News from the Hill…
This week we passed HF 152 that helps the drainage/levee district in southeast Louisa County and Northeast Des Moines County. This bill will permit them to be more efficient and streamlined. This is something that the districts wanted and needed to be as efficient as they can be for all the people who own ground inside the different drainage districts and the levee district. This is a bill I sponsored and voted for.
Beginning Farmer Tax Credit…
On Wednesday, February 12, 2013, the Iowa House Agriculture Committee passed House Study Bill 69 by a unanimous vote. The bill expands the beginning farmer tax credit program both in scope and in the amount of tax credit available for this purpose while also streamlining the Iowa Agricultural development authority (IADA) administrative processes that implement the tax credit program. It has been agriculture and Ag business that has been the bright spot in Iowa’s economy. The increasing cost of getting started in agriculture makes it very difficult for young people to get started in farming today. Trying to connect those that have accumulated some assets and nearing retirement with those with little assets, but a strong work ethic is a worthwhile mission that everybody can come out as a winner. This bill continues to attempt to make that connection easier.
Ed Reform Bill…
The Education Committee reconvened around 8:00 pm on Wednesday evening to debate HSB 4, which is the Governors Education Reform Bill. The bill received several hours of consideration in committee and after amendments, it has changed considerably. The final bill passed by a party-line vote of 13-10 and is now HF 215. This bill has a fee and an appropriation so will need to pass out of the Ways and Means Committee and the Appropriations Committee before it can be debated on the House Floor. The bill is scheduled to be debated in both committees on Thursday afternoon. These committees will not discuss the policy of the bill, but their job is to address the issues that are relevant to their respective committees. The Ways and Means Committee will only address the fee portion of the bill, that is included in division I of the bill. The bill will most likely be debated next week on the house floor.
Mental Health …
HF 160 proposes appropriating $11,628,317 of the CHIP Contingency Fund to the Department of Human Services to provide one-time additional funds to qualifying counties during FY 2013 for mental health expenditures. The funds are to be given to the 26 counties identified by the Department of their Transition Fund report. The funds received are to be used to continue or restore services identified in the application. The funds will be distributed to the counties within 2 weeks of enactment of the bill. The bill directs that the funds will be used in compliance with federal requirements. Counties will enter into an agreement with DHS on the use of the funds. If a federal audit is conducted in relation to a county’s use of the funds, the county is responsible for any costs associated with the audit. If the state conducts an audit, DHS is responsible for the costs. The language allows a county to join a region where they are not contiguous to the other counties if they have had a formal relationship with at least one of the counties for two or more years. This addresses situations where non-contiguous counties are using the same CPC administrator. There was an amendment to add six additional counties and two of those six counties was Muscatine and Des Moines Counties. The amendment was voted down. There had been an independent audit done noting that those six counties would end the year with a positive ending balance. Therefore they could continue to supply the same services without any additional monies from the state. The bill passed on the house floor with 58 people voting aye and 42 people voting nay. I voted for the bill.
“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” – Abraham Lincoln
For more information on these and other bills: www.legis.iowa.gov
-Tom Sands