Preschool, Higher Education on the Chopping Block

Despite concerns of higher tuition and increasing student debt, the Iowa House approved the education budget bill that funds community colleges, state universities, college aid programs, the Department of Education, and the Department of Blind. For the first time since the early 1980’s the House approved a two-year budget that spends $791 million in fiscal year 2012 and $829 million in fiscal year 2013.

The bill cuts $49 million in funding to our state universities and community colleges in fiscal year 2012. The bill provides $8 million more for community colleges and $3 million for the state universities to split in fiscal year 2013. This will likely cause tuitions to rise and student loan debts to mount.

The bill also reignited the debate over quality, accessible preschool when the majority party again voted to end Iowa’s statewide voluntary preschool initiative and replace it with a voucher system while reducing funding by over half.

Citing the state’s $1 billion surplus, opponents of the bill said it unfairly punishes middle class families by raising the cost of education from preschool to college. Iowa students already carry one of the highest debt burdens in the nation after finishing college, which forces many students to look for higher-paying jobs out of state.

The bill now heads to the Senate where it is likely to be changed.

Helping Our Soldiers and Veterans

This week, the Iowa House passed a package of bills to help Iowa’s soldiers and veterans.

The House expanded eligibility for the National Guard Education Assistance Program to include soldiers who participated in Operation New Dawn and Operation Enduring Freedom. Operation New Dawn began on September 1, 2010 and Operation Enduring Freedom began October 7, 2001.

Senate File 399 requires businesses to disclose that County Veterans Affairs Administration will assist at no cost with appealing a denial of veterans’ benefits. Currently, some businesses are misrepresenting that they are affiliated with the Veterans Affairs Administration and charging veterans for services. Any business that does not comply with the disclosure requirement is subject to a maximum fine of $1,000 per incident.

Senate File 194 makes changes relating to the Iowa Military Code, including waiving the application fee for a certified copy of a birth certificate or death certificate of an Iowa service member who died in performing military duties.

All three bills go to the Governor for his signature.

New Congressional and Legislative District Maps Released

Every ten years, Iowa’s non-partisan redistricting system uses U.S. Census population data to draw new congressional and legislative districts. Since Iowa’s population stayed nearly the same over the last decade, Iowa is losing a congressional seat and will go from five to four United States Representatives in the U.S. House.

On March 31st, the Legislature got its first look at what congressional and legislative districts could look like for the next 10 years. Unlike other states, Iowa’s redistricting system keeps politics out of the process. The new map is drawn by the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency and they can only use population data to draw the new districts. They are not allowed to use voter registration numbers, election data, or even consider where current elected officials live.

Congressional Districts’ ideal population under the new census numbers is to be 761,589 people. Under this first plan, the overall mean deviation between districts is only 0.01 percent with the difference between the largest and smallest Congressional District only 76 people. For Iowa House Districts, the ideal population is 30,464 and the highest deviation between districts is 0.98 percent, or a difference of 299 people. For Iowa Senate Districts, the ideal population is 60,927 and the highest deviation between districts is 0.90 percent, or a difference of 548 people.

Four of Iowa’s five current congressmen are paired in congressional districts in this first plan. Also, 27 state representatives and 14 state senators are paired in new districts.

Part of Iowa’s non-partisan redrawing of the districts includes hearing from Iowans. A Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission, made up of five Iowans, is currently holding hearings around the state to hear these comments. The commission will compile the public comments into a report and submit it to the Legislature as early as Friday, April 8. Next week is the earliest the Legislature can vote on this plan.

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

Bill Granting Rights to Posthumously Born Children Signed

Governor Branstad signed a bill to grant rights to children born after the death of a parent the same rights as children born to living, married parents.

The bill arose out of a West Branch family. In 2000, Bruce Beeler was diagnosed with leukemia. Before beginning treatment that could have potentially caused infertility, Mr. Beeler banked his sperm in the hopes that he and his wife, Patti, could have children after he got well. Unfortunately, Mr. Beeler passed away before he and his wife could conceive a child. Following his death, his wife used his banked sperm to conceive the couple’s daughter, Brynn, in 2003.

Under Iowa law at the time, Brynn was not considered the legitimate child of her father since she was conceived after her father’s death. Under House File 245, children conceived posthumously will be treated just like children born during the marriage if certain requirements are followed, such as assurances that the deceased parent intended the conception of the child.

