Memorial Day Honors Fallen Soldiers

Memorial Day dates back to 1866 when a small number of local communities in the North and South honored fallen soldiers of the Civil War by placing flowers on graves for Decoration Day. The holiday spread across the country, but it wasn’t until after World War I that Memorial Day was expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars.

During this year’s legislative session, the Iowa Legislature passed several laws to honor and assist military soldiers, veterans, and their families. One of the bills, House File 195, expands upon last year’s law allowing the assignment of visitation to a relative while on active duty. The bill allows an Iowa National Guard member, who is called to active duty, to assign physical care parenting time to a relative while deployed. The assignment of visitation or physical care parenting time must be done in the best interest of the child. The bill took effect April 12, 2011.

In addition, as some soldiers are deployed multiple times, the Legislature passed Senate File 402, which allows for a soldier who has already taken advantage of the Injured Veterans Grant Program to obtain additional benefits, if the soldier has another unrelated injury. The purpose of the program is to provide immediate financial assistance to the veteran so that family members may be with the veteran during recovery and rehabilitation from an injury or illness received in the line of duty in a combat zone or in a designated hostile fire zone. The unrelated injury must meet the same qualifications as the first injury to obtain benefits. The bill applies retroactively to September 11, 2001.

Budget Discussion Extends Session

Iowans elect their state Representatives and Senators to be good fiscal stewards with their tax dollars and ensure that services they depend upon are maintained or improved. Legislators are questioning whether austerity measures should continue or not; either choice will impact families with children in preschool through college.

Legislators are also questioning the best route to provide commercial property tax relief, one that protects other property taxpayers from a tax shift or one that leaves homeowners and farmers unprotected.

Some of the issues still under discussion include funding for k-12 schools, statewide preschool, and funding for community colleges and state universities. Other issues related to jobs include keeping local workforce development offices open, continuing the state’s job creation efforts, and helping Iowans get skills for high demand jobs.

Iowa One of Three States Extending Session

According to the NCSL report, 20 states have enacted their fiscal year 2012 budgets, 8 have budget bills to the governor, while the rest are yet to complete their fiscal year 2012 budgets. Many of the states yet to complete their fiscal year 2012 budget have adjournment dates that fall before or after their fiscal years start or the state has a legislature that meets year round. Iowa still has a citizen legislature, where many of the legislators have jobs outside of their duties as a legislator.

While some states are struggling to close gaps between their existing budgets and available revenues, Iowa does not have this problem. Iowa has over $1 billion available in new revenues over and above the fiscal year 2011 general budget. The House, Senate, and Governor are haggling over a fiscal year 2012 budget that will spend between $5.999 billion and $6.145 billion, which will leave an ending balance between $330 million and $185 million.

No matter what gets negotiated, in the end the state will have $610 million in our savings accounts next year (known as our rainy day funds), which is in addition to the ending balance. The differences that are being negotiated represent approximately 2% of the overall budget.

New Iowa Statue to be Displayed in U.S. Capitol

By an Act of Congress in 1864, each state is allowed two statues of "notable citizens" to be displayed in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall. Iowa's two current statues depict Samuel Kirkwood, Iowa's governor during the Civil War, and James Harlan, a U.S. Senator from 1855 to 1865. Both men also served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior.

Dr. Borlaug, as a native son of Iowa, conducted groundbreaking work in breeding varieties of wheat to feed starving populations across the globe, earning the title of father of the “green revolution.” Dr. Borlaug’s breakthrough achievements in plant breeding resulted in the saving of as many as one billion lives, leading to his being described as the man who saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived. In honor of his service to humanity, Dr. Borlaug received a Nobel peace prize, a presidential medal of freedom, and the congressional gold medal. Dr. Borlaug also had the vision for the creation of the world food prize as the equivalent of a Nobel Prize for food and agriculture.

The adopted resolution authorizes the establishment of a seven person committee, appointed by the governor, to solicit donations to commission the creation of the new Dr. Borlaug statue, make all arrangements with the architect of the U.S. Capitol necessary for the new statue to be put into place, and transport the Senator Harlan statue to the Iowa Capitol. After the transfer, a perpetual display of the Senator Harlan statue is to be located within the State Capitol in Des Moines.

