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Senate
Democrats Legislative Report
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Fighting illegal immigration by protecting Iowa
workers
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New Consumer Insurance Advocate Office will protect
Iowa families
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Helping Law Enforcement keep communities safe
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Senate action stops utility shut offs targeting
low-income Iowans
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Fighting for taxpayer dollars
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Children at risk from novelty lighters
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Question of the week: How can the new HPV vaccination
help Iowans?
We’re making progress in our efforts to increase the
number of good-paying jobs in Iowa.
Unfortunately, some corporations are creating low-paying
jobs in our state by exploiting illegal immigrants and by taking advantage of
Iowa’s weak
wage-enforcement laws. This drives
down wages, cheats legal workers and is unfair to businesses that play by the
rules.
Immigration laws are a mess because the President and
Congress have failed to responsibly to reform and enforce them. But Iowa
can and should crack down on employers who disobey minimum wage and overtime
laws.
There are entire industries in the U.S. in which a majority of
workers don’t get paid the wages they’re owed. Most of these workers are
citizens or legal residents.
When it comes to wage and overtime laws, enforcement in Iowa is among the
weakest in the nation. We need to increase fines and damages, while doing
more to protect employees who blow the whistle. We should also stop workers from being
misclassified as “independent contractors.”
That will help prevent crooked employers from taking advantage of
them.
In other states, this “get tough” approach has increased
wages and sent illegal immigrants elsewhere.
Both workers and responsible employers will benefit when all
businesses pay workers what they are owed.
The Iowa Senate has voted overwhelming to make Iowa the 11th state to
create an advocates’ office to help consumers deal with insurance problems.
Disagreements with your insurance company can be
especially troubling. You don’t want
to fight over the terms of your health insurance when a family member is
seriously ill.
House File 2555 creates the Iowa Insurance Consumer Advocate
Bureau. This initiative unites people
working in various existing offices and gives them a single, focused mission:
protecting Iowa
consumers and resolving problems.
This one-stop shop will offer assistance on all types of
insurance issues, including health, life, long-term care and property
insurance. The advocates will answer
questions and help resolve problems with insurance providers. If legal action is appropriate, cases will
be referred to the Iowa Attorney General.
This is another step toward making life easier for Iowa consumers. By tracking consumer complaints and
questions about insurance, officials will be able to recognize problems early
on and take action to solve them.
The bill, as amended by the Senate, now returns to the
House for approval.
Several measures designed to make Iowa a safer place to live were approved
in the Senate this week.
The first, House File 2266, regulates explosives and the
possession of explosive devices. The
bill adds “overpressure devices” to the list of items designated as
explosives. An “overpressure device”
is a container filled with a mixture of chemicals or gases that can cause a
violent rupture. These contraptions
can cause death, serious injury and property damage.
It also makes “possession of an incendiary or explosive
device or material” an aggravated misdemeanor. Under current law, law enforcement must
prove those with explosives intend to commit a crime, a high standard that
can result in dangerous criminals going free.
Second, House File 2628 adds stun guns (TASER-type
weapons) to the list of dangerous weapons under Iowa law.
Stun guns have grown more sophisticated and can be used to assault
someone from a distance, causing serious injury or even death. Treating stun guns as dangerous weapons
will require those wishing to carry them to get a concealed weapons
permit. In addition, use of a stun gun
when committing a crime will attract stiffer penalties. This legislation was requested by law
enforcement agencies across the state.
Third, House File 2266 makes it a crime to elude or
attempt to elude campus police. This provides law enforcement at the
University of Iowa, Iowa State and UNI another tool to help keep our students
safe.
After this year’s especially difficult winter, Iowans
who’ve fallen behind on their energy bills will get a little more time to
avoid having their power disconnected.
Iowa's
utilities reported 218,360 accounts were past due in February. Iowa law prevents
utility cutoffs for non-payment during the winter. However, that moratorium expires on April 1
each year.
This week, the Iowa Senate successfully persuaded
utilities to extend the deadline for disconnecting low-income families behind
on their heating bills. After
unanimous approval of a resolution requesting action, the state’s largest
utility companies voluntarily extended the moratorium to April 14.
