick with this one. We were ranked as one of the top 10 best states to live in. And when you've spent most of your time being considered as *** flyover state to make the top 10 is *** really big deal. So we are very, very excited about that. So, um, and I think I want to talk really quick about the election results and then I'll pass it. Um, and I think so this last election was *** reflection of that. We had *** great night in Iowa. Uh, not only were we honored to be re elected, but um, we picked up our final congressional seat and re elected senator Grassley. So our entire federal delegation is all republicans. We flipped to 40 year incumbent statewide for the first time since the seventies. I will have *** Republican attorney general to work with. That is *** big state treasurer. Both of them have been in there 40 years and we picked up seats in both the House and the Senate and in the Senate, we were able to get *** supermajority. So uh tell them what you're gonna do, Follow, follow through with it what you do and how about we respect and um respect the people that that we serve. And I think they like the direction the state is going. And I'm really looking forward to the next four years to build on that Gov. Reynolds did not get her private school scholarship plan passed last legislative session despite Republicans having *** 60-40 majority in the house. Many rural legislators opposed the plan, fearing it would pull money out of their school districts. The upcoming legislative session will have some changes and Reynolds hopes those will lead to her private school funding plan being passed election day. His red wave gave republicans *** super majority in the Senate, controlling 34 of the chambers, 50 seats in the Iowa House republicans control increased to 64 of the seats. House Speaker Pat Grassley announced *** new five member education reform committee committee that he will chair. That committee will look at shifting state funding to allow parents to send their kid kids to *** private school democrats in the legislature say they are against any plan that diverts state funding away from public schools. Democratic leader of the House, jennifer conversed released *** statement last week saying *** majority of Iowans believe public money is for public schools and that they'll oppose any bill that shifts money to private schools. The 2023 legislative session begins monday january 9th. Next on close up donald trump endorsed Charles Grassley's campaign for an eighth term in the U. S. Senate by Grassley says trump shouldn't count on him to return the favor in the Iowa caucuses and historic start *** one week ago. Girls high school wrestling is underway. Why the athletes and their coaches say this was *** long time coming. Welcome back to close up Charles. Grassley won an eighth term in the U. S. Senate nearly two weeks ago. Donald trump endorsed him and the two have appeared on stage together at several Iowa rallies now with trump planning *** third run in the White house. Can he count on Grassley support Grassley says not until after the Iowa caucuses And now that we're done with the 2022 election, we obviously are looking forward to the 2020 for election and no more in Iowa than because we're first in the nation and we're going to invite all people to Iowa to compete for the uh for whoever wins the primary. And so we're inviting all in and I think that as it's traditionally done in Iowa, most uh public leaders I know I've talked to the governor about this as an example. Uh we're going to uh want everybody to know that they're welcome and and that's our status isn't the president, *** guy who kind of expects that loyalty to go both ways though. Well, will he be okay with you all staying neutral? Well it's *** tradition in Iowa except for bob dole who was *** very close friend of mine. I've stayed out of primaries or I should say caucus endorsements with the respect of marriage act vote likely happening today or sometime soon. You know how you're planning to vote on that And has senator ernst been pushing you to vote yes on it? Uh We all know that uh gay marriage has been decided by the Supreme Court as *** constitutional right of people to uh have their marriage The way they want it and it's the law of the land. And uh we respect gay marriage in every state of the United States. Now. In fact Iowa was the first one to do this with the decision probably 10, 11 or 12 years ago. And so this legislation is not necessary. The U. S. Senate voted 62 to 37 Wednesday to break *** filibuster allowing the bill codifying federal protections for same sex marriage to move forward. Grassley voted against that. But 12 other republicans joined 50 democrats and independents to end the filibuster. I was junior Senator Joni ernst was among the republicans. *** final vote on the bill could come later this month, then it returns to the U. S. House for *** vote before going to president biden for *** signature, supporters of the same sex marriage bill. Say it's needed after what they discovered when the U. S. Supreme Court overturned roe versus wade ending *** 50 year old ruling that said abortion was *** constitutionally protected right in the Supreme Court's decision. In that judge Clarence thomas talked about overturning *** 2015 ruling that said same sex marriage was *** constitutionally protected right just *** few months ago, when the Supreme Court overturned roe justice thomas wrote in *** concurring opinion that oh burger fell which recognized the constitutional right to same sex marriage could similarly be overturned. I hope that never happens. But the Senate can eliminate the risk of