The situation is most common in patients undergoing treatment that can leave the patient infertile and with soldiers serving overseas in case something happens during their service.

Protecting Iowa’s Most Vulnerable

When the House passed the administration and regulation budget this week, the focus was on protecting kids of neglect and child abuse and increasing protection for our elder Iowans in nursing home facilities.

The House minority party made it a priority to provide additional funds to the Child Advocacy Board, which administers the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program. CASA trains volunteers to help protect the interests of abused and neglected children. This program is critical for our most vulnerable children, it helps train community volunteers to serve as an effective voice in court for abused and neglected children, and strengthens efforts to ensure that each child is living in a safe, permanent, and nurturing home.

Likewise, the House minority party urged additional funding for nursing home facility inspections. Within the last couple of months, the Department of Inspection and Appeals, which administers nursing home inspections, reduced their amount of nursing home inspectors by 10, leaving the remaining 28 inspectors to monitor the care received by 30,000 residents in the state’s 442 nursing homes. The proposal would have restored those inspectors that are caring for our Iowan’s who may be unable to care for themselves.

Although the majority party did not accept these additional funding proposals, the bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Iowa’s Eagles Seen Globally

School children, teachers, parents, and people around the world are watching online as a male and female bald eagle in Decorah, Iowa feed their two eaglets with one egg still to hatch.

The non-profit group Raptor Resource Project set up a camera pointed at their eagle nest. It has been reported that the online video, which is being livestreamed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, has attracted more than 11 million visitors to the project's website.

The history of the nesting pair of eagles is they have been together since the winter of 2007-2008. The female’s markings at that time indicated that she was about 4 years old. They successfully hatched and fledged two eaglets in 2008, then three in 2009, and three more in 2010.

On June 20, 1782, Congress chose the Bald Eagle as our national symbol. A drastic decline of eagles in the 1900’s can be attributed to direct persecution, habitat loss, and pesticide contamination. Iowa had its first bald eagle nest in over 70 years in 1977, and since then eagle nests have been reported in 86 of Iowa’s 99 counties. There are currently 262 bald eagle territories classified as ‘active’ by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Watch the Decorah eagles at www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles.

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 that passed the House this week 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, the state’s watershed improvement grants, and Iowa’s small business assistance fund.

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 File 648 passed the House and is now ready to be debated by the Senate.

Budget Bill for Courts Passes House

This week, the House passed Senate File 511 that appropriates money to the Judicial Branch for the salaries and operations of the courts. The bill appropriates a total of $156 million for fiscal year 2012, which runs from July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2012. The $156 million is an increase of $800,000 compared to fiscal year 2011, and the increase is found in the appropriation to the jury and witness fee revolving fund, not to the salaries and operations of the courts.

The House adopted an amendment which spends $110,000 less than the original Senate bill, and also appropriates money for the next fiscal year, 2013. It’s that two-year budgeting process that makes this bill, and every other budget bill, contentious between the House and the Senate. For fiscal year 2013, the House amendment appropriates $3.2 million more for salaries and operations and the same amount for jury and witness fee revolving fund, when compared to fiscal year 2012.

Since the House adopted an amendment, the Senate will need to take up the bill and decide whether to accept the House amendment before the bill goes to the Governor for his consideration.

More Motorcycles on the Roads

With warmer weather and increasing gas prices, the Department of Transportation is reminding drivers they will soon see more motorcyclists on the road, and to remind drivers of vehicles and motorcycles to watch out for each other. There are steps that each type of driver can take to help reduce the crashes and fatalities.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) reports that between the calendar years 2001 and 2010, motorcycles registrations have increased by nearly 30%. In those same years, the number of fatalities went from 36 to 60, and major injuries went from 194 to 268. While it’s easy to conclude that there will be more crashes simply because there are more motorcycles on the road, the DOT points out other factors that have and do play a role in crashes and fatalities.

With the increased technology over the years, it is easier for a driver to become distracted by something inside the vehicle, so the DOT recommends that drivers concentrate on the road and only the road. It’s easy and common for a driver to misjudge the distance and speed of the motorcyclists because they are smaller than a vehicle. Installing a modulating headlight on a motorcycle is easy and is more visible than a regular headlight. Motorcyclists should always avoid being caught in vehicle’s blind spot.