Statehouse News
The League of Women Voters forum is this Saturday, March 19, at Mercy Medical Center, 701 10th Street SE, Cedar Rapids, from 10:30-11:45 A.M. in the Hallagan Education room. This is an excellent opportunity for you to ask questions of Linn County Legislators on issues important to you. Hope to see you Saturday!
Schools Wait While Tax Cuts Sail Ahead
While public schools have been waiting for 399 days on State Supplemental Aid funding, the Republican-controlled House passed yet another tax cut this week – reducing state revenue by another $120 million. This year, there is room in the budget for both. But I am worried that schools will again be shortchanged. Passing the tax cut first, before funding our schools, is just another example of moving public schools to the “back of the bus”.
In recent years, the legislature has passed more than $700 million in long-term tax cuts that reduced the available funds for public schools, and everything else, in our budget. As a result, our Iowa public schools have shouldered the lowest funding levels in Iowa history for the last six years. The persistent delays and stagnant state investment in schools has meant fewer staff and teachers, higher class sizes, outdated technology, and old textbooks for kids in our public schools.
Good News: Our non-partisan budget experts met Wednesday and said there will be $311 million in additional state revenue next year. It’s clear we can make public schools our top priority again with adequate funding at 4%, and (as always) balance the state budget.
To give you a better grasp of the positive news from the Revenue Estimating Conference that metWednesday, here are the comments from Rep. Chris Hall, ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee on state revenue growth.
“The Revenue Estimating Conference met and increased their projections from December. We are waiting on an updated balance sheet and other info from LSA. Those things will be passed along as they become available. Here are the main points:
• Revenue for FY17 is projected to grow 4.4% and $311.4 million over FY16.
• Those numbers are up from December, when they projected 4% growth and $281 million in new revenue.
• This is an increase of $30 million more than December. We will be required by law to use the December number. Growth is occurring due to stronger sales tax collections.
• FY16 revenue estimates remain the same as December – no changes.
• Iowa has 3.5% unemployment and growth is expected to continue at a steady, but modest pace. Lingering economic concerns are tied to agriculture and manufacturing sectors. Corn prices are down 67% from their peak in 2012. Soybean prices are down 51% and land values are slightly down. Manufacturing is steady but affected by the strong dollar abroad, making exports less appealing to foreign markets.
• There is enough revenue to invest in our public schools and balance the state budget. Over the last three years, Republicans have approved over $700 million in tax cuts while doing little for public schools. House Democrats believe it’s time to make public schools our top priority again.”
Nominate a Teacher of the Year
If you know of an outstanding teacher that you believe has redefined education, now is the time to recognize their service and nominate them for the Iowa Teacher of the Year Award. Nominations will be accepted from anyone, including students, parents, school administrators, colleagues, college faculty members, and associations.
The deadline to nominate the 2017 Iowa Teacher of the Year is April 25th, and will be announced this fall. The Teacher of the Year serves as an ambassador to education and as a liaison to preK-12 schools, higher education and organizations across the state.
Nomination forms can be found on the Iowa Department of Education’s website:https://www.educateiowa.gov/
The Iowa Teacher of the Year award was established in 1958, and is sponsored by the Iowa Department of Education.
Bipartisan Work
The House debated and passed five bills Wednesday that represented a variety of bi-partisan work – all passed the House unanimously. One of them, establishing a Human Trafficking Office within the Dept. of Public Safety, HF 2355, to oversee efforts to combat human trafficking, will help protect thousands of Iowans. The FBI states, “The most effective way to investigate human trafficking is through a collaborative, multi-agency approach with our federal, state, local, and tribal partners.”
If you, or someone you know, is a victim of human trafficking, please don’t hesitate, call the hotline 1-888-373-7888.
A familiar refrain at the Capitol as the legislature faced the final hours of its second funnel week: please implement oversight of managed care organizations.
