Support for Small Businesses

Since Iowa’s small businesses pay 18 percent more for health insurance than big businesses, the Iowa Legislature is considering a bill to help small businesses pay for rising health care costs for their employees.

The bill, which has already been approved by the Senate, would help 60,000 Iowa businesses with 10 or fewer employees by providing a state tax credit worth 25 percent of the federal credit. For example, a company that spends $50,000 a year providing health care benefits would receive a state tax credit of $4,375 and a federal credit of $17,500.

Last week, the Iowa Senate approved two other pieces of legislation designed to help small business and help Iowans get training to transition to a new career.

The bills face an uncertain future in the Iowa House.

Drunk Boating Lowered to .08

The House unanimously passed a bill this week that lowers the blood alcohol limit for operating a boat while intoxicated from .10 to .08. This will make the limit the same as drunk driving a motor vehicle.

In 2000, the Legislature adopted the implied consent law for drunk boating. This means a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) conservation officer can require a sobriety test of the boat operator, if the officer has reasonable cause to suspect that the operator is intoxicated. In 2010, conservation officers made 35 boating while intoxicated (BWI) arrests; three out of five boating fatalities involved alcohol.

The House amended Senate File 7 to define operating, which when used in reference to a motorboat, means the motorboat is powered by a motor which is running. When used in reference to a sailboat, it means the sailboat is either powered by a motor which is running or has sails hoisted and is not propelled by a motor and is under way.

Consuming alcohol on a boat is lawful. However, the operator of the boat cannot be intoxicated. The bill goes back to the Senate for consideration of the House amendment.

Public Hearings on New Congressional and Legislative Districts

On March 31, 2011, the Legislature will get their first look at what congressional and legislative districts will look like for the next 10 years. Every year after a census, the Legislature redraws the districts to reflect the population changes in Iowa. This year, because of the population changed, Iowa is losing a congressional district, from five to four.

Part of Iowa’s non-partisan redrawing of the districts includes hearing from Iowans. A Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission, made up of five Iowans, has set up four public hearings around the state to hear these comments. The commission will compile the public comments into a report and submit it to the Legislature by Monday, April 11th. The Legislature has to wait three days prior to voting on the first redistricting plan.

The public hearings are as follows:

April 4
6:00 pm to 8:30 pm in the ICN Room at the Council Bluffs Public Library. The following ICN sites will be interactive: North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City, Northwest Area Education Agency in Sioux City, and the Spencer Public Library

April 5
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency in Bettendorf

April 6
6:30 pm to 9:00 pm in the ICN Room at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids. The following ICN sites will be interactive: Keystone Area Education Agency in Dubuque, Great Prairie Area Education Agency in Ottumwa, and Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo

April 7
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Wallace State Office Building Auditorium in Des Moines

More information can be obtained at this website: www.legis.iowa.gov/Resources/Redist/redistrictingPlan2011.aspx

Online Resource Helps College Students with Financial Planning

Iowa Student Loan has developed an online resource that will help students understand how overborrowing to pay for college can affect their financial future. Because many students learn best by example, a real borrower’s experience about the problems that can result from overborrowing is weaved throughout the online course.

The online resource provides student loan applicants with personalized real-time results about how their borrowing decisions today will affect their lifestyle after graduation. The online feature gives students immediate suggestions on ways they can reduce their expenses and education loan indebtedness.

As part of the online program, students must progress through a series of interactive screens that ask them to input their requested loan amount and their anticipated future career as well as their estimated past, present and future student loan amounts. From this information, their debt-to-income ratio is revealed. Applicants are warned about the serious financial obligation of taking on student loans. They are also walked through an estimated budget and a variety of immediate ways to reduce their expenses in hopes they can reduce their need to borrow.

Before proceeding with the private student loan application, students are given the opportunity to change their requested loan amount given the information they learned.

