From the Desk of Senator Giddens
This year, I’ve enjoyed serving on the Senate Appropriations committee. The Appropriations committee sets the state budget, which is one of the most important items of business the legislature must accomplish every year. Much of our work this week was dedicated to beginning this process, but there is still much work to be done.
The Appropriations bills we’ve been reviewing so far have been placeholders without any budget numbers. This is unusual and frustrating because the public’s only formal opportunity to weigh in on these budget bills was this week, and they contained no budget numbers for the public to critique. Nevertheless, I will always listen to my constituents’ input on the budget at any point in the process and I am committed to working with my colleagues to develop a budget that serves the best interests of all Iowans and ensures that our state’s resources are allocated as effectively as possible.
The budget process is a critical aspect of the legislative session, and it requires careful consideration and collaboration between the House and Senate. While progress may not be immediately apparent, I am hopeful that leaders in each chamber will come together with a budget proposal that takes input from critical stakeholders into consideration.
Take care and have a great weekend. I look forward to providing more updates in the weeks to come as we enter the final stretch of the legislative session.
Budgets with no numbers?!
This week, budget bills advanced out of committee, but there was one big catch: those budgets contained no numbers!
The Statehouse press corps took note of this strange and perhaps unprecedented move, calling out these “placeholder” budgets that push the state spending plan through the legislative process without the review and discussion Iowans rightfully expect.
They even quoted Sen. Bill Dotzler, as he tried to make sense of budgets without numbers:
“You appear to be experts at three-card monte. People don’t know what the numbers are, they don’t know where the employees in the state of Iowa are going to be. We don’t have any of that information,” said Sen. Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo. “It’s kind of like a shell game.”
This is no way to govern. Iowa taxpayers deserve transparency.
An Update from the Second Legislative Funnel
The Senate passed a major procedural deadline session last week, the so-called Second Funnel, in which most bills must pass one chamber and win committee approval in the other in order to remain eligible for passage.
Many controversial bills remain on the calendar this year, including a dangerous expansion of child-labor laws, school book bans and curriculum censorship, and expensive and unnecessary new red tape for families in need.
But the news isn’t all bad. We continue to see positive, bipartisan bills moving ahead, and at least a few bad ideas falling off the agenda.
Not all bad: These good bills could still become law
- SF 417 and HF 475 prohibit unfair real estate contracts that target older Iowans.
- SF 182 and HF 665 give communities another way to provide affordable housing and address problem properties.
- HF 272 and SF 186 ensure adoptive parents get the same rights and benefits as parents of biological children.
- SF 316 and HF 472 help veterinarians work with law enforcement to combat animal abuse.
The funnel worked: These bills won’t become law this year
- SF 136 would have repealed Iowa’s gender balance requirement for state boards.
- SF 357 would have reinstated the death penalty.
- SF 481 would have cut unemployment benefits for some Iowans with larger families.
- SF 297 would have allowed healthcare providers to discriminate based on personal religious beliefs.
- SF 313 would have reduced firefighter training hours.
Quick Updates
- Grow it, Eat it winners. Congrats to the Gladbrook-Reinbeck Community School District’s agriculture education and FFA chapter for recently being awarded funding for their project focused on developing, implementing or enhancing local gardens and agricultural programs. The district will also work with their local nutrition department to incorporate the food that is grown into school meals.
- More financial aid = less student debt. UNI provided $90 million financial aid to 92% of all undergraduate students and more than 98% of first-year students, according to a recent report. Financial aid, along with UNI’s successful “Live like a Student” financial literacy course, has resulted in Panther alumni carrying much lower student debt compared to state and national peers.
- Medicaid eligibility reviews. With the end of expanded Medicaid coverage under the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, Iowa HHS is starting eligibility reviews for Medicaid members. Starting this month, Medicaid members begin receiving eligibility review forms in the mail. If you or someone you know receives healthcare coverage through Iowa Medicaid, keep an eye out for this form, and return it promptly to ensure your coverage is not disrupted. Additionally, if you have moved within the last 2 years, call HHS at 877-347-5678 to confirm that your address is up to date. For more information and resources click here.
- Cracking down on child labor. The U.S. Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services announced this week a Memorandum of Agreement to advance ongoing efforts fighting child labor exploitation. The agreement will help identify places and employers where children are likely being exploited, and facilitate increased coordination and information-sharing between departments to prevent child labor violations and ensure that victims have access to critical services.
- High school classes, college credit. A recent Joint Enrollment Report showed over 50,000 Iowa high school students enrolled in college-level courses while still in high school, earning both college and high school credits simultaneously. These students earned a total of 1,804 awards along with their high school diploma, an increase of 60 percent from the previous year. The total number of awards earned included 580 associate degrees, 283 diplomas and 941 certificates.
- Safe Schools Convention. The deadline to register for Iowa Safe Schools’ GovCon is April 17. Since its inception in 2005, GovCon has grown to be the largest LGBTQ youth conference in the nation. This year’s keynote speaker is Andrew Fuller, the Iowa baker who won the Netflix game show “Is It Cake?”
- 988 is a lifeline. People feeling anxious or depressed, parents concerned about their child dying by suicide, and families touched by addiction contact 988 every day. But without sufficient funding for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in Iowa, these calls and texts are routed to national backup centers in states like California or New York. I support funding for 988 centers based in Iowa and staffed by Iowans who understand the struggles of our neighbors and can better support individuals in crisis.
This Week in the Capitol
