Capitol Comments

Expanding Broadband Access to More Iowans

As technology demands high-speed internet access, the House Commerce Committee unanimously approved a new plan to expand broadband internet access to more Iowans. While the plan is still being developed, legislators and the Governor are working together to find new ways to get more Iowa communities on-line with increasing internet speeds.

The bill, House Study Bill 515, includes a property tax exemption that would apply to new installation of broadband infrastructure completed on or after July 1, 2014, through December 31, 2018, in unserved or underserved communications service areas – areas without a communications service provider offering broadband service with download and upload speeds of greater than 50 megabits per second to a residential customer.

The bill will now be sent to the Ways and Means Committee for further study before it is debated by the full House.

Preschool Plan Moves Forward

The Iowa Senate took action this week on SSB 3155 to expand quality preschool options to more four year olds. In Iowa, about 55% of Iowa four year olds currently receive preschool instruction. The new plan would guarantee that no child is turned away from quality preschool.

Last year, 314 of 348 Iowa school districts participated in Iowa’s voluntary preschool program and served just over 20,000 children. However, many parents cannot get their child into a preschool program either because it is not offered or the available slots are full. Unfortunately, it is not known how many children in Iowa currently are being excluded from preschool.

The legislation is intended to provide enough funding to expand Iowa’s capacity to guarantee preschool to every 4-year old whose parent wants to have their student enrolled. The bill also requires an expansion plan for school districts to qualify for funding. The plan must include collaboration with participating families and community partners.

Twenty high school students from across the state were chosen to participate in Capitol Project, which allows students the opportunity to experience state government in action and provides lessons in goal setting, teamwork and leadership. Constituent Tanner Stewart from Kennedy High School was one of the participants! Tanner joined me for lunch and a few hours of work, as we met with constituents and he participated in the legislative process first hand. As we moved from one issue to another, he asked me, “Is this a typical day?” Yep, there are a lot of issues to address during the Session. It was a real treat to have Tanner by my side!

Good visit with Dale Todd and Roxanne Cogil of the Epilepsy Foundation. We discussed their group’s legislative priorities, which includes: protecting patient access to treatment, comprehensive statewide epilepsy training with DPS, and strictly regulated medical cannabis (utilizing cannabis oils for children with difficult-to-treat seizure conditions). The foundation – the only sustainable epilepsy service in Iowa – is also requesting $160,000. Actually, the program saves the state thousands of dollars in 1. preventing emergency room visits billable to Medicaid 2. preventing unemployment or underemployment in persons with epilepsy 3. saving lives in persons with uncontrolled seizures. Loved ones in my family have epilepsy and I understand how the neurological disorder can impact a life.

Dr. Lew Finch served 35 years as a school superintendent, most recently of the Cedar Rapids School District. Lew is now the Executive Director at Urban Education Network of Iowa. We discussed the importance of school funding and allowable growth with Tanner.

Constituent Dr. Dennis Kral spoke with me about the Dental Patient Protection Act. This would allow patients to authorize their insurance company to work directly with a dentist to provide payment for covered services, instead of them paying it up-front, out-of-pocket and then waiting for insurance reimbursement. Another issue is patient denial of oral health care insurance coverage . Currently, a patient’s only option is to sue. The change requested would give patients an opportunity to appeal for an external review. The proposed legislation is a “patient’s rights” bill and I support it.

Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club, John Tursi, was at the capitol. The Boys and Girls Club offers affordable services which promote individual and community well-being for people of all ages, race and religious backgrounds. They focus services to youth from disadvantaged circumstances, helping them develop the qualities needed to become responsible citizens and leaders. Learn more about this terrific program here: http://unitedwayofeastcentraliowa.org/community-partners/partner-agencies/boys-and-girls-club-of-cedar-rapids/

Thanks to League of Women Voters Linn County for hosting another legislative forum last Saturday. I appreciate the opportunity to hear from constituents and the public about issues of concern to them – a function that is essential to democracy. If you missed the forum, be sure to join us next month: 10:30-11:45 am, March 15th at Mercy Medical Center.