Economic Development Awards Support Creation of 447 Jobs

Industries represented in the awards include manufacturing, biotechnology and food processing. The total capital investment of the projects receiving awards is more than $233 million.

Projects were approved in Davenport, Mason City, Dyersville, Grundy Center, Cedar Rapids, Chariton, Shelby, and Council Bluffs.

The majority party in the Iowa House has proposed major cuts to Iowa’s economic development efforts. Their proposed budget cuts 13% from the economic development budget and another $38 million from the Grow Iowa Values Fund, which is Iowa’s premiere job creation initiative.

More information about the projects can be found at www.iowalifechanging.com/Documents/documents.aspx?id=3.

Unwanted Aquatic Invasive Species

Zebra mussels and Eurasian watermilfoil are two aquatic invasive species that are turning up in Iowa by hitchhiking on boats, in bait buckets, and with other equipment used in the water. Bighead and silver carp are aquatic invasive species that have been spreading on their own throughout Iowa rivers. These aquatic invaders can create serious problems when they become established in our waters.

It is illegal to possess or transport prohibited aquatic invasive species in Iowa. It is also illegal to introduce any live fish, except for hooked bait, into public waters. Signs are posted at public accesses to remind boaters to stop aquatic hitchhikers and to identify infested waters.

Boaters and anglers should take the following precautions to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species:

• Clean any plants, animals, or mud from boat and equipment before leaving a water body.
  
• Drain water from all equipment (motor, live well, bilge, transom well) before leaving a water body.
  
• Dry anything that comes into contact with water (boats, trailers, equipment, boots, clothing, dogs). Before transporting to another water body either:
  
• Spray your boat and trailer with hot, high-pressure water; or
  
• Dry your boat and equipment for at least 5 days.
  
• Never release plants, fish, or animals into a water body unless they came out of that water body and empty unwanted bait in the trash.

Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft

Because this is a never ending problem, the Attorney General’s Office provides consumers steps they can take to control their personal information and prevent identity theft. Below are just a few of the steps:

• Register for the National Do Not Call Registry by calling 1-888-382-1222 from the phone that you wish to register, or go to www.DoNotCall.gov.

• Check your monthly billing statements and annual credit reports for unauthorized charges or anything unusual.
  
• Protect your Social Security number by not using it as a personal identification number, if possible.
• Don’t give financial or personal information for sweepstake entries, prize offers, or warranty and rebate cards.

Steps to Prevent Damage & Disaster to Your Family and Home

These items range from no to low cost.

• Establish an emergency contact and make sure that every family member knows the number and address for this contact. This contact can be used rather than calling 911 if family members have been separated and need to check on each other and have a location to reunite.
  
• Teach every family member when and how to dial 911 for emergency assistance.
  
• Purchase a NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) weather radio with battery back-up for your home.
  
• Put together an emergency supply kit containing enough food and water for every family member, important documents and files, cash or traveler’s checks, non-prescription medications, and prescription medications that are taken every day such as insulin and heart medicine.
  
• Bring in objects such as bikes, toys, potted plants, and patio furniture which can become airborne and cause damage to homes when turned into wind-borne projectiles.
  
• Develop an evacuation plan in case you live in an area that needs to be evacuated. The plan should include locations of emergency shelters and can include an established safety destination (like a friend’s or relative’s house some distance away). Plan several different routes to get to the safety destination in case there are roadblocks or hazards.

Water Quality Monitoring at State Park Beaches Begins

“Swimming is not recommended” signs will be posted if the five most recent samples within a 30-day period exceed water quality standards or if the beach has had bacteria problems in the past and one sample exceeds the state’s one-time maximum standard. Advisory signs will also be posted if blue-green algae exceed maximum standards at a beach.

DNR noted that Iowa has received above average rainfall over the past several summers, which has raised the number of advisories posted at some beaches in recent years. In spite of this, monitoring over the past 11 swimming seasons has shown that our state park beaches are safe for swimming the majority of the time.

Beach water quality results can be found on the DNR website, www.iowadnr.gov, by clicking on “Beach Monitoring.” Visitors can choose “State Park Beaches” from the list of options to get an interactive display of beaches across the state with water quality results. Visitors can also receive information on water quality at Iowa’s State Park beaches by calling the Iowa Beach Hotline at 319-353-2613.