I spoke with The Arc Executive Director, Dave Thielen, and Director of Services & Support, Jody Bridgewater, who discussed the impact of pending Medicaid privatization for their clients.
The Arc of East Central Iowa is a local chapter of a nationwide organization advocating for the seven million people in America with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Our chapter was formed around 60 years ago, provides services in the following areas:
* Respite Care
* Supported Community Living
* Consumer Directed Attendant Care
* Habilitation Services
* Intermittent Medical Monitoring and Treatment
* Day Habilitation
* Site Based Services
I am hopeful that the MCOs will continue our Iowa practice of caring for each other, by adequately reimbursing providers such as The Arc. In the legislature, we’re already hearing of some smaller providers who will no longer be able to stay in business due to poor reimbursement rates.
The House unanimously passed SF2022 which relates to criminal jurisdiction on the Sac and Fox Indian settlement. Here’s the explanation quoted directly from the bill:
“The bill specifies that the state of Iowa tenders to the United States any and all criminal jurisdiction which the state of Iowa has over criminal offenses committed by or against Indians on the Sac and Fox Indian settlement in Tama, Iowa. The bill further specifies that as soon as the United States accepts and assumes such criminal jurisdiction previously conferred to the state of Iowa or reserved by the state of Iowa, all criminal jurisdiction on the part of the state of Iowa over criminal offenses committed by or against Indians on the Sac and Fox settlement in Tama, Iowa shall cease.”
Representatives Liz Bennett, Mary Wolfe, Ruth Ann Gaines, Scott Ourth, Jerry Kearns, House Democratic Leader Mark Smith and I met with students from the Meskwaki Settlement School today to celebrate the passage of this bill so important to our Native American population.
A brief break from debate, meant a visit with area Girl Scouts in the rotunda. Susan’s mom, Rev. Lucille King, is not only a former Girl Scout, she was also camp counselor back in the 50s. The young ladies at this table were putting messages on beaded bracelets using computer binary codes. Smart cookies!
Learn more about the history of Girl Scouts here:
http://blog.girlscoutshcc.org/
After a discussion with Maryfrances Evans, Executive Director of the Iowa Radio Reading Information Service (IRIS), I walked away realizing I just agreed to an interview on their program. That’s because IRIS is an incredible service for those with vision difficulties. Volunteers read to their listeners, everything from the daily news to what’s happening at the Capitol.
Learn more, contribute, or volunteer here: http://iowaradioreading.org/
Horizons Volunteer Coordinator, Anna Ronnebaum, and Neighborhood Transportation Service Development Director, Kay Fisk, spoke with me about Horizons’ Survivors Program. This community-based program serves 21 Southeast Iowa counties, addressing the needs of families of homicide and vehicular homicide victims.Horizons offers many other resources: a financial wellness center, mental health and wellness services, and nutrition programs.
Kay asked if there was anything I’d like to say to Anna. I had two words for her, “Thank you.” Anna says these are words she often repeats to her valued volunteers. She has Iowans of all ages helping with their services – in fact, a 90 year old helps by delivering Meals on Wheels.
Learn how you can participate here: http://www.horizonsfamily.org/
My good friend, Robert Becker, was at the Capitol to talk about funding for the Iowa Family Planning Network.
The following services are provided by the IFPN: pap tests, birth control counseling, pelvic exams, pregnancy tests, voluntary sterilization, emergency contraception and limited STD testing and treatment. I learned that for every $1 invested in family planning, the state saves more than $15 over five years on the costs of unintended pregnancies.
Always great to visit with Robert!
Outside the Capitol Tuesday, it was raining cats and dogs; inside, I was discussing dogs -with constituent, Kathy Healy, and her daughter, Dana Nogelmeier.
They are in support of legislation that increases oversight of USDA licensed dog breeders. Last year, 53% of Iowa USDA licensed breeders were cited for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. This year, we’re already at 41%.
