Iowans Support Preschool, Education

Over 800 Iowans from around the state submitted public comments and testimony on a plan by the majority party to end preschool for 20,000 kids, stifle the state’s job creation efforts, and stop state efforts to reduce smoking.

Nearly 100 Iowans participated at a special public hearing in the House Chambers to gather input on the bill and another 700 have submitted comments online. While 70 percent of participants in the public hearing spoke out against House File 45, most comments related to the statewide voluntary preschool program for 20,000 four year olds that will end if the bill becomes law.

Preschool teachers, principals, and community leaders expressed strong support for the preschool initiative because research proves it helps raise student achievement while saving taxpayers money in the long run. Launched four years ago, the preschool program is already offered in 326 school districts across Iowa.

Several speakers also voiced support for continuing the state’s effort to raise standards to prepare students for the jobs of the 21st Century through Iowa’s Core Curriculum. Although the Iowa Core is over half-way through implementation, House File 45 ends all funding and standards under the program. Other speakers opposed a $10 million reduction to Area Education Agencies, which provides special education services to students, and reductions at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa.

Members of the American Cancer Society and the Lung Association spoke out to oppose cuts to the state’s smoking cessation efforts. Citing a steep decline in the number of kids starting to smoke over the last decade, supporters say Iowa’s cessation efforts are having an impact and will save the state money in the long run as fewer Iowans have health problems due to smoking. Several speakers, including Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, also spoke to support the Quitline Iowa hotline, which helps Iowans of all ages quit smoking.

Despite objections from many Iowans, House File 45 was approved by Republicans and it now goes to the Senate.

First Bill Impacts Iowa’s Job Creation Efforts

Business leaders came to the State Capitol this week to express concern that the first bill approved by the Iowa House will hurt Iowa’s job creation efforts at a critical moment in our economic recovery.

Approved by the majority party on a party line vote, House File 45 ends state support for small businesses, renewable energy, and Iowa companies that want to expand.

The Iowa Chamber Alliance and local chamber of commerce members participated in a public hearing in the House Chambers to express support for several key economic development tools that should not be eliminated. Community leaders also expressed support for launching passenger rail service to link Dubuque, Davenport, Iowa City, and Des Moines with Chicago.

Iowa Values Fund

The Grow Iowa Values Fund is the main source of funding for projects that are focused on job creation or retention, value-added agriculture, and entrepreneurial efforts. The Values Fund has been Iowa’s main job creation vehicle since 2003, and the only program that provides direct financial assistance to business’ working to create or retain high paying jobs. House File 45 ends all funding for this program next year.

The Values Fund has:

• Created 35,432 jobs at an average wage of $36,891 a year.
• Provided $139 million in direct state aid to business to help retain and create jobs. This funding allowed businesses to leverage an additional $9.5 billion dollars, resulting in the state being responsible for a mere 1% of all project costs.

The Save Our Small (SOS) Business Program provides loans to businesses with 35 or fewer employees to promote the creation and retention of jobs in Iowa’s economy and to assist businesses to be more competitive. The program arose after small business owners expressed concern about troubles accessing credit in the troubled economy. The program is being repealed in House File 45.

Since it began in August, the Save Our Small Business Program has made 25 loans for $997,000, leveraging an additional $1.2 million from other sources based on the small business loan.

Misclassification Taskforce Seeing Results, Model for Other States

According to a new report, misclassification of workers as “independent contractors” rather than “employees” is a growing problem in Iowa and across the nation.

Thousands of Iowa workers have been denied the benefits provided “employees,” such as unemployment benefits, workers’ compensation, among others. There are 72,000 Iowa employees that are placed at a disadvantage by employers who have skirted the law by classifying legitimate employees as “independent contractors.”

To date, the task force under the Department of Workforce Development (WFD) has reported the following:

• 230 employers misclassified 2,602 workers
• 23 cases have been appealed and 18 decided
• Unreported wages totaled $61,073,494
• State unemployment taxes due total $2,081,850
• State unemployment penalties and interest due total $657,128

The misclassification task force continues to educate Iowa’s business community on the issue. A total of 53 presentations have been given since July, 2009. More information is available online at www.iowaworkforce.org/misclassification.