L. G. B. T. Q. Americans having their rights curtailed. If we act now to codify marriage productions into law, The bill would not block states from banning same sex or interracial marriages at the Supreme Court allows them to do so but would require those states to recognize marriages if they were legally performed in another state. According to the US Census Bureau, there are just under 600,000 married same sex couples across the country. Republican Zach, none is preparing to start his first term in Congress. He beat democrat Sydney Acne in the third district. None will be part of the majority with the GOP now in control. None says having all four Iowa congressman and the majority party will be good for the state with all of Iowa's congressional delegation now Republican, what difference will I. O. N. C now that our representatives are in the same party if any. So they're gonna see *** massive difference. Day one, we go from having one member in the majority now having four members of the majority and that means they're gonna be serving on key committees. We already know that we've got members on the appropriations committee. So deciding on how we scale back the vast overspending at the federal government. We have members on ways and means who are going to really be able to control our tax policy. We're gonna have members who are most likely to serve on energy and commerce. And we're looking forward to an area where we can serve not only our financial services like des Moines but also our rural areas like the 20 counties that make up rely on the third district. We're very excited about four powerful voices in the majority. Next on close up why four counties were forced to recount their ballots And when Iowa can finally say the results are official in *** league of their own wrestling. Now, *** sanctioned sport for high school girls in Iowa, how they got ready for their first meet. Welcome back to close up! The november election is almost two weeks old and I was vote went off without any major problems but there were *** few glitches. Kcc eyes. Amanda rooker went to Dallas County where *** recount was triggered by plot problems with just four ballots. These are administrative recounts because um *** poll worker told me that they might have had some errors counting and or they had GMS during the day or there was something and so four from that we investigate and then we decided to do administrative count recounts. There's four precincts, each one of the precinct's basically has one um ballot either heavy or light or didn't go through the machine. So we did that today. Adams colfax um 709 came back to match our declaration of eligibility slip and that's the paper that the voter signs went before they get their ballot. And also um Beaver des Moines, they had one ballot that wouldn't go through. So the republican and democrat on the board remarked it, it went through and that went from 7722773 and linking Washington Lynn. They had *** jam and they thought they were 3 69 which they knew what they were heavy and now it's 3 68. And that matches their declaration of eligibility slips. We are still recounting Clyde five and six. But we just took *** break. So the absentee board could finish up and they'll go back to it after. Why is it important to do things like this, even when it's just four votes, we just we would like to have our numbers all match match for the vote credit. So if we had, how many ballots went through matches the declaration of eligibility slip, that's always our goal. So at the polls, we have electronic poll book and then we have the actual paper declaration of eligibility slips and then that, and then we have the tabulator. Those three numbers need to match during the day and if they don't, then we need to find out why. And that's part of the reason the administrative recount is so we can go through that and help them figure out what went wrong and what did the actual recount process look like? Like who are the people doing? The special precinct board comes in and we had Republican and democrat balanced and they were all part of it. They saw it. We do *** zero tape and then we run the ballots back through and then we run another tape and again, we're just trying to make sure that they match the declaration of eligibility slips and no races will be changed from this. It's only really for votes. It won't really change anything. It's more cleanup for the numbers. And another thing. People just, I feel like especially in this day and age, there's *** lot of conversation around missing information and election integrity and wanting to make sure people know that their vote counts. Right? So how does this help with this just make sure that if, if *** vote was jammed and it was double counted that that's removed and then the ballots that didn't go through the two. They were counted. What would you want? Dallas county residents to feel after today. Oh, I would want them to feel like we really tried to go through the numbers with *** fine tooth comb to make sure every vote got counted. That needed to get counted. Several other counties held recounts, including Warren County, which had nearly 2000 uncounted ballots, 800 were found in des Moines County. In both cases, *** machine and human errors were to blame. *** recount in linn county was ordered after 600 absentee ballots had been received when polls closed, the state board of canvases meet december 5th to certify the election, making the results official And more than 1.2 million Iowans cast *** vote in the election, the second most for *** midterm election in state history. Over 371,000 of those votes were by absentee