Capitol Comments
Session in Overtime
The 2015 Legislative session is officially in overtime. While lawmakers aren’t getting paid any more, we’ll be meeting until we get our work completed for the year.
The only bills that we are required to pass, every year, are those dealing with the state budget. Nearly all of the budget plans are now on the table, but House Republicans are still resisting any compromise on an overall budget agreement with the Senate and Governor.
The budget plan agreed to by the Senate, led by Democrats, and the Republican Governor follows Iowa’s balanced budget law and spends $7.3 billion next year while leaving the state’s savings accounts full at $700 million with an additional $387 million surplus on top of that. That’s more than a billion dollars in surplus and reserves.
Republicans are insisting on an alternative budget with deep cuts.
Most of the budget differences are in education. Differences include resolving the K-12 school funding crisis and freezing tuition – keeping higher education affordable for all Iowa families.
The budget issues will likely be resolved by the special bi-partisan conference committees made up of members from both the House and Senate. Most of those conference committees will start their work next week. It’s one step closer to adjournment, but there’s a lot of work to be done.
The House Republican education budget is not good for students at Iowa’s K-12 schools, community colleges, or state universities. The Republican plan for education will shortchange Iowa students at every level.
While still refusing to compromise and end the school funding crisis, House Republicans passed budget plans for K-12 schools that would roll back other efforts to help kids who have fallen behind in reading in the early years, K-3. They insisted on delaying support for schools with a high number of kids in poverty (high needs schools) and seek to eliminate funding for the teacher mentoring initiative just passed a few years ago.
The House Republican budget would put higher education out-of-reach for many students and their families. Even though Iowa already has some of the highest community college tuition rates in the country, the Republican budget offers zero new dollars next year. This will undoubtedly force a raise in tuition for Iowa students.
While asking for another tuition freeze at Iowa’s three state universities, Republicans refuse to provide the additional investment from the state to get the job done, even cutting back support for Iowa Tuition Grants for low-income students wanting to attend Iowa colleges.
These actions by House Republicans are shortchanging our kids and Iowa’s future.
Public Schools to Lose More Than 1,000 Educators Next Year
Iowa schools reported that there will be more than 1,000 fewer educators in schools next year because of the state supplemental aid (SSA) budget uncertainty.
This week, due to the school funding impasse, schools were forced to hand out pink slips to more than 400 educators – for the upcoming school year. Schools administrators said they plan to leave another 626 positions (typically retirements) unfilled next year. This means that class sizes will increase and individual student attention will be reduced. Lower student achievement is sure to be a result.
Despite not knowing how much money they will receive from the state, Iowa school districts were forced to set and certify their budgets for the upcoming school year in mid-April.
The school funding crisis started last year when the majority House Republicans and Governor Branstad refused to set basic state funding for K-12 schools. Democrats have offered a 6% increase, then 4%, then 2.625% in an effort to compromise, but the majority party has rejected every offer to resolve the school funding crisis this year.
The information was compiled through a survey of Iowa superintendents. Iowans can learn about the impact of the continuing school funding crisis in their own school district by going towww.iowahouse.org/GOPpinkslip.
Avian Flu Continues to Spread
Eight Iowa facilities have been infected with avian flu, bringing the total number of infected chicken and turkeys to 10 million. Most of the losses have been egg-laying hens.
Iowa poultry farms, on average, house an estimated 60 million egg-laying hens. Once bird flu is present in a flock, all chickens or turkeys must be euthanized to stop its spread. Poultry are very susceptible to the disease and mortality can reach 100% in some flocks.
This current strain of avian influenza, H5N2 HPAI, is considered low-risk to humans. There has never been a confirmed human infection of this strain of avian flu. Additionally, there is no food safety concerns associated with the illness.
Avian flu is carried by migratory birds such as ducks, geese, swans and gulls. Infected Iowa counties include Buena Vista, Osceola, Sac, O’Brien and Sioux counties.
More information on the outbreak, including frequently asked questions on avian influenza, is available atwww.iowaagriculture.gov/
Our Very Own Kirkwood Community College Named a Green Ribbon School
Kirkwood Community College was named a Green Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education in the first year the federal program has included recognition of postsecondary schools.
The college received the honorary award due to its work in a variety of green education programs, methods for reducing waste and for providing leadership in energy conservation efforts. Kirkwood’s commercial scale wind turbine provides an estimated 5.6 million kW/h of clean renewable electricity to campus and serves as an educational tool for Kirkwood students and the community.
