Third bipartisan “Ag Day” for Iowa legislators

August 19, 2019 Senate Staff 0

This year’s event will focus on new conservation technologies, including terraces, waterways, improvements, tiling and cover crops. John Deere will provide hands-on demonstrations. Ryan Vogel, owner of an earth moving and tiling business, will discuss the impact of recent legislation on cost sharing.

Statement on latest privatized Medicaid contracts

July 10, 2019 Senate Staff 0

Gov. Reynolds has again agreed to give the MCOs the largest dollar increases for Medicaid in the last decade. The publicly managed Medicaid system grew at an average of 5% each year over a 10-year period before privatization. Last year, the increase was 8.4%. The increase announced today is a whopping 8.6%!

Fight for medical cannabis reforms continues

July 1, 2019 Senate Staff 0

Legislative advocates for reforming Iowa’s “worst in the nation” medical cannabis program will keep fighting for much-needed reforms vetoed by Gov. Reynolds. In April, HF 732 passed the Iowa House 96 to 3 and the Iowa Senate 40 to 7.

Jim Kurtenbach

Statement on appointment of new DAS director

June 20, 2019 Senate Staff 0

We have seen numerous problems in recent years – multi-million dollar harassment settlements, hush money payments, understaffing that puts at risk the safety of state workers,  and unfair bargaining tactics, and biased hiring and procurement practices – that need to be addressed, not ignored.