Iowa Student Loan is a private, nonprofit organization, which currently helps more than 220,000 customers pay for college. The organization also provides benefits in the form of discounted loan products and loan forgiveness programs and supports free college planning services for students and their families. For more information about Iowa Student Loan, visit www.studentloan.org.

House Sends Several Education Bills to the Senate

The House approved a number of education bills this last week that seem to have a greater emphasis on creating alternatives for education, rather than focusing on improving education through public schools.

One bill will allow parents who home school their children to also provide driver’s education instruction as well. Another bill allows home school parents to instruct up to four other children, unrelated to them, through independent private instruction.

The state’s charter school laws will allow a consortium of nonpublic schools, community colleges, state public or private universities, and nonprofit corporations to take their chances at providing instruction as a charter school under another bill. The charter school would be allowed to hand pick its students.

Also, nonpublic schools would be allowed to be accredited by an independent accrediting agency, rather than meet the state standards provided by the State Board of Education. This will likely open the door for schools that are currently not accredited by the State to become eligible for state transportation funds, textbook funds, and area education services that are currently provided to nonpublic schools that are accredited by the State.

Finally, another bill changes the school day to school hours, which moves schools from a 180 day calendar to 1,080 hour calendar. This may allow schools more flexibility in addressing snow days. School districts could still request a waiver to start the school year earlier, but they are no longer required to have a public hearing prior to making the request.

All of these bills now move to the Senate for consideration.

Alzheimer’s Disease Response Strategy

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, there are 69,000 older Iowans living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. By 2025, there is expected to be an 18% increase in Iowans with dementia. Due to these staggering statistics the Iowa House passed House File 390 this week.

House File 390 requires the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) to convene a stake holder workgroup of state agencies and interested groups to design a strategy to respond to the needs of Iowans with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. In designing a strategy, the group is required to consider the most current research developments and available data, and integrate the activities and expertise of any existing public or private programs, initiatives, or opportunities that offer potential for coordination and collaboration relative to, or the financing of, the response strategy.

The final strategy must include a recommendation for the location of an office for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia within state government, recommendations to institute the public and private partnership necessary to most efficiently and effectively implement the response strategy and provide continuing collaboration, and any recommendations for ongoing data collection and funding to support the response strategy. The workgroup must submit their strategy to the Governor and the Legislature by November 15, 2011.

House File 390 moves to the Senate for consideration.

Transportation Bills to Governor

This week the Legislature passed two transportation bills that now await the Governor’s signature. House File 290 allows motorcycles to be equipped with detachable stabilizing wheels to be driven on Iowa’s roads. They are currently not allowed because Iowa law doesn’t allow a motorcycle with more than two wheels.

The Legislature also passed Senate File 149, which allows advanced nurse practitioners and physician assistants to notify the Department of Transportation if a person has a physical or mental disability that would not allow them to safely operate a motor vehicle. Currently, only doctors can notify the department, which can be burdensome in many areas of rural Iowa.

Both bills are ready for the Governor’s signature.

Report on Winter Emergency Manure Application

Members of the House Agriculture Committee were updated by the Department of Natural Resources regarding emergency manure application this winter on snow-covered or frozen ground. By February 15, 2011, the department had received nine requests from producers for emergency application; all nine requests were granted.

The department also reported that 78 percent of the complaints reported to DNR about manure application on snow-covered or frozen ground concern producers not regulated under this law. There are currently 5,487 confinement feeding operations in the state that are required to have manure management plans and are subject to the winter application restrictions.

According to DNR, the state had nearly ideal weather conditions following the fall of 2010 harvest. The dry weather and no snow meant most producers had several weeks to empty manure storage structures and land apply manure. The nine requests compares to 43 requests for the 2009-2010 winter when we had a wet fall and early snowfalls that limited after-harvest manure application.

In 2009, the Legislature passed legislation that limits the surface application of liquid manure from larger confinement feeding operations from December 21 to April 1 on snow-covered ground, and from February 1 to April 1 if the ground is frozen. Application is allowed on an emergency basis with DNR approval.