ballots, that 30% of all ballots cast, Democrats cast the most absentee ballots. Near nearly 188,000 Republicans casted over 122,000 independence over 60,000. Next on close up sanctioned sport to look at the start of girls high school wrestling in Iowa. So I've been assistant coach of the boys level for 18 years now, but I have *** daughter that's coming up through the system. She's *** middle school girl. So, um, we had the girls in last year wrestling. So having this sanction has been *** long time coming and we're thankful for it. They're nervous obviously, you know uh I've just been trying to tell them the last couple days just to take it all in, understand what's going, what's really happening and regardless of what happens tonight just get them out there seeing what it's actually like to be in *** duel and not just go to *** JV meet with some boys like they did last year, it's gonna be special. Last monday was *** historic day for high school athletics that is. Or can I start this over? Sorry, I messed up. Last monday was *** historic, last monday was *** historic day for Iowa high school athletics. That was the first day of competition for girls wrestling KCC. I was at Dallas center grimes when they held their first meeting, both student athletes and their coaches told us that they've been waiting *** long time for this. So I've been assistant coach of the boys level for 18 years now. But I have *** daughter that's coming up through the system, she's *** middle school girl. So uh we had the girls in last year wrestling, so having this sanction has been *** long time coming and we're thankful for it. They're nervous obviously, you know, uh I've just been trying to tell them the last couple days just to take it all in, understand what's going, what's really happening and regardless of what happens tonight, just get them out there, seeing what it's actually like to be in *** duel and not just go to *** JV meet with some boys like they did last year, it's going to be special for them. So just trying to embrace it all. So in the past we really didn't have that opportunity for girls. So it'd be two or three girls and two or three girls but there was never *** leader now that we've got 20 some girls have been out for *** couple of years now. The younger girls that 1st 2nd 3rd graders, middle school girls can now see them and have somebody to look up to and and kind of follow. This is my second year wrestling when we started the team last year was like my first ever year wrestling. I've done *** lot of sports just like one that's really stuck with me but it's our first time that it's just all girls at one place, there's no guys usually when we have duels and tournaments, there's *** bunch of guys there too. But it's our first one just all girls ready to wrestle. So monday through saturday basically will be wrestling monday through Fridays after school, saturday, early early in the morning. Then we have lifting two times *** week as well. So only really down days Sundays. So today we'll wrestle Anthony and spencer and then Waverly will wrestle with the other two schools, it's basically just like kind of *** dual around the only school we're not wrestling is Waverly, I'm so excited. I really hope that everyone just goes out, gives it at all. Like we're all really nervous. Like I bet all these girls are really nervous to compete and like all these people are coming to watch us, but I just want all the nerves to go away and just have fun with it. I'm really excited. I don't care really what happens. I'm just excited to be out here and get the opportunity to wrestle girls and have like my own, have our own sport this year. We got *** coach to get it going last year before it was sanctioned and we started off with only two practices *** week and we kind of started off and they're learning the basics and now we were able to get *** little bit more structured of *** practice and learning *** lot more moves and have it every day and we've improved *** lot. I've played other sports, but once I saw that there was *** flyer for the first ever girls wrestling team, I thought why not give it *** shot. I would have never done it if I had *** donut with the boys. So I'm glad I got this opportunity because it's just, it's such *** fun sport and an awesome community. I'm glad that I can start lead away for many girls. I know that many girls that are little have seen me wrestle now they're going out for wrestling and it started to make something big out of something that wasn't ever *** thing. I feel like when I hit the wrestling mat, everything outside the world just kind of stops. It's just wrestling and all of my emotions, they're just they're gone, they're just at wrestling and I get excited and nothing to think about when you're on the mat and I hope tonight goes really well for us. Um I just want everyone to see how much they've improved because I know we have and I just think it'll be an exciting experience. Just over 100 schools are hosting *** wrestling program this season. There are 14 weight classes ranging from £100 to £235. Super regional competitions take place january 27th and four locations. The first girls state wrestling tournament will be february 2nd and third third at the Extreme arena in Coralville. While this is the first year of sanctioned girls wrestling at the state high school level. Girls have been *** part of the sport for *** while in the past, girls who wanted to wrestle matched up against boys. Some of those girls made it to the boys state wrestling tournament. Thank you for watching K. C. C. I ate news. Close up, we'll see you back here next sunday have *** great day