Over a Thousand Rally to Keep Rights for State Troopers, Teachers, & Fire Fighters

Over a thousand Iowans rallied at the State Capitol on Tuesday to support rights for police officers, fire fighters, state troopers, teachers, nurses, and other workers. Later in the day, a House subcommittee took public comment on a bill that would take away rights from hard-working Iowans.

Opponents of the bill say the Legislature’s top priority this year should be creating new jobs and opportunities for working families in Iowa while the bill under consideration by the majority party is bad for middle class families.

Iowa’s collective bargaining law has worked well for 30 years and was enacted by a Republican Governor. Despite claims the bill is needed because the state has no money, the state has a $900 million surplus and the majority party has already spent over $1 billion in tax breaks.

Public Workers Make Less Than Private Counterparts

Another report out this week also ends the myth that state workers make more than workers in the private sector. A non-partisan study by the Iowa Policy Project examined the pay and benefits for similar work in the public sector vs. the private sector and found that men in the public sector make 6 percent less than their counterparts in the private sector and women in the public sector earn 8 percent less than the private sector.

Democrats: Workforce Centers Should Stay Open

After Governor Branstad announced a plan to close 39 workforce centers across Iowa, Democrats in the Legislature vowed to work to keep the offices open.

The workforce centers are a valuable resource for out of work Iowans as well as businesses looking for skilled workers. The centers provide job search and placement assistance, interview skills workshops, and claims assistance. The centers also support local businesses by referring job seekers to available openings and matching job seeker experience with job requirements.

The Branstad plan would close 39 of the state’s 55 workforce offices, mostly in rural areas, and eliminate 100 positions. Instead, Iowa libraries and volunteers would be trained to assist Iowans seeking employment. Opponents of the plan expressed concerns about the ability of public libraries to handle the needs of Iowans seeking job assistance and say it will reduce access to job services in local communities.

In 2010, workforce offices served 247,598 individuals, including 18,397 veterans.

House Backs Up On Preschool Repeal

After the majority party originally ended preschool for 20,000 Iowa kids in the first bill of the year, the House reversed course and accepted a plan crafted by Democrats in the Iowa Senate to keep the state’s voluntary preschool initiative.

However, the majority party in the House says they will take another attempt at dismantling four-year preschool programs in the next few weeks as policy bill deadlines are approaching and budget bills begin to move from subcommittees.

The measure to keep preschool was approved in a larger bill that was sent to the Governor after serious, bi-partisan work to continue to streamline state government. If signed by the Governor, House File 45 will save the state $10 million over the next two years by reducing office supplies, freezing out of state travel, ending state benefits to adult illegal immigrants, and restricting expenditures on government agency lobbyists.

The bill also limits sabbatical leave of state university faculty to no more than 3% of the faculty staff members employed at each university, and establishes a searchable budget database and internet site.

Democrats Fight to Keep Tax Cuts for Working Families

House Democrats are working to keep a tax cut that would give a boost to 240,000 Iowa working families alive this week after the majority party removed it from a bill already approved by the Senate.

The plan raises the Earned Income Tax Credit from 7 percent to 10 percent and will help working families with incomes less than $45,000.

While the tax cut for working families was removed, the bill still includes tax incentives for Iowa small businesses and others to deduct the entire cost of autos, machinery, property, and other big ticket items purchased in Iowa immediately, instead of over time. The proposal, which couples Iowa’s income tax law to federal changes, is designed to give our economy a boost and encourage businesses to invest and expand.

The bill now must be considered by the full Iowa House.

Democrats’ Budget Spends Less, Protects Preschool & Workforce Centers

Senate Democrats outlined a budget plan this week focused on job creation and protecting Iowa’s quality schools. The budget calls for $6.145 billion in general fund spending, which is $16.2 million less than Governor Branstad’s proposed budget.

The Democrats’ budget includes a $199 million tax cut to help working Iowans and encourage small business investment in Iowa. It also increases investment in educational opportunities at Iowa’s local schools, and it continues Iowa’s successful quality preschool initiative.

Budget subcommittees have started voting out budget bills this week, marking the beginning of the dance to achieve a compromise that will lead to a fiscally responsible balanced budget before the Legislature adjourns for the year.

The Governor is proposing the largest general fund budget in state history with a budget that spends $6.161 billion. The Senate budget target has a general fund budget of $6.145 billion, $16 million less than the Governor proposed. The House Republican’s budget target has a general fund that spends $5.902 billion, but they had to shift more than $505 million spending and resources out of the general fund to other funding sources to achieve their lower budget.

