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Senate Democrats are hosting a weeklong series of “Open Budget Hearings” at the Iowa Statehouse. Informed Iowans will detail the impact of the significant points of disagreement between Senate Democratic proposals and those of Governor Branstad and House Republicans. On this page you can watch archived video of the meetings, read statements and post your own comments.
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After students representing each of Iowa’s state Universities testified before the Senate Education Appropriation Committee today to oppose severe budget cuts for higher education, Senator Shawn Hamerlinck of Dixon, ranking Republican on the committee, responded to the students’ testimony by telling them to “go home.”
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“Fiscal crisis” is the Governor’s only defense for the deep cuts to education, job creation, and other state services that Iowans depend on. It is past time for him to produce convincing evidence supporting his position. He must offer a strong defense because a steady stream of facts is proving him wrong. These facts flow from his own Iowa Department of Revenue,2 from the non-partisan Legislative Service Bureau,3 from the Treasurer of the State of Iowa,4 and from the nation’s top credit rating agencies.
Read the full story >>Senate Leader Gronstal and Senate President Jack Kibbie compare Republican and Democratic property tax efforts at an April 14 Statehouse news conference.
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A Republican State Senator took the debate about the state’s voluntary preschool program to a new level today at the Statehouse. A transcript and MP3 of Senator Mark Chelgren’s outlandish comments are below the fold.
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Senator Bob Dvorsky of Coralville will be on Iowa Public Radio’s “The Exchange” today at noon. He’ll be discussing a recent Quad-City Times article about the prison population, along with Department of Corrections Director John Baldwin and a paroled offender.
Read the full story >>On Thursday, July 22 at 10AM, the Oversight Committee will resume hearings into the misuse of taxpayer dollars by the Iowa Association of School Boards. Links to live streaming audio, recordings of prior hearings, and documents distributed to the Committee are below the fold.
Read the full story >>Today, the Iowa Senate is scheduled to debate legislation which includes bills designed to
improve access to affordable health care, create an income tax check off for child abuse prevention, improve protections for victims of domestic abuse, protect Iowa elections from being drowned in corporate cash, and strengthen grandparents’ rights.
The Senate is tentatively scheduled to debate a number of bills today. Topics include guns and domestic violence, limiting the effect of corporate cash in campaigns, an insurance consumer protection measure, a ban on texting while driving, tougher sex offender laws, and helping local car dealerships get a fair shake from the auto giants.
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Are tax credits a needed stimulus or a waste of tax dollars during the economic recession? That was the discussion topic when Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames appeared on Iowa Public Radio’s “The Exchange” this Monday. A link to a MP3 recording of the program is below the fold.
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