The college’s energy policy addresses energy use and conservation in a variety of ways including climate control and energy use reduction. The Hotel at Kirkwood, the nation’s only luxury teaching hotel at a two-year college, makes use of an ice storage system that reduces energy usage when cooling. Food scraps from the culinary arts program and the cafeteria are composted, and textbooks are collected to be shredded and recycled.
Through Kirkwood’s horticulture program, the college has developed berms and re-established native prairies. Landscape construction and design courses address trends in sustainability and landscape maintenance. Diesel fuel systems courses teach students about emissions control and how the emissions-heavy industry is switching to new clean technology. Kudos to Kirkwood!
Iowa Teachers Deserve Our Appreciation
For more than 30 years, the National Parent Teachers Association has designated the first week in May as a special time to honor the men and women who use their passion and skills to educate our kids. Teacher Appreciation Week is a celebration of the contribution and sacrifice teachers make for students, schools and communities every day.
In classrooms across Iowa, talented, hardworking teachers are nurturing a new generation of thinkers, doers and dreamers. They prepare our students to take on the challenges of the future. Our best teachers are role models who show students how to work hard, think hard and become well-rounded, engaged grownups. They encourage our children’s passions, inspire their imaginations and help them realize the best in themselves.
I ran for the Legislature to build on Iowa’s reputation as a leader in education. One way I can thank our teachers is with my vote to fund local schools—the backbone of our communities. Adequate funding will ensure the continued success of teachers and schools in providing opportunities for our kids.
As you thank your children’s teachers this week—or perhaps a special teacher who’s had a big impact on you—we will be working to show our appreciation here at the Statehouse. Democrats in the House and Senate remain committed to increasing student achievement and improving teacher quality.
Thanks to all the teachers, parents, school board members and students who are e-mailing, phoning, petitioning and visiting the Capitol to encourage all legislators to provide enough dollars to give local schools the resources they need to avoid teacher layoffs, larger class sizes and cuts to course offerings and extracurricular activities. Your advocacy has helped make serious discussions, about school funding, a reality.
Reforming Use of Eminent Domain in Iowa
The Senate Government Oversight Committee has approved legislation that would curtail the use of eminent domain for certain energy projects proposed by private companies in Iowa. Eminent domain is the right of government to appropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation to the property owner.
Lawmakers heard concerns from landowners about a pipeline that would carry crude oil from North Dakota through Iowa. We also heard public comments about the Rock Island Clean Line project, carrying wind power out of Iowa. Critics say that both of these projects are about private profit, not public good. A new Senate bill could affect these proposals, both of which are before the Iowa Utilities Board.
SF 506 has five main components:
1. Before companies are given the power of eminent domain, Iowa’s Economic Development Authority (the agency responsible for energy development) must recommend the proposed project in its annual report. This addresses the need for ongoing planning that is not met by current state law.
2. Before companies are given the power of eminent domain, they must acquire 75 percent of the land needed for a project through voluntary easements.
3. Companies seeking voluntary easements are subject to the complaint and investigation authority of the Iowa Utilities Board.
4. Companies’ financial responsibility for crude oil pipeline projects is increased to $500,000 or more per county.
5. Protections for landowners facing eminent domain by companies that are not public utilities, do not have a duty to serve Iowans, and which are not subject to ongoing supervision and planning by the Iowa Utilities Board. This includes access to legal counsel if the Board finds good cause.
This bill was sent to the full Senate for consideration and passage.
Judicial System Budget Must Help Ensure Justice for All Iowans
Providing access for equal justice to all Iowans is not easy work, but dedicated court employees do an outstanding job. To continue providing these services for the benefit of all Iowans, SF 496 gives the Judicial Branch the money necessary to maintain current services. The Senate plan provides the dollars needed to keep clerks of court offices open full time and avoid prolonged delays of trials and hearings. This is the justice Iowans deserve.
The House Republican budget, in contrast, did not provide the increase in funding needed to help our courts continue providing services that are so critical and constitutionally required. Successful programs that keep families together, keep people off drugs and set kids on the right path could all be cut if the House proposal for funding the courts becomes law. Both the House and Senate versions of the Judicial System budget have been sent to Conference Committee for resolution of differences.
Working Families Summit on May 16
Ames is hosting a Working Families Summit on May 16 at the Scheman Building on ISU’s campus. The event features keynote speaker Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor. In addition, local leaders will offer sessions and discussions on how we can raise wages, protect our civil rights, and make work more family friendly through childcare, paid medical leave and more. Attendees will leave ready to take action on behalf of working families. Complete details and registration is available at http://progressiowa.org.