I stand with Kathy, Dana, and animal lovers everywhere, in support of additional oversight and enforcement.
Hannah Walsh and Josh Schoenfeld discussed a graduate and professional student financial retention incentive plan. The goal is incentivizing students to remain in Iowa upon completing graduate and doctoral programs. We discussed a lot of alternatives and perspectives on how this might be accomplished. These and other graduate students from the 3 Regent’s Institutions will be continuing to work on legislation to effectively address the “brain drain” problem for the next session of the legislature. I’ll be looking to hear more about their final recommendations.
Don Mitchell is an Independent Living Specialist with Access Independence of the Eastern Iowa Corridor. His goal is to give more people an opportunity to live in their own homes, with home-based care. This not only improves individuals’ quality of life, it saves the state money. Don tells me when he lived in Illinois, he assisted over 100 individuals move from nursing homes to independent living, which saved the state of Illinois $3 million dollars.
In Iowa, the average cost of providing Medicaid institutional care last year was $64,472 per person. Compare this to the average cost of providing Medicaid in home and community-based services: $17,248 per person. It just makes sense economically and more importantly, it provides more independence and quality of life.
Jayde Henry spoke with Rep. Marti Anderson and me about her personal experiences with independent living, and because of the tremendous value to her, she’s now vice-president of the Iowa Statewide Independent Living Council (ISILC).
ISILC is asking the legislature to fund their six centers with an additional $50,000 each which allows them to hire a full-time Independent Living Specialist. This would be six additional staff to serve the 32 counties that are currently underserved.
Speaking with the new CEO of Lutheran Services in Iowa, John Twardos, and their lobbyist, Lyle Krewson, about assistance for immigrants, the services that LSI provides them and my support for SF2298. This bill establishes an AmeriCorps program for the economic well-being and health of refugees. For more information on LSI: http://lsiowa.org/
Fun way to cap off the day Wednesday – visiting with constituent Molly Garrett, who is the Young Adult Librarian at Cedar Rapids Public Library. I love books! Molly does, too, and she is also excited about matching students with books in the library’s after-school program. The program has partnered with BIG, STEM and Metro High School is in the queue for this fall to encourage reading, research and robotics.
Our public libraries have so much to offer: special events for kids – and adults, audio books, dvds, ebooks, internet, meeting rooms, book clubs, job resources, and the list goes on and on.
What do you like about the library?
The Iowa Freedom of Information Council is a coalition of journalists, librarians, lawyers, educators and other Iowans devoted to open government. IFIC hosted a legislative reception Thursday to discuss open meetings/ open records laws. It was wonderful to visit with constituent and The Gazette’s Executive Editor, Zack Kucharski, and Executive Director of the Iowa Newspaper Association, Chris Mudge, and speak about this very issue.
One of the reasons I post on social media so often, is because I am a strong supporter of this very issue. However, as with most laws, I believe there should be exceptions. For example, there was a recent bill that I voted for related to the confidentiality of juvenile court records in delinquency proceedings (passed the House 97-1).
IFIC had a great quote on their invite to this morning’s event:
“A popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”
Speaking with Linn County Rural Electric Cooperative staff: Jennifer Feddersen, Human Resources Executive; Steve Carroll, Member Services Supervisor; and Terry Sullivan, newly appointed Manager/CEO.
We discussed alternative, renewable energy sources, including wind and solar. We also touched on new technologies and their inclusion into the overall business plan of utilities. There are many challenges facing Iowa’s electric coops as they move toward advanced energy technology and more localized generation.
(Susan, Lucille and I also met Chip the LED kid. What a bright young man; we got a charge out of his electrifying personality!)
Continue Reading the Statehouse News
State Revenues Continue Steady Growth
Child Abuse Definition Expanded To Include Human Trafficking
House Votes to Expedite Disaster Relief Payments
Environmental Excellence Award Applications Due
To read the rest of my Statehouse News go to:http://iowahouse.org/
