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Category: Political
News from the Hill…
This week continued to be a “one step forward and two steps backwards” type of week. While we make progress it is only noticed by setting a stake in the ground. Even then there have been some days the progress is hard to see. No wonder we find ourselves four work days past the scheduled end of session. All of the major pieces of unsettled legislation are in a conference committee. Discussion is going on between key players of both the House Republicans and the Senate Democrats. Some are working together better than others, but talks continue. Leadership of the House and the Senate continue to talk between themselves and the Governor’s office.
I was extremely hopeful that we would press through this week and finish. So, I packed enough clothes for seven days and made plans to stay till the finish. Apparently the Senate Democrats had different ideas, so we will be going into the second week of overtime.
Property Taxes…
The Conference Committee on Property Taxes did not meet this week. However, Senator Bolkom and I have met several different times to work our way through to an agreement. If ten people can come to an agreement better than 150, then the two of us should be able to do so faster than ten. The bill is made up of several major components, so we have picked areas of the bill to work through at each meeting. While I remain optimistic for a property tax bill being signed into law this year, I remain realistic in knowing that it will not be as substantial as I would like to have.
Tax Increment Financing…
A couple of weeks ago I assigned a bill, HSB 236, to further tie loop holes that are being used in Tax Increment Financing (TIF). The subcommittee members held a couple of subcommittees to listen to some of the pros and cons about the bill. The people who liked the bill shared some of their own experiences on how the present law was being abused. Those who disliked the bill, people using the loop holes to skirt the law, shared that the world would come to an end if we passed the bill. The scare tactic tends to be quite dramatic and over used here in Des Moines. This week, I introduced another bill, HSB 238 that took just one part of the TIF bill and though that would be an easier lift this late into session. This bill capped the amount of TIF debt a city could have at $8,000 per capita. This amount is four times the state average. The bill came out of committee with a vote of 16 aye and 8 nays. Presently there is a constitutional debt limit of 5% of the assessed value within a city. Bond attorneys have become very good at finding ways to skirt this law. This is a loop hole that needs to be closed for the protection of taxpayers. This bill still needs some work and it is late in session so I pulled the bill from the debate calendar. However, the issue is not going away and neither am I. I will be back next year with a better bill.
Fiscal Responsibility…
This week in the Appropriation Committee they passed out a bill, HF 648, which took some of the onetime money and paid off some of the debt the state, has. This is an excellent use of onetime money and it pays great dividends into the future. The use of onetime money will be a major stumbling block this year. I assume we will spend some and save some. My goal will be to save more than we spend. The second goal will be not to spend any of the onetime money on ongoing expenditures.
“If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”
– Ronald Reagan
For more information on these and other bills: www.legis.iowa.gov
-Tom Sands
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News from the Hill…
Most all the major bills are now in conference committee and working their way to a compromise. A Conference Committee is made up of ten members, five from the House and five from the Senate. Three of the five members would represent the majority parties of each Chamber. By Rule 13 in H.C.R 5, the authority of the first Conference Committee shall cover only issues related to provisions of the bill and amendments to the bill which were adopted by either the Senate or the House of Representatives and on which the Senate and House of Representatives differed. One of the reasons of success in Conference Committees is the reality of ten people coming to an agreement is much easier than 150 Legislators. The entire Senate and the entire House still has to approve the Conference Committee report. But in a divided Government, it is a good way to find some compromise. I am one of the Co-Chairs of the Property Tax Conference Committee.
Property Taxes…
The Legislature made a major step in the right direction this week, but we still have a long way to go. This year I have assigned all the bills in the Ways and Means Committee to the other members on the committee, with the exception of one, the bill that deals with property taxes. Throughout the process, three subcommittees, two different bills and weeks of maneuvering, I kept using the phrase “moving the ball down the field one yard at a time.” I viewed my job as the floor manager to of the property tax bill, to keep moving the ball. The possibility of scoring a “Touch Down” with a “Hail Mary” was not likely. The best way to get a bill that would pass both chambers and be signed into law by the Governor, was to keep moving the ball down the field. The same bill has passed the Senate and the House but with different language. So this week the bill was moved into Conference Committee. We have never been able to get the bill this far down the field before. Trouble is, there is still a long way to go, but the momentum is behind us.
Drainage District/Levee Bill…
The bill I sponsored for Two Rivers Levee & Drainage Association was signed by the Governor into law on the first day of May. I sat down the first time with them in July to talk about the possibility in making this law change for them. Ten months later it is law. This may seem like a long time; however it is not uncommon for an idea to take a couple of years to become a law. The House passed this bill on February 13 and was sent over to the Senate. It took the Senate until April 22 to change the bill and pass it back to the House. The very next day we agreed with their change and sent it to the Governor.
Fiscal Responsibility…
As budget bills are finding a way to some type of compromise, I will not support any budget that goes spends more than what we take in. Many people think tough fiscal decisions are only made in tough budget years, which is simply not true. It is in times of high revenue years when most over spending occurs. When there is extra money, the normal tendency for too many people is to spend baby spend. However, this is when to make sure any increase in spending is sustainable for future years.
As the end is somewhat in sight, keep me informed of your positions on the issues. The best way to represent you can only be done by knowing where you stand on the issues.
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same.”
– Ronald Reagan
For more information on these and other bills: www.legis.iowa.gov
-Tom Sands
