Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal:
“We did some things on job creation in this state on making sure that the resources are there to provide for education and training of employees in this state to match the skills to the jobs that are out there and get thousands of Iowans back to work. So I’m pretty excited about some of the things we did for higher education and in particular community colleges. There are disappointments, there are disappointments in every session. I would have really loved to have gotten something done on commercial property taxes in this state. In the end we felt the plan that the Governor was advancing was one that would shift taxes to homeowners and we couldn’t go along with that.”

Video, audio and a transcript can be found at IPTV.

Senator Brian Schoenjahn of Arlington

(DES MOINES)  On Monday, May 7, the Senate voted 28-19 and the Iowa House voted 92-5 for a bipartisan, compromise education budget that includes key job creation measures.  The legislation now goes to Governor Branstad for his signature.

“When Iowa employers can’t find the workers they need, they have three bad choices: lose business to competitors, hire out-of-state, or move out of Iowa,” said Senator Brian Schoenjahn, chair of the Senate Education Budget.  “We’ve voted to invest in our community colleges so they can help Iowans fill those skilled job shortages.”

Under Senate File 2321, investment in workforce training will increase to $8 million next year, a hike of 60 percent.  The new GAP Tuition Fund, which helps Iowans earn certificates in welding, information technology and other shortage areas, will begin with a $2 million investment.  The Accelerated Career Education (ACE) program will receive $6 million.  General community college funding will increase by $13 million and the institutions will receive an additional $5 million for maintenance.

“Helping Iowans become more productive, more competitive workers is a great way to grow our economy and create new jobs in our state,” said Schoenjahn.  “Reaching the right compromise took some time but improving our economy and helping Iowans improve themselves was certainly worth it. “

The compromise budget also increases funding for Iowa’s public universities by $23 million, an amount which the Board of Regents has said will help prevent future tuition increases.  Tuition grants for private colleges were increased by 4.6 percent and funds for the National Guard tuition program were increased by 7 percent.

“By keeping tuition costs down at our public universities and private colleges, we increase educational opportunity and make it possible for Iowa’s families to send their kids to Iowa’s great colleges and universities,” said Schoenjahn.

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• An increase in our state’s investment in education at the local level, at our community colleges and at our state universities. The Senate blocked Republican demands to close preschools, eliminate support for smaller class sizes and extra help for kids learning to read, cut community college funding and force more of the cost of college onto the backs of families.

• A significant cut in commercial property taxes that reduces taxes on every commercial property in Iowa. We need to help small businesses the most and does not shift taxes onto residential property.

• A tax cut for working families—one that will also help local businesses when families purchase milk, gas and school clothes, make car repairs and pay bills.

What else still needs to be done?

Legislation that will help create jobs and strengthen our economy tops my list. Many ideas passed the Senate with bipartisan support but weren’t taken up in the House. These ideas—developed by working closely with local business and community leaders—need to be given another look:

• Giving Iowa’s community colleges more tools to help fix our state’s shortage of skilled workers. 

• Intensifying efforts to make sure state and local tax dollars buy American and buy Iowan.

• Reducing costs for 60,000 Iowa small businesses with a state tax credit on employee health insurance costs.

• Providing consumer rebates to create jobs on solar and wind projects at residences and businesses.

We filed a property tax cut bill today that contains elements of proposals from the Senate, the House and the Governor. When fully implemented, the legislation will encourage job creation by cutting taxes by almost $350 million.  Our goal is to increase economic growth and jobs in Iowa. Iowa small businesses will benefit the most, thanks to the insistence of Senate Democrats.”

Here are some highlights of the bill:

• All commercial property will receive a tax cut
• Nearly two-thirds (63%)of all commercial property will receive a 40 percent tax cut.
• Taxes will be cut by 40 percent on the first $100,000 of assessed value.
• Local governments will be reimbursed for most lost property tax revenue.
• Limits on how much residential property taxes can increase are toughened.

In addition, the legislation would more than double the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit. This legislation provides $31 million to help working families make ends meet and give a boost to local businesses.

Other provisions will encourage additional affordable housing by cutting property taxes on apartments and eliminate competitive disadvantages in the taxation of Iowa telephone companies.

