From the Desk of Senator Petersen
Protect Iowa’s Children: A Special Message from Noa
This week I met Noa (he/him) and his mom Julie who were at the statehouse encouraging lawmakers to stand up for Iowa’s children who are transgender. Noa and his mom gave me permission to share his testimony in my newsletter. I hope his words inspire each of us to do more to help stop the anti-LGBTQ+ bills and harmful rhetoric being pushed by Governor Reynolds and Republican extremists at the statehouse. Our state is better than this.
“I’m an 11-year-old in middle school, and it was a lot easier to make that big transition because I was able to come out on my own terms. If teachers and other educators have to “out” kids before they’re ready, it can really hurt their mental health. Kids should be able to make their own decisions, and be able to feel safe in school. They should be able to form a bond with their teachers and trust them to keep secrets, without worrying about what might happen when coming out to them, or just being true to who they are.”
Dept. of Revenue Makes $130 Million+ Tax Miscalculation & Mishandles Response
Most of us were taught when you make a mistake, you own up to it and do your best to fix it. Unfortunately, the Iowa Department of Revenue made a tax miscalculation last October that is impacting nearly every taxing jurisdiction in Iowa. The mistake was caught by Iowa’s nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency a few days after the number was released. They notified the Dept of Revenue immediately. Instead of fixing the error, the Department remained silent, local elected leaders were kept in the dark, and Iowans took part in building budgets in communities across the state that were off by more than $130 million.
Instead of fixing the state’s error, Governor Reynolds submitted a bill last week giving local taxing jurisdictions an extra bit of time to redo their budgets, making the necessary budget cuts or finding other sources of revenue to fill the shortfall. Senate Democrats proposed taking funds from the state’s reserves to fix the error, but that solution failed on a party line vote.
Governor Reynolds’ bill passed the Iowa Senate, and it is now before the Iowa House for consideration. It is alarming that her Administration failed to notify the public, local elected officials and the media about their error and failed to take immediate action to correct it. Trust in government and checks and balances matter. We all make mistakes, but how we handle them is important. Iowans deserve truth and transparency from the Reynolds Administration.
Public School Funding vs Private School Vouchers
Last week Senate Republicans advanced a bill to increase annual funding to Iowa’s public schools by $107 million, or 3% more than the current year. This is roughly the same amount Governor Reynolds and Statehouse Republicans (other than 12 of them) authorized to give to a small number of Iowa families in the form of taxpayer-funded private school vouchers.
Senate Democrats pushed a different approach. We proposed an increase of $267 million for Iowa’s public schools – the same amount Republicans are giving away in corporate tax cuts and private school vouchers this year. We believe in fully funding Iowa’s public schools to meet rising costs, hire and retain great teachers & teams, and expand mental health services for kids.
Under the Republican funding bill, more than 70 public schools in their Republican-held Senate districts will not get a dime of new funding because those schools have declining enrollments. I imagine most Iowa taxpayers are scratching their heads, wondering why so many Republican senators would vote to fund private school vouchers when so many of their own local public schools won’t receive any additional funding support.
Senate Democrats also pushed to fund all-day preschool for all of Iowa’s four-year-olds. Only one Republican senator voted in favor of the proposal. We know all-day preschool would make preschool an option for hundreds of Iowa families who do not have the means to juggle all of the things that our state’s current 10 hour/week preschool program requires of parents, including special child care arrangements and transportation to and from preschool.
Quick Updates
- Better Laws to Protect Iowans from Stalkers: The Senate is considering legislation to enhance penalties and close loopholes that allow stalkers back on the streets after using GPS devices to track victims. This issue impacts far too many Iowans. Preventing stalking matters as it can often lead to more serious violence.
- Data Privacy: Protecting yourself online is important and the focus of SSB 1071 – a bill that enhances consumer data protection now under consideration in the Senate. Want to view or change the privacy settings on your tech? Use these direct links to update the settings on popular devices and online services.
- Adoptive parents’ rights. A Senate Committee advanced a bipartisan bill last week to protect the rights of adoptive parent employees. SF 3 ensures adoptive parents get the same rights and benefits from their employers as parents of biological children.
- Needed: Eagle eyes. Calling all wildlife watchers! The Iowa DNR is looking for volunteer bald eagle nest monitors. It will host a live online training workshop at 1 p.m. on Sunday Feb. 19th. Participants will learn about the program and how to monitor a nest in their area. Iowa has over 500 active bald eagle nests, and volunteer monitors collected data on roughly 290 in 2022. Interested in joining them? Visit the VWMP webpage or send an email to vwmp@dnr.iowa.gov.
- Protecting access to safe, legal abortion care. President Biden recently released an executive memo to help protect access to abortion medication across the nation. In the memo, the president directs various federal agencies to monitor barriers to abortion medication and identify resources to overcome them to ensure Americans have safe access to legal medications.