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Senate
Democrats Legislative Report
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Good
news for seniors and the state budget
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Protecting Iowa workers
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Shining a light on
government
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Funding for safe roads and
bridges passes
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Senate restores funding to
off-road enthusiasts
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Protecting consumers from
new insurance scam
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How much is in Iowa’s rainy
day funds, and what’s the money used for?
 We
continue to make progress on bipartisan efforts to rebuild, repair and
restructure Iowa’s
state budget.
Filling the Senior Living Trust is part of this
effort. The fund helps seniors to
continue living independently in their own homes. This $300 million Trust was emptied and
spent elsewhere by Republican majorities when they controlled the Iowa House
and Senate.
This spring, when I learned of an unexpected boost in
state income thanks to Iowa's
growing economy, I made it a priority to speed up the repayment of the Senior
Living Trust. This week, Democratic
leaders in the Legislature announced their support for the idea, which means
an additional $73 million will go into the
Trust. This step will allow the
Legislature to repay $266 million of the $300 million owed to the fund by the
end of next year.
In addition to restoring the Senior Living Trust, we are
putting a record amount into Iowa's
rainy day savings accounts and continuing progress on health care, education,
jobs and renewable energy.
In Iowa,
our goal is to keep increasing the number of good-paying jobs. Unfortunately,
some corporations keep low-paying jobs in our state because our wage and
overtime laws are among the weakest in the nation. This drives down wages, cheats legal
workers and is unfair to businesses that play by the rules.
On April 14, the Senate responded by approving Senate File
2416. It increases fines and damages
for employers who withhold pay that employees have earned, while protecting
those who blow the whistle.
This new legislation will crack down on employers who
break the law and will level the playing field for responsible
employers. It improves protections for
Iowa workers in two ways: (1) it strengthens
Iowa’s wage
enforcement laws, and (2) it makes it harder for employers to break the law
by paying less than minimum wage.
The bill also improves enforcement of current law
regarding the classification of employees.
Some employers misclassify employees as “independent contractors” to
avoid the legal requirement of paying payroll taxes, unemployment, and
workers’ compensation. Misclassifying
employees makes it easier for the employer to hide illegal laborers and makes
it more difficult for law-abiding contractors to compete.
In other states, this “get tough” approach has increased
wages and sent illegal immigrants elsewhere.
Workers and responsible employers across Iowa will benefit when all businesses pay
workers what they are owed.
Open meetings and open records result in open
government. That’s why the Senate
voted overwhelmingly on April 14 to update and improve Iowa’s “sunshine laws.”
It’s important that citizens know what their government is
doing and that their rights to information are protected. Open government is an important safeguard
against corruption, favoritism, and plain old bad ideas.
For example, the outrageous salaries in the CIETC scandal
would have been rejected outright if the public had known what was going
on.
Under the legislation I supported, Iowa
will toughen the laws and create an enforcement board to act as an advocate
for Iowa
citizens. You'll have somewhere to call, free of charge, if you have a question
or a concern about open meetings or open records at your school, city
council, county, or state agency.
You won't stand alone if you’ve got a legitimate
complaint. And if you’re in the right,
the open government board will represent you in court if necessary. Officials
who knowingly refuse to follow the law will face substantial fines.
Sunshine is the best disinfectant. That motto has served Iowa well. This year,
the Iowa Senate renewed and strengthened its commitment to open records, open
meetings and open government.
This week, the Legislature took the first steps toward
improving the safety of roads and bridges across Iowa.
Senate File 2420, approved on a broadly bipartisan 35 to
14 vote, will help make up the $200-million-a-year shortfall in funding to
repair and build new roads.
Estimates show that the legislation will generate about
$125 million 2012 by raising motor vehicle fees, trailer registration fees
and title fees. Many of these fees
haven’t seen an increase in more than 20 years.
The bill that passed the Legislature will change the way
pickup registration fees are assessed.
Pickup owners would no longer pay a flat $65 fee but would be assessed
by weight and value—exactly the way passenger vehicles, vans and SUVs
are. Farmers and business owners who
use trucks for their work would pay a registration fee of $150.
The Senate Transportation Committee worked throughout 2007
and 2008 on a workable solution for repairing and building new roads, crucial
elements to a growing economy. The
bipartisan committee traveled the state gathering input from local residents.
The steps we’re taking this year are the first toward
developing a stable, fair and long-term way of maintaining safe roads and
bridges across Iowa. For more information, go to www.iowadot.gov/time21.
Iowans are working to expand recreational opportunities
and make our state a better place to live and play.
One good example is Iowa’s
ATV and snowmobile owners. They’ve
worked with the state to make Iowa
a destination for off-road recreation enthusiasts by expanding access to
trails and parks. Registration fees go
into ATV and snowmobile trust funds, which pay for the creation, maintenance
and promotion of new trails and recreation parks.
In 2002, the Republican-led Legislature scooped money from
these funds to balance their budget.
Not only was a promise to ATV and snowmobile owners broken, the money
was never repaid.
On April 15, the Senate took action to return the funds