Democrats Support Preschool, Middle Class Tax Cut

House Democrats offered a plan to keep 20,000 Iowa kids in preschool and provide more help for middle class families during debate on Iowa’s income tax rates. Instead, the majority party chose an irresponsible $700 million plan that rewards the wealthy while leaving the middle class and Iowa kids behind.

The plan was offered during debate on House File 194, which reduces each of Iowa’s nine personal income tax brackets by approximately 20 percent each. The bill would cost the state about $750 million annually.

While still providing tax relief to every Iowan, the Democratic plan set aside funds for preschool while targeting the tax relief to middle class families. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Iowa’s Graduation Rates Increase

The graduation rate for Iowa’s Class of 2010 increased over the previous year, according to figures released by the Iowa Department of Education. In fact, all but one student subgroup saw an increase in its graduation rate, with significant increases among Hispanic students (from 69% to 77%) and students who do not speak English as their native language (from 64% to 73%).

The one subgroup that did not improve was African Americans, which dropped 0.1%. However, they did show improvement when you take in account those that stayed in school and graduated from the 2009 class in five years, which was a 5.8% increase compared to the regular 4-year 2009 rate.

Some of the highest gains were recorded in large school districts. The graduation rate in Des Moines, the state’s largest district, jumped to 78% in 2010, up from 73% the year before. Davenport and Waterloo also increased. Overall, graduation rates climbed in 60% of Iowa school districts, while rates declined in 38% of the districts.

Appropriations Chair Backs Off Sale of Pollock Painting

After a strong backlash from Iowans, the House Appropriations Committee Chair has backed down on his proposal to have the Board of Regents sell the Jackson Pollock painting Mural.

Mural was given to the University of Iowa in 1951 by Peggy Guggenheim, the leading dealer of Modern Art in New York at the time, who recognized the significance of the UI studio art program. The painting is currently on view at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport after the UI Art Museum was closed after the floods of 2008. The 8 foot by 20 foot canvas has an estimated value of $150 million.

The University of Iowa is concerned that discussions of the sale may cause the Guggenheim Foundation to take its gift back from the University, causing the state to lose control of the valuable asset and educational tool. Donor intent was clearly established that Ms. Guggenheim intended for this painting to be displayed at the UI Art Museum. Deviation from that, including a proposed sale, would likely lead to litigation with the Guggenheim Foundation and would risk the painting being returned to the Guggenheim Foundation.

The forced sale of the painting could also have led to the UI Art Museum losing it accreditation by the American Association of Museums.

Searchable Budget Database and Internet Site to Governor

The House adopted a bill this week to continue development of a single, searchable budget database and internet site to access the details on how the state is spending tax dollars and the performance results achieved for those expenditures. House File 45 says the searchable internet site must allow the public, at no cost, to search and compile the information. The searchable budget database must be online by January 1, 2013.

The bill also requires the development of a searchable database of all the tax rates in the state for all taxing jurisdictions by January 1, 2012.

Thirty-two states have implemented database websites with varying degrees of budget and expenditure information and search capabilities. The identifiable costs of House File 45 are estimated to be $571,000 for the first year of development and implementation costs, and $123,000 each year thereafter for operational-related costs.

Bill Allows You to Keep Guns in a State of Emergency

House File 320 relates to firearms and ammunition when the Governor has proclaimed Iowa to be in a state of public disorder or a disaster emergency. Under the bill, if the Governor has issued a proclamation, neither the Governor nor any other official of the state or local government can prohibit or regulate the lawful possession, carrying, transportation, transfer, or defensive use of a firearm. It would also be illegal to seize or confiscate firearms and ammunition that are lawfully possessed.

Supporters of the bill felt that lawful gun owners should be able to keep their guns for protection after a major natural or man-made disaster which could threaten the public peace, health, and safety of Iowans. Opponents argued it is very unlikely that such a tragedy on that scale would occur, so this is a solution looking for a problem. House File 320 passed out of the House Public Safety Committee and is ready for debate by the full House.

Assessment of Subdivided Residential Property

Over the past few years, home builders and realtors have experienced hard times trying to sell newly built homes, or trying to sell lots so that new homes can be built. Many times, these lots were once classified as agricultural land and once their classification changes to residential, the taxes on these properties increases. If the home builders or realtors can’t sell the property, they are stuck paying the higher property tax on a large amount of land.

Current law allows the board of supervisors within a county with a population of less than 20,000 to adopt an ordinance that allows the lot to be taxed in the same manner as previously taxed until it is sold, or for five years, whichever is shorter. Counties with a population of 20,000 or more can adopt a similar ordinance with a three year provision. House File 300 helps to solve this problem by eliminating the maximum three or five year provisions and simply have the change in taxation until it is sold.