Link to SSB 3205.

When we’re done, I think we’re going to have an economy in the state of Iowa–and Iowa’s economy is in relatively good shape–where we can encourage job creation and growth, encourage businesses to come to our state, tackle a problem that’s been going on for 34 years in terms of an inequity in the tax code and provide the resources to make sure we have the skilled workers to fill the jobs that we think will come to our state.  I’m very excited about that.

State Senator Joe Bolkcom

Statement by Senator Joe Bolkcom, chair of the Ways and Means Committee and member of the Senate Appropriations Committee

“Governor Branstad, your reckless rhetoric has helped bring Iowa to the point of fiscal crisis. This weekend, Senator Bill Dix of Shell Rock, the top Senate Republican on budget issues, suggested that Republicans should simply give up on budget negotiations.”

Senator Dix said:

‘I believe that there are sufficient resources that were allocated a year ago to get to January 1,” Dix says, “in which case the next legislature, after this November election, could make a determination at that point of how to supplementally approve resources for the balance of that year.

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“Governor, we need you to help stop a politically-driven Iowa government shutdown that would devastate investor confidence in the Iowa economy, create turmoil at Iowa’s schools and universities, and create needless panic among Iowa’s seniors and families.”

The Earned Income Tax Credit passed earlier this year by the Senate for the third time would provide some needed relief to working Iowans and their families. Senator Bolkcom made his comments on April 19 on the floor of the Senate chamber.

From the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities

Taxing the incomes of working-poor families runs counter to decades of efforts by policymakers across the political spectrum to help families work their way out of poverty. The federal government has exempted such families from the income tax since the mid-1980s, and a majority of states now do so as well. Since 1991, the number of states with income taxes on working-poor families of four has fallen from 24 to 15, and even in most of the remaining 15 states, the income tax liabilities of these families have declined significantly since the 1990s. Poor families paid income tax bills of several hundred dollars in 2011 in seven states. A two-parent family of four with annual income at the poverty line (which is $23,018 for a family of that size) owed $548 in Alabama, $509 in Illinois, $331 in Hawaii, $274 in Oregon, and $273 in Georgia. Iowa and Montana also levied taxes of more than $200 on families with poverty-level incomes. Such amounts can make a big difference to a family struggling to escape poverty.

Highlight video

Complete discussion (audio only)

This year's Health & Human Services budget was worked on tirelessly by many people, especially those pictured above. From left: Senator Joe Bolkcom, policy analyst Kris Bell, Senator Jack Hatch, and Senator Amanda Ragan.

In Iowa, we respect our elders, care about our neighbors and take action when children are at risk. The Senate put those Iowa values into practice when we approved the Health and Human Services budget.

Here are some of the highlights of the Senate budget in Senate File 2336:

** Helping seniors live as independently as possible. Iowa seniors want to live in their own homes as long as they can. We want our parents and grandparents to live in the most independent setting for as long as possible. Community-based services make that a reality by bringing services to seniors at home. By investing in community-based services, we will save money in the long term by avoiding more costly institutional care.

** Keeping child care available so working families can stay on the job. By providing $8 million for child care assistance, we make it possible for parents working fulltime at low-wage jobs to keep working. Increased support for local childcare providers will make quality childcare easier to find.

** Ensuring safe, stable homes for children at risk. Surveys repeatedly find that Iowa is one of the most “child-friendly” places to raise a family. We want to make sure it stays that way for all Iowa kids. That’s why we’ve approved support for adoption and foster care, children at risk and other initiatives that keep our kids safe and well-cared for.

** Investing in our health care system. We protected doctors, local hospitals and pharmacies from additional cuts, appropriated funding to attract physicians to rural Iowa where shortages are greatest and invested in improving the skills of direct care workers.

** Making Iowa the healthiest state in the nation. For example, the Senate budget provides funding for early cancer detection and helps Iowans stop smoking through tobacco prevention programs.

** Helping those hit hardest by the recession. This includes providing assistance for food bank purchases and for health centers that provide services to low-income Iowans.

For more details on the Senate’s Health and Human Services budget, go to http://tiny.cc/HHS2012.