Speaking with Decoding Dyslexia President, Heidi Kroner, about a current piece of legislation which addresses educational assistance for children with dyslexia.

Drs. Robin Barnett of Cedar Rapids and Dawn Schissel of West Des Moines speaking with me about the shortage of physicians in our state, particularly in rural areas.

Iowa Catholic Conference Executive Director Tom Chapman; The Most Rev. Michael Jackels, Archbishop of Dubuque; and Archdiocesan Superintendent of Schools Jeff Henderson speaking about the value and importance of Catholic Schools and especially about the excellence of the education and the students at Xavier High School in Cedar Rapids. Go Saints!

Sally Immerfall and Laura Wheeler, RNs with the Cedar Rapids School District, spoke with me about epinephrine legislation. We just passed a bill out of the Education Committee, permitting Iowa schools to acquire and maintain a supply of epinephrine auto injectors pursuant to a prescription, for use in accordance with the law and training. This is intended to enhance the safety of our students with life-threatening allergies.

The African American Museum of Iowa in Cedar Rapids was presented the Vision Award for Business. Museum Executive Director, Michael Kates, was joined by staff: Curator Brianna Wright; Education Assistant Krystal Gladden, and Director of Education Michelle Poe. Today we celebrated African American History month and it was wonderful to have our Cedar Rapids museum honored for its contribution to our state.

Stephanie Johnson, Chair of the Iowa Music Therapy State Recognition Task Force, is advocating licensure for music therapists. Their group testified at the Senate sub-committee meeting for SF2116.

Listening in on an advocacy training by the Autism Society of Iowa. There is new autism legislation which seeks to provide funding for ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) Therapy for non-Medicaid eligible children ages 0-9 years old. I am a teacher at Tanager Place, which offers an autism spectrum therapy program. More info here:http://www.tanagerplace.org/parents/our-programs/mental-health-clinic/autism-spectrum-therapy-program/

A sea of red greeted us this week at the capitol! Cedar Rapids representatives from AARP spoke with us about issues pertaining to older Iowans. Of particular interest is SF 2168, which combats financial exploitation of older Iowans by passing strong Uniform Power of Attorney Act policies. I am in support of this, having witnessed abuse of POA privileges. Great to visit with Cedar Rapids residents: Bob and Eleanor Hearst; Fred Russo, Mary Chalupsky and Terry Murrin.

Sandy Bell and Diana Coberly joined constituent, Bob King, and the Regional Protective Services Coordinator for Heritage Area Agency on Aging, Tracey Robertson, to talk with me about seniors’ issues.

Speaking with Waypoint’s new CEO, Jaye Kennedy, and members of the Waypoint Board: Dave Parmley, John Weyer and Vanessa Solesbee, and Waypoint’s Director of Homeless Services: Carrie Slagle. 11,811 Iowans were housed in a shelter last year. Due to homeless prevention efforts of supportive service agencies such as Waypoint, 18,560 Iowans avoided homelessness. Waypoint would like to see more affordable housing for people earning less than 30% of area median income. They would also like to add a $5 check-off box to address homelessness on state income taxes.

The Iowa Commission of Persons with Disabilities held a reception at the capitol. Two of the commissioners are from Cedar Rapids: LaSheila Yates and Michelle Michalec (shown here with commissioner from Clive, Edie Bogaczyk, and Joe Michalec). The Commission’s Mission Statement is to promote the employment of Iowans with disabilities, in a non-adversarial manner. They accomplish this by promoting physical and program access, identifying housing and transportation resources and by working with legislators to outline strategic and targeted legislation for Commission support.

Visiting with constituent Debra Salz, VP of Human Resources at Linn Area Credit Union. We spoke about the role of credit unions in helping their communities.

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