Other News This Week
• Lawmakers have called on the Branstad Administration to keep Iowa workers on the job at a fertilizer plan in southeast Iowa. After 1,400 workers were dismissed from the job a few weeks ago, job postings to replace those workers were being run in Texas and Louisiana.
• Under a bill approved by the Iowa House, HF 633, Iowans looking to buy their first home will benefit from new income tax exemptions if they put money into a special savings account used for a down payment. The bill would allow individuals to claim income tax exemptions for up to $3,000 they put into a savings account every year for a period of 10 years. Married couples could claim up to $6,000 a year.
• A Senate panel has endorsed a plan to legalize fireworks in Iowa on a 9-6 vote Wednesday by the Iowa Senate Ways and Means Committee, sending the measure to the Senate floor. Senate File 226, which had appeared to be dead earlier this session, would permit Iowans to purchase and use consumer fireworks such as firecrackers, bottle rockets and Roman Candles. The bill’s fate is unknown.
• The Senate approved another bill to keep open two mental health institutes that Governor Branstad has been trying to close for months without offering plans for patients already in the facilities. The Health and Human Services budget bill proposed in the Iowa Senate would retain state mental health institutes in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant and establish a committee to oversee a shift of Iowa’s Medicaid program to private management. Senate Study Bill 1288 was approved Monday by the Senate Appropriations Committee on a party line vote with little debate. All Democrats were in favor and all Republicans were opposed. The bill now heads to the Senate floor.
Speaking on my amendment to give employees the option of using “pay cards”, “direct deposit” or traditional paychecks. Some companies are using the pay cards exclusively, often with multiple charges and fees attached. I believe this is a form of wage theft, and my amendment would guarantee employees have an alternative method of payroll payment. Every employee should have free access to their pay.
Unfortunately, this amendment failed on a party-line vote.
Teacher Appreciation Week
“One Hundred Years from now It will not matter what kind of car I drove, What kind of house I lived in, how much money was in my bank account nor what my clothes looked like. But the world may be a better place because I was important in the life of a child.” -Forest Witcraft
Thank you, teachers, for all of your work and dedication to Iowa’s students!!!
The Teacher Store is a great place to go for teaching materials – many valuable recycled and donated items from local businesses.
These educators are enjoying the camaraderie and the snacks provided for Teacher Appreciation Week.
Linn Area Credit Union Marketing Specialist, Heather Baldwin, was on hand to welcome teachers. Linn Area has generously provided this location and a lot of the donated supplies for teachers and their students.
Linn Area and CREA sponsored the event. Thank you for your support of area educators and their students!
Constituents Kristina Bruce, Joan Steinmetz and Jan Perkins all teach at Kennedy High School. This is really a terrific group of educators (one of them taught my daughter Spanish). It was great to relax and visit, and to let them know how much I appreciate their work.
Had a fun time visiting with Patty Bazan and Sally Hofmann, both of whom teach in the Marion Home School Assistance Program. Home schooling is an option for many parents – a choice that I support. The Marion school program provides resources and professional educator visits to assist parents in educating their children.
We discussed students’ mental health issues, bullying and special needs – including autism spectrum disorder.
Today, we appreciate the myriad of challenges presented by a diverse population of students in Iowa.
Cedar Rapids School Board member, and former educator, Gary Anhalt spoke with me about School Supplemental Aid, and the continuing efforts to reach a compromise in the legislature.
Climate Reality Project
Chairman, former US President Vice President Al Gore and a group of world-class communicators, organizers, strategists and innovators spoke about climate change and what it means not just for Iowa and the US, but the planet as well.
One of the goals of Climate Reality is to bring people together to train them to have respectful, impactful conversations with our leaders and future leaders. CRP seeks to demand change with a collective voice so loud and forceful, leaders will have no choice but to help shape the clean-energy future that we need.
Iowa was well-represented! Attendees came from 20 countries and the majority of the US states.
Greg Franck is co-leader of the Des Moines Chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. I’m adding my email to their list so that I’ll be notified when presidential candidates visit our state. It’s important to ask our elected officials and candidates what they plan to do to combat climate change.
Visiting with Tim Merfeld of Viola, Iowa, about the issue of scrapping the 4 inch topsoil requirement for residential and commercial development in our state.
Legislative colleagues, Sen. Rob Hogg and Rep. Dan Kelley – leaders in conservation efforts and renewable energy!
Constituents Mike Wyrick and Cheryl Valenta attended the conference. They, too, are deeply concerned about the environment, and the legacy we’re leaving our children and grandchildren.
Veteran Joe Stutler said, “I can’t think of any civilization going to war over the resources of Sunlight and Wind. Vets know the importance of peace.”
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