Governor Rewards Corporations, Leaves Kids Behind

Governor Branstad’s budget recommendations shift priorities from kids to corporations with little difference in overall spending. The Governor recommended increasing the state general fund budget from $5.3 billion in fiscal year 2011 to $6.16 billion in fiscal year 2012, an increase of $843 million.

The Governor proposes major changes that will affect families with preschool, school age and college age children. The Governor dismantles the state voluntary preschool program currently serving 20,000 four-year-olds, eliminates preschool funding for at-risk children, and reduces Early Childhood Iowa preschool tuition assistance. While the Governor proposes replacing these efforts with a means-tested preschool tuition assistance program, his proposed action eliminates $35 million in funding for preschool alone.

The Governor provides zero growth in per pupil funding for K-12 schools for the next two years, which has not happened in the last 39 years. K-12 schools will also receive less special education assistance from area education agencies. Families with college age children would pay more to get a higher education degree with a $32 million cut in state funding to the state universities and an $8.4 million cut for community colleges.

The Governor proposes cutting income taxes for state corporations by eliminating the current graduated tax system that has a top rate of 12% to make the corporate tax a flat 6% rate. This change in the tax system would cut taxes to corporations by $400 million over the next two years and only benefit corporations that make over $25 million, not small businesses.

The nonpartisan Legislative Service Agency released a detailed analysis on Governor Branstad’s budget recommendations that shows when all spending recommended for fiscal year 2012 is compared with fiscal year 2011, spending only falls $1.8 million.

State Reduces Wellmark Insurance Rate Increase

After holding two public hearings and having two actuarial reviews, Iowa’s Insurance Commissioner reduced Wellmark’s health insurance rate increase next year from 10.8% to 8.5% and stated that she will be conducting a more detailed examination on two issues.

The first issue to be examined is Wellmark’s capital position to determine if the company is holding appropriate capital in relation to the company’s risks. This issue will also examine the possible impact on rates if adjustments are made to Wellmark’s capital.

The second issue to be analyzed is Wellmark’s market share and if that market share has changed with some of Iowa’s smaller carriers leaving the health care market. This analysis will also look at whether Wellmark’s market share has an adverse impact on consumers.

The Commissioner did approve the 15% increase for conversion, or “Blue Transitions” policies. These policies continually have more expenses because a large number of those being insured are considered high risk.

New Searchable State Budget Database and Internet Site

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 94 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 94 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.

The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Civil Marriage Ban Passes House

The House approved House Joint Resolution 6, which would amend the Iowa Constitution to define marriage between one man and one woman as the only legal union valid or recognized in Iowa. The amendment passed the House on a vote of 62-37.

A public hearing on the amendment was held before the bill was debated by the full House. The hearing included two hours of testimony by both proponents and opponents of the amendment.

To amend the Iowa Constitution the amendment would have to pass both houses of the general assembly either this year or next, and then pass both houses of the general assembly again in either 2013 or 2014. If the amendment passes twice in this way it is placed on the next general election ballot, or November 2014 at the earliest. If a majority of voters vote in favor of the amendment, the Iowa Constitution is amended.

The bill now goes to the Senate.

Expanding Visitation for Deploying Soldiers’ Families

The House Veterans Affairs Committee passed House File 66 this week, which expands who can assign visitation time to another family member during deployment. The bill intends to correct an oversight of the original law that was passed last year.

Current law only allows a parent who is a member of the U.S. Armed Forces with visitation rights, to file a petition with the court to modify visitation rights to another family member while deployed. The modification must be in the best interest of the child and will end upon return from deployment.

House File 66 allows parents that are on active duty with joint physical care of their children to petition a court order to assign joint physical care parenting time to another family member while deployed overseas. Like current law, the bill maintains that a change in joint physical care parenting time must be done in the best interest of the child.

In addition, the court must ensure that the specified family member is not a sex offender, has a history of domestic abuse, has an established relationship with the child, and is able to personally and financially support the child during joint physical care parenting time. The parent whom is changing the joint physical care parenting time must provide a copy of the order to the proper school and school district.

If a petition to modify the court order is approved, a change in joint physical care parenting time does not give separate rights for a person other than the parent. In addition, any approved court order will end when the court is notified by the parent on active duty, or when the parent completes active duty, whichever occurs first.

The bill now goes before the full House for debate.

Hunting Access Pilot Program

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has announced a new hunting access pilot program that will fund habitat improvement projects on private land in exchange for public access to their land for hunting. They noted this approach has been used successfully in North Dakota as the basis for their private land program.

Iowa received a three-year $1.5 million grant from USDA to encourage owners and operators of privately-held farm, ranch, and forest land to voluntarily make that land available for hunting access by the public. The department is currently working on rules to implement the program. The pilot project could potentially fund access to 10,000 acres in each of the three years during the program. Contracts would be from three to ten years in length.

As for the issue of landowner liability, the Attorney General’s office is saying that if the landowner does not charge a fee for hunters to access their property, that they would not be held liable in the case of injury.

Voters to Show Photo ID’s at Polls

A bill adopted by the House this week requires voters to show photo identification when they vote at the polls and at satellite polling places when they vote an absentee ballot in person. The bill does not require a copy be included when voting absentee ballot by mail.

The bill passed on a party line vote of 60-40 with Republicans supporting and Democrats opposing. Supporters believe this puts in place safeguards to protect our voting process from potential voter fraud. Opponents argue there are no cases of voter fraud in Iowa; this bill only creates new barriers that block citizen voter participation. It’s a bill looking for a problem to solve.

House File 95 says if the voter forgets their ID at the polls, they can vote a provisional ballot. However, they would also have to go to the county auditor’s office before noon on the Monday following the election and show their ID for their vote to count. The bill also allows for free nonoperator ID cards and birth certificates for voting purposes only. This portion of the bill is estimated to reduce funding to the road use tax fund by $345,000 a year after it is fully implemented.

The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Committee Passes Bill to Make K2 & Spice a Controlled Substance

This week the House Public Safety Committee passed two bills that deal with classifying illegal substances as a schedule 1 controlled substance. Substances that are listed as schedule 1 are not seen to have any medicinal purpose and are considered highly addictive.

House Study Bill 5 classifies salvia and what is commonly referred to as “K2” or “Spice” as schedule 1. K2 gained press this past summer because it played a role in the death of an Indianola teenager.

House Study Bill 4 eliminates all reference to marijuana as a schedule 2 substance for medicinal purposes and also eliminates all language allowing the Board of Pharmacy to adopt rules for medicinal marijuana. By eliminating this language, marijuana will remain a schedule 1 drug.

Local Fire Departments Participate in Operation Safe Senior

The State Fire Marshal’s Office distributed over 13,000 9-volt batteries to local fire departments that signed up to participate in Operation Safe Senior. The local departments that are participating pledged to check and install the batteries in the smoke detectors in homes where seniors live when they are dispatched for a welfare check, a home hazard inspection, and/or a medical call.

Operation Safe Senior was created through a partnership between the Iowa Department on Aging, the American Red Cross, and Energizer Batteries. The goal is to turn around fatality statistics regarding Iowa’s senior citizens. The State Fire Marshal’s Office reports that over the past five years, more than 25% of Iowa’s fire fatalities were citizens over the age of 65 years.