Preschool Works

As debate in the Legislature continues over Iowa’s statewide preschool initiative, Iowans should be aware of some facts about Iowa’s program and research on preschool.

Now in its fourth year, the statewide voluntary preschool initiative provides 10 hours of quality preschool instruction per week to 20,000 four year olds in 326 of 361 school districts across Iowa. With support from Iowa business leaders, educators, and early childhood advocates, the program is designed to make sure kids enter school ready to learn and boost the state’s skilled workforce.

Since most of a child’s brain development occurs before age 6, research proves that young children exposed to high-quality preschool settings exhibit better language and math skills, better cognitive and social skills, and better relationships with classmates than do children in lower-quality settings.

Some highlights of the research include:

• Evaluations show that children in quality learning environments were less likely to drop out of school, repeat grades, need special education, or get into future trouble with the law than similar children who did not have such exposure. (“In Early-childhood Education and Care: Quality Counts,” Education Week – Building Blocks for Success, 2002)

• A study of New Mexico’s state-funded prekindergarten shows the program produced meaningful impacts on young children’s language, literacy, and math development. In addition, there was an estimated $5 benefit generated for every dollars invested. (Jason T. Hustedt, W. Steven Barnett, Kwanghee Jung, and Linda D. Goetze, November 2009)

• A study of the High Scope Foundation’s Perry Preschool showed that at age 27, former Perry Preschool students’ demonstrated positive differences from the control group in educational attainment, home ownership, incarceration, and employment. The study estimated that a dollar invested in preschool saved taxpayers $7 in cost for later services such as jails or drug detoxification centers. (“Investing in Preschool,” American School Board Journal, January 2003)

Iowa Local Food and Farm Plan

For the first time, Iowa has developed a comprehensive plan to support and expand local and regional food systems in Iowa.

The Iowa Local Food and Farm Plan would boost the local food economy and increase opportunities for those who want to buy or sell Iowa-raised meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fruit, vegetables, and other crops in local and regional markets. The plan was authored by Iowa’s Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and contains 34 recommendations.

The plan recommends creation of a state-level local food and farm program, education and training for producers and local food businesses, changes in state policy to benefit local food businesses, and data collection to track growth of local food sales. The plan calls for a one-year state appropriation to hire a local food and farm state coordinator. In subsequent years, the position and cost to implement other recommendations would be supported by a voluntary Local Food and Farm Program Fund.

According to the plan, the state has an opportunity to increase sales of local food, estimated to account for only 14 percent of the $8 billion each year that Iowans spend on food. The plan is designed to increase direct-to-consumer sales as well as retail and institutional sales by providing the infrastructure, research and development and incentives to support increased local food production and marketing. Farmers and local food businesses are expected to see benefits with increases in profitability and market venues, and communities are expected to benefit from additional jobs.

The Leopold Center noted that more than 1,000 people from 95 of Iowa’s 99 counties contributed to the plan. Information was gathered at workshops, 15 listening sessions throughout the state, and two surveys. The draft recommendations were discussed with leaders of 21 state agencies, institutions, and organizations.

For more information or to get a copy of the plan, go to http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/foodandfarmplan.html or call (515) 294-3711.

Health Insurance Information for Iowans

The Iowa Insurance Division has launched a website to assist Iowans with health care questions about both private and public health insurance, called the Health Insurance Information Exchange, at www.insuranceinfoexchange.iowa.gov. In the future, the site will also contain information regarding legislative changes to health coverage, health care reform, and legislative reports submitted by the Insurance Division.

The drive for this website came from legislation passed in 2010 to provide Iowans with a place to research information such as history of premium rates, benefits covered and not covered, and contact information for the division’s consumer advocate. You cannot purchase insurance at this site, only provide research and gather information.

This website will also have the latest information regarding the creation of an insurance exchange, as federally required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. According to federal law, each state must have an operational exchange by 2014. This exchange will be a competitive marketplace for individuals and small businesses to purchase affordable healthcare plans.