Madam President: the Iowa Senate on its first day of the 90th General Assembly adopted temporary rules and temporary compensation provisions, appointed organizing committees, accepted election certifications from the secretary of state, confirmed leadership nominations and permanent officers, and recessed for committee business.

The Senate, led by Senator Whitver, the senator from Polk, first moved to adopt as temporary rules those rules and employee compensation provisions from the 89th General Assembly. The motion was adopted by voice vote. The body then moved to appoint a committee on credentials pursuant to Iowa Code section 2.5; the chair announced the committee membership and the committee reported that it found the persons certified by the secretary of state to be duly elected and entitled to seats in the Senate. The Senate adopted the committee’s report by voice vote.

The Senate nominated and confirmed leadership for the session. Senator Sinclair, the senator from Wayne, was nominated and confirmed as president of the Senate; Senator Rosenboom, the senator from Marion, was nominated and confirmed as president pro tempore. The secretary of the Senate read the names of senators who then took the oath of office.

The chamber also approved other organizational motions: appointment of a secretary of the Senate (Charlie Smithson), appointment of committees to notify the governor and the House of Representatives that the Senate is organized, appointment of a mileage committee to report senator travel allowances, rules for seat selection by seniority and lot, and a motion from Senator Whitver to recess to allow a brief Rules Committee meeting. The Senate later took a voice vote to adopt reports from the Committee on Rules Administration appointing permanent officers and employees and administered oaths to those employees.

All formal motions recorded in the transcript were decided by voice vote; specific recorded vote counts were not provided on the record. Several procedural messages were delivered and committees were dismissed after performing their duties, including the committees charged to notify the governor and the House that the Senate was organized.

The Senate recessed and scheduled to reconvene for a panoramic group photograph and to continue organizational business at 1:15 p.m.

Ending: The organizational motions and appointments completed the Senate’s initial business for the day and set the chamber's temporary operating procedures and officer appointments for the start of the 2025 session.