Capitol Comments
We’re just wrapping up Week 3 of the legislative session with committee meetings, subcommittee meetings and more meetings being held throughout the day to hammer out issues and get the “surviving” bills ready for debate on the House Floor. Each bill gets a lot of scrutiny from legislators, lobbyists and the public before it becomes law. This arduous process helps to ensure that legislators foresee and understand the impacts, intended and unintended, that each bill has on Iowans – limiting the likelihood that bad bills become Iowa law.
Every year, there are unexpected issues that come up during session. The first, this session, is the rapidly rising cost of propane used for heating homes. Short supply, combined with extremely cold temperatures this winter, has sent the cost of propane skyrocketing.
Many Iowans, especially those living in rural areas, have seen the cost of filling their propane tank rise from $1,000 to over $2,500 in a matter of days.
Led by Rep. Todd Prichard of Charles City, Rep. Joe Riding of Altoona, legislators in the House, have been holding hearings to determine how the crisis has occurred. Legislators in both the House and Senate are working to help get emergency assistance to families needing propane to keep their home warm during this brutal winter weather.
This week, I joined my colleagues in sponsoring a bill to provide $1 million in emergency funds to help low-income families who use propane keep the heat on this winter. The emergency funds would go to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and would be available in every county through local community action agencies (find contact information for your local CAA here: www.iowacommunityaction.org).
Additionally, we are exploring long-term solutions to the propane shortage – to make sure that this never happens again. In a special hearing at the Capitol, House Democrats asked representatives from Iowa’s propane industry to explain the situation and offer ideas to prevent a future crisis.
With forecasts of more bitterly cold temperatures for next week, it’s essential that we work quickly to provide relief to Iowans who are struggling to keep their homes warm. It’s still a dangerous situation that we will continue to monitor and address.
INVESTING IN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
House & Senate Democrats are offering a 6% increase in basic state aid for schools for the 2015-2016 school year. By law, the school aid rate must be set by the Legislature by February 13th. Currently, Iowa is $1,500 below the national average of funding per student.
Boosting student achievement is central to achieving our goal of building a high-skill, high-wage economy and strengthening Iowa’s middle class.
However, it will be extremely challenging to reach that goal if dollar investment per student continues to fall compared to other states. Iowa now spends $1,500 LESS per student than the national average. In the last 12 months, we fell from 31st to 37th in the country when it comes to state expenditure per student.
The Senate has proposed a 6 percent increase in basic school funding, including an additional $196 million to buy textbooks, heat classrooms, pay salaries and purchase other day-to-day necessities for schools. Best of all, this would not increase local property taxes, due to a special $26.2 million state appropriation.
This is something the House needs to vote on soon. In 1995, Governor Branstad signed a law stipulating that basic school funding must be set 18 months in advance – that’s within the next couple of weeks. I’m challenging Speaker Paulsen and my House Republican colleagues to meet the February 13 deadline and give local schools the confidence they need to set their budgets. Unfortunately, many legislators, and the Governor, have said they don’t intend to take any action this year, in violation of the law!
When the state is an unreliable partner to local schools, student achievement suffers. If we want to keep good teachers and small class sizes, we must pay for them, or Iowa risks falling farther behind. That is not the way to strengthen Iowa’s middle class.
To read the current school funding bills, see SSB 3105, SSB 3106 and SSB 3107 on the Iowa Legislature’s website.
HEALTH AND WELLNESS UPDATE
According to state officials, more than 61,000 Iowans have enrolled in the Iowa Health & Wellness Plan. Another 44,500 adults and kids have applied for private health insurance coverage through the Marketplace.
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We were tremendously honored to have our pastors visit at the state house this week. Gayle Wilcox, Associate Pastor of Lovely Lane United Methodist Church, led a beautiful prayer in both House and Senate Chambers. They had a tour of our amazing Capitol and before Paul and Gayle left, Susan took them to the top of the Golden Dome. Great to have them here!
Good discussions with educators and administrators. Some of the issues were: allowable growth, preschool, background checks for all school employees, teacher shortages, living wage for school support employees and length of school year due to large number of make-up days this year. Shown with Tammy Wawro and Dr. David Benson.
