Job Training, Rail and Community Development Funding Eliminated

For the last four years, Iowa’s community colleges received gaming dollars to provide job training in the areas of advanced manufacturing, information technology and assurance, alternative and renewable energy, biotechnology, health care technology, and nursing care technology. However, a bill moving through the House would zero out that funding next year.

The infrastructure budget bill, which is funded by state gaming revenues, provides funding for numerous infrastructure and technology projects, including the prisons at Fort Madison and Mitchellville, National Guard armories and readiness centers, county fairs, commercial airports, public transit, recreational trails, and lakes restoration.

This year’s bill also repeals all funding for the passenger rail project from Chicago to Iowa City, the river enhancement community attraction and tourism program, improvements at local libraries, the great places program, the housing trust fund, and the state’s watershed improvement grants.

It also reduces funding for the community attraction and tourism fund for community projects; the environment first fund, which funds recreation and water quality programs including the Resource Enhancement and Protection Fund (REAP; and community colleges infrastructure needs.

As Iowa continues to recover from the economic recession and many Iowans are still looking for work, some legislators believe the state should continue to provide job training in key industries poised for growth.

House Study Bill 220 passed the House Appropriations Committee and is now ready to be debated by the full House. This is the first action on the bill as it works its way through the process to becoming law.

Senate Passes Jobs Programs

In an effort to create good paying jobs, the Iowa Senate has approved two pieces of legislation designed to help small business and help Iowans get training to transition to a new career.

Created by small business owners in the Iowa House last year, Senate File 301 expands the state’s Save Our Small Business Fund to ease the credit crunch on small businesses by providing for low-interest job creation loans to businesses with 35 or fewer employees. The fund was created last year to provide access to capital to small businesses, which has been a top concern among businesses during tough economic times.

This year’s expansion makes more small businesses eligible and makes first six months interest-free. To be eligible for the loan program, the small business must be located in Iowa and must be owned, operated, and actively managed by an Iowa resident.

The Senate also approved a plan to help Iowans receive training at area community colleges. By expanding a community collect pilot project statewide, Senate File 328 helps working Iowans receive training and financial aid to earn industry recognized certificates at Iowa’s community colleges in welding, nursing and other fields with local job openings.

Currently, traditional financial aid does not cover these sorts of programs. Community colleges will administer the program and work with local businesses to address local skill shortages. The bills now go to the House for consideration.

House Finishes Debate on Collective Bargaining

After nearly a week of debate, the Iowa House approved a bill that would essentially end Iowa’s longstanding collective bargaining law for correctional officers, teachers, police officers, fire fighters, and other workers.

Opponents of the bill, which was approved on a party-line vote, say the Legislature’s top priority this year should be creating new jobs and opportunities for working families in Iowa. The bill, House File 525, prevents workers from being able to discuss with employers issues that affect their health and safety, outsourcing, privatization, or layoffs.

The Iowa Senate has already said the bill will not be debated because it does not have the votes to make it out of committee.

Medical Malpractice Cases

The House passed House File 490 this week which, according to supporters of the bill, fixes the problem with medical malpractice cases (there are months and months of litigation without conclusions).

The bill requires the plaintiff in a medical malpractice case to provide to the defendant a certificate of merit affidavit for each expert who will testify. Each affidavit must be signed by the expert and must be provided to the defendant within 180 days of the defendant’s answer to the lawsuit. If these affidavits are not provided within the 180 days, the case will be dismissed.

Opponents argued this language is not needed because the affidavits may not be able to be completed within 180 days due to complications with accessing medical records, medical malpractice filings has decreased by 50% in Iowa, and it is unfair to put these time constraint requirements only on the plaintiff.

An amendment was offered to put the same affidavit requirements on the defendant, to make it a level playing field, but the majority party opposed that idea. House File 490 has been passed over to the Senate for consideration.

Child Abuse Registry

The Iowa House passed House File 562 this week in an effort to comply with an Iowa Supreme Court decision and better protect the children of Iowa.

Last summer, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled on a case regarding a woman being placed on the Central Child Abuse Registry by the Department of Human Services (DHS). DHS placed the woman’s name on the registry for a confirmed allegation of denial of critical care due to lack of proper supervision. She appealed the decision on grounds she did not meet the criteria to be placed on the child abuse registry.

The Iowa Supreme Court agreed with her argument, stating DHS had exceeded its authority by placing her on the child abuse registry for only a confirmed allegation of denial of critical care due to lack of proper supervision.

Current law does classify denial of critical care due to lack of proper supervision as child abuse. However, not all actions defined as child abuse meet the criteria for a name being placed on the child abuse registry.

House File 562 changes the law from listing the reasons to be placed on the registry to reasons why a person should not be listed on the registry. In addition, the bill states that child abuse or abuse cannot be construed to hold a victim responsible for failing to prevent a crime against the victim.

Lastly, the bill requires DHS to develop short term and long term solutions regarding child protection system improvements dealing with due process rights of alleged child abusers.

House File 562 now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Buckle Up!

The Department of Public Safety has announced that between March 17 and March 20, Iowa law enforcement will be out in force looking for traffic violators as part of the special Traffic Enforcement Program (sTEP). This enforcement event is a statewide project to help change driver behavior and encourage motorists to obey traffic laws with an emphasis on buckling up, slowing down, and driving sober.

During the same effort in 2010, law enforcement reported three traffic fatalities. According to the Iowa Department of Transportation, 10 of the 16 recorded traffic fatalities in January 2011 were not wearing their safety belts.

During the November 23–29, 2010, sTEP wave, 1,765 officers from 234 law enforcement agencies across the state reported 19,306 traffic violations. Included in that total were 1,173 safety belt, 7,485 speed, 2,913 equipment, and 2,290 proof of insurance violations.

The next sTEP enforcement project will occur on May 25–June 5, 2011. For additional information, go to www.iowagtsb.org or www.nhtsa.dot.gov.