The extension is welcome relief to thousands of families,
disabled Iowans and senior citizens who’ve been hit by a lengthy, harsh
winter. They’d be most at risk if
their utilities are immediately shut off.
For those in need of assistance, Iowa’s Low-income Home Energy Assistance
Program (LIHEAP) can help with home energy bills. Top priority is given to low-income
households with young children, disabled individuals, or frail older
Iowans.
To find out if you qualify for LIHEAP, call (515) 281-0859
or go to www.dcaa.iowa.gov/bureau_EA/whos_eligible.html.
One of the Legislature’s most important jobs is to be a
government watch dog — to make sure your tax dollars are spent wisely.
One of the best examples of the Legislature rooting out
public corruption is the case of Central Iowa Employment and Training
Consortium (CIETC). CIETC was a
job-training agency that wasted taxpayer dollars by paying top executives
outrageous salaries and bonuses.
In 2006, hearings by the legislative Government Oversight
Committee found that CIETC paid three top executives salaries and bonuses
totaling more than $1.8 million over 30 months. As a result, several of the agency’s top
executives were fired and most board members resigned in early 2006.
An independent auditor conducted a full-scale review of
the agency’s use of public funds. A
federal criminal investigation looked at potential criminal activities by
board members. And the new CIETC board
members voted to dissolve the agency, transferring job training
responsibilities to a local community college.
I supported bipartisan legislation that increased
accountability and oversight at CIETC and other agencies in Iowa that use taxpayer funds. This legislation provides safeguards to
help ensure that misuse of taxpayer dollars doesn’t occur again.
In January 2007, four top CIETC executives were indicted
in U.S. District Court, shortly after CIETC's former
Chief Operating Officer John Bargman reached a plea
agreement with the U.S.
attorney's office. Those indicted
include former Chief Executive Officer Ramona Cunningham; Jane Barto, the former deputy director of Iowa Workforce
Development; Karen Tesdell, the job agency's former
accountant; and Archie Brooks, the former chairman of CIETC's
board.
While the criminal trial of these individuals has not yet
started, the State is attempting to get back the misspent taxpayer
money. CIETC officials should be held
accountable and any ill-gained public money should be reclaimed and used for
legitimate job-training purposes.
This week, the Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit
seeking to recover losses in excess of $1.3 million sustained by CIETC, the State,
and CIETC’s member governments. The suit was
filed in Polk County District Court. It alleges that the State, CIETC
and its member governments were “victims of a scheme devised by a group of
individuals to divert federal, state, and member government funds into their
own pockets by way of overcompensation.”
The biggest losers in this
scandal are the hard-working Iowans CIETC was suppose to be serving and
providing job training. We are doing
everything that we can to restore public trust and ensure that Iowans will
receive top-quality job training in the future.
A novelty lighter is one that works like any other
lighter, except that it looks like a child’s toy.
Hundreds of types of these lighters are disguised as toy
animals, cell phones, key rings, balls and other items attractive to
children. They are readily available
for purchase at stores across Iowa.
A bill calling for a study of the safety of novelty
lighters passed the Senate last year and is moving forward in the House. It would require the State Fire Marshal to
assess the potential for novelty lighters to cause accidental fires, injuries
and death.
Other states are regulating or even banning novelty
lighters. Maine was the first state to ban their
sale after a six-year-old boy, visiting a grocery store with his mother,
picked up what looked like a miniature baseball bat, flicked the switch and
burned part of his face. Last year in Arkansas, two children
died in a fire that was blamed on a lighter shaped like a tiny motorcycle.
This bill is another step in our effort to promote safety
for Iowa
children.
After a decade of development, the first-ever cancer vaccine
is available to the public.
The HPV vaccine has shown in clinical trials to be nearly
100 percent effective in combating the most dangerous strains of HPV, which
cause 70 percent of all cervical cancer.
Rigorous medical testing has proven the vaccine’s effectiveness and
safety, and it’s been approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
This week House File 2145 passed the Senate with strong
bipartisan support. It would require
insurance companies to provide coverage for HPV vaccination. The bill now goes to Governor Culver for
his signature.
Prevention is always less expensive than treatment, and
this initiative shows the Legislature’s commitment to ensuring protection
from cervical cancer for Iowa
women. Ultimately, however, the
decision to be vaccinated will remain in the hands of women and families.
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