Speaking with Dr. Andrew Steffensmeier and Dr. Donny Suh, both eye surgeons in the Des Moines area. Some of their issues: increase volunteer physical network funding, truth in advertising, radon testing, indoor tanning and other public health issues.
Food Bank Directors from around the state came to the capitol to meet with legislators and discuss ways to get nutritious food into the hands of hungry Iowans. It just doesn’t make sense that in a state that provides food for the world, 1 in 6 of our kids are food insecure. Research indicates that even mild under-nutrition experienced by young children during critical periods of growth impacts their behavior, their school performance, and their overall cognitive development. I believe that, together, we can turn this around! Shown here with Carey Miller, Neal Abbott, Cory Berkenes, Amanda Pieper, Barbara Prather and Caren Laughlin.
Good discussion with nurse anesthetists, Brad Badell of Cedar Rapids, and Cormac O’Sullivan of U of I. We discussed scholarships for students, and the value of CRNAs in rural and urban hospitals and clinics throughout Iowa.
Paul Trombino, Director of Iowa Dept. of Transportation, and I discussing maintenance of Iowa’s road and bridges,the prospects of a gas tax, and new road construction.
Really enjoyed visiting with soybean farmers, Lindsay Greiner of Keota and Ed Ulch of Solon. Lindsay invited Susan and I to visit his farm – even offered us a ride in his combine next summer – to learn more about conservation practices and nutrient run-off reduction strategies on Iowa farmland. Ed’s farm is just south of Cedar Rapids. Our farms and farm products are essential to the economic future of CR.
An incredibly hectic day, that included a discussion about the Iowa Toledo Juvenile Home, ended with not one, not two, but five legislative receptions. The first and most important stop was at the Travel Assoc. of Iowa, and more specifically, to the Cedar Rapids booth. Susan was ecstatic to find her favorite food group – popcorn – and I enjoyed visiting with Marilee Fowler and Jennifer Pickar. Great things are happening in our community!
Hy-Vee legislative reception features food prepared by their chefs, and one-on-one discussions with your hometown Hy-Vee store managers. I really enjoyed visiting with the directors from three Cedar Rapids locations: Tracy Kading, Edgewood Road Hy-Vee; Noah, Asche, 1st Ave Hy-Vee; and Tony Morrow, Mount Vernon Road Hy-Vee. We spoke candidly about minimum wage, employing persons with disabilities, fuel tax, bottle recycling and Hy-Vee’s extraordinary customer service and great community involvement. Oh, and by the way, the food was scrumptious! And, oh, did I mention how good the food was?
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The amazing voice of renowned opera singer- and Iowa native- Simon Estes filled House chambers with his a capella rendition of God Bless America. Afterward, I met with Mic Evans and Martha Kroese of the Iowa Alliance for Arts Education. Fine Arts have been involved with the Iowa core process since 2007. Mic and Martha are advocating for greater support for the arts in our school system. The Arts help prepare students for success in school, work and life!
Speaking with Cindy Axne, DNR Management Services Dir; and Dr. Sally Prickett, DNR Natural Resource Commission Vice Chair. We discussed septic tanks, sewage overflow during rain storms from old sewage treatment plants, source point nutrient runoff and fully funding REAP and other conservation projects. I also learned about another great Iowa hiking trail to explore this summer. Learn more about the many resources the DNR protects and provides here: http://www.iowadnr.gov/
VP of the Iowa Firefighters Assoc., Marv Trimble, is also a Captain with the Cedar Rapids Fire Department. Marv is most often at work at our busiest Fire Station#8 located on the corner of Wiley and 1st Ave (and has earned its nickname “The Midnight Express”.) We discussed the protection of volunteer firefighters from termination of employment at their place of work, due to performance of volunteer emergency services. Another piece of legislation we spoke about was public safety and answering point services within enhanced 911 dispatch. I have deep respect for our public service employees and volunteers. May they stay safe and appreciated!
Dave Loy is the new Community Building Manager for the Financial Stability area for United Way of East Central Iowa. He’s also a constituent who made the trek to Des Moines to discuss legislative issues regarding mental health, child care and other human service & family-related concerns. Dave’s got a hefty title in his new position – and a commensurate amount of responsibility. I am certain he’s up to the task!
Continue Reading the Statehouse News
To read the rest of my Statehouse News go to: http://iowahouse.org/StatehouseNews/1-31-14