Post-Deployment Class at the University of Iowa

The graduation rate for veterans is 15 percent lower than non-veteran students at the University of Iowa. Tamara Woods, a graduate student at the University of Iowa (UI), and Dr. Michael Hall, an adjunct assistant professor and a neuropsychologist at the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center, presented to the House Veterans Affairs Committee on the new course offered at the university.

Dr. Hall and Ms. Woods created the course “Life after War: Post-Deployment Issues,” which is geared towards returning veterans. Student veterans returning to the classroom often struggle with failing or poor grades due to post-deployment issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, chronic pain, and musculoskeletal problems.

At the UI, there are an estimated 385 student veterans currently enrolled, up from 300 the previous year. The ultimate goal of the class is to increase academic retention and success for UI student veterans. Dr. Hall and Ms. Woods hope the class will meet its goal and help returning veterans obtain their personal goals in and out of the classroom.

Protection for Online Shoppers

The Consumer Protection Division within the Attorney General’s Office has published advice that online consumers can follow to ensure that they are purchasing from secured websites. The division is recommending consumers consider the following tips:

• Do some research if it looks too good to be true – some easy clues are poor quality photos and misspelled words; websites that offer unlimited downloads of movies or music should be carefully scrutinized.
• It’s the little things that make the difference – look for sites that display the “s” in https://, the “s” means it’s secure. Look for the padlock image at the bottom of the browser, which indicates that the website is secure and has a safe encrypted connection.
• Is the seller authorized by the manufacturer – many times a manufacturer’s website will list authorized sellers.
• The pharmacy should be licensed and require a prescription – all online pharmacies in the U.S. are required to be licensed in the state where the vendor is located, and you can visit www.nabp.netwww.nabp.net for a list of State Boards of Pharmacy.

88 Counties Require Master Matrix for Livestock Producers The Department of Natural Resources reported that all counties except for 11 had notified them they will be using the master matrix during the next 12 months to evaluate construction permit applications for livestock confinements. Animal producers in these 88 counties must meet higher standards than other confinement producers who also need a construction permit.

The master matrix requires producers to earn points by choosing a site and using practices that reduce impacts on air, water, and the community. The following counties will not use the matrix in 2011: Decatur, Iowa, Jasper, Keokuk, Lee, Mahaska, Osceola, Plymouth, Warren, Wapello, and Washington.

While all counties may submit comments to DNR during the review process for permit applications, counties that adopt the master matrix can also appeal a preliminary permit approval to the Environmental Protection Commission. The deadline for enrolling in the program is Jan. 31 of each year.

Producers and citizens can obtain more information and view a map of participating counties at www.iowadnr.gov/afo/matrix.

Interference No Longer Requires Defendant to Inflict Injury

On a party-line vote, the majority party within the House Public Safety Committee passed House Study Bill 69, which makes changes to Iowa’s current law when a person knowingly resists or obstructs a peace officer, emergency medical care provider, or fire fighter while they are performing a lawful duty. Under current law, it must be proved that the defendant had inflicted or attempted to inflict injury to the official.

Under the bill there is no need to prove that the defendant inflicted or attempted to inflict the injury, only that the official was injured because the defendant resisted or obstructed the official in performing their lawful duties. Opponents of the bill argued that this change could result in a situation where the defendant was running away from the official, and the official tripped or suffered a heart attack, which the defendant could be found guilty.

Collection of DNA Samples

Under current law, a DNA sample is taken from persons who have been convicted of or received a deferred judgment for a felony offense. This language was adopted by the Legislature in 2005. This week, the House Public Safety Committee unanimously passed a bill which adds collection by persons who are convicted of or received an aggravated misdemeanor, which is a lesser offense. Fingerprints are collected on all persons who are arrested, no matter the charge.

Persons are allowed to request expungement of their DNA record from the state’s database or data bank if the person’s conviction is appealed and the case is dismissed. This allowance is found in current law and the bill, House Study Bill 67, does not make any changes to this procedure.

Memorial Day Weekend Camping Reservations Begin Sunday

The Department of Natural Resources wants campers to know that if you’re looking to reserve a state park site for the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, you can make a reservation starting Sunday, Feb. 27.

DNR said choice camping spots, particularly those with electricity, go quickly. Because they recently made a switch to a new reservation system, they are also recommending users get familiar with it and set up their account before Sunday. One change with the new system is that if one person makes reservations for multiple people, they will need to have addresses for those individuals.

The DNR reservation system for Iowa state park campsites, cabins, and lodge reservations is at http://iowastateparks.reserveamerica.com/. The online reservation system is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Reservations can also be made through a call center 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central Standard Time, Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at the toll-free number 1-877-427-2757.