From the Desk of Senator Trone Garriott
Clockwise from left: Senate Republicans passed 7 budgets out of the Appropriations Committee with no numbers, March for Our Lives brought school desks to the Capitol with the names of children murdered in their classrooms, Waukee students dressed up for prom, overflow crowd for public hearing on SF494 (the bad SNAP bill).
Blank Check Budgets
This week, Iowa Senate Republicans advanced blank budget bills out of committee. This has never happened before. While budget proposals change in the process, there is usually something for the public to respond to in the legislative process.
Democrats on the Appropriations Committee expressed their shock and frustration at the “shell game” Republican legislators are playing with taxpayer dollars.
With over $8 billion at stake, Iowans deserve the opportunity to weigh in on how their money is spent. Now instead, the public and minority party legislators won’t know what that proposal is until it shows up on the morning of debate as an amendment. Given that the Governor has now passed a bill to increase the state’s budget by hundreds of millions each year to fund private schools, it is very likely that cuts will be coming from other areas to pay for the additional expense. Combine this additional expense with tax cuts that are just beginning to phase in, reducing the overall amount of revenue that the state has to work with. For years we have seen status quo budgets for vital services and programs, meaning that as costs rise, the state is left with less people to do more.
When we don’t pay our bills at the state level, many of those costs get passed on to property taxpayers at the local level. Just one example: Iowa’s courts are significantly understaffed due to underfunding and therefore have a significant backlog. This means more people waiting in county jails for weeks or months. Those costs are paid for by local property owners.
Speaking of Property Taxes…
Yesterday I got my property tax assessment and…wow. I know a lot of folks are feeling the same way.
Some helpful things to know:
The assessment is just the first step in the process of calculating property taxes. In light of the assessments, cities and counties will next determine the tax rate and finalize their budgets. Taxes will be assessed on a portion of the assessed value, not the whole amount.
Just because your assessment increased a certain amount does not mean that your tax will increase by the same percentage. Iowa has a “residential rollback law” that limits statewide increases in taxable value to 3 percent. According to the Polk County Assessor’s Office, “this means most residential and residential 3+ property owners will only see increases in taxable value in the neighborhood of three percent.”
Now is a good time to reach out to your city and county elected leaders to ask questions and share your concerns. There will also be public meetings that you can attend to learn more and give input. Here’s your contacts for Dallas County, West Des Moines, Clive, Waukee, Van Meter, and Adel.
If you feel that your assessment does not accurately reflect your property’s market value, it is possible to contest the assessment. Here is where you can do that.
There will also be a free online presentation April 12th at 12pm, presented by the Iowa Property Assessment Appeal Board (PAAB), providing introduction and overview of the process for protesting a property tax assessment. Register here. Topics covered will include:
- Basics of property assessment
- Understanding assessment listings and valuation
- Requesting an informal assessment review from the assessor
- Filing a protest with the local board of review
- Overview of main grounds for protesting assessments
- Options for appealing board of review decision
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 bad bills won’t become law this year
- SF 516 would have made it harder to expand public conservation and recreation lands.
- 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 Waukee 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.
- 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.
- 14 years of marriage equality. This past Monday marked 14 years since Iowa became the third state in the nation to legalize marriage equality for LGBTQ couples. Unfortunately, marriage equality is still under attack today by Iowa Republicans, who introduced a bill to ban gay marriage in Iowa earlier this year. Iowa Senate Democrats proudly support marriage equality for ALL Iowans.
- 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. Senate Democrats 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
The bad SNAP bill is continuing to move forward in the House. The program is already so restrictive that one disabled Iowan lost her food assistance with a small cost of living increase:
More about the bad SNAP bill. I can’t emphasize how harmful this legislation is. Please contact Representatives and urge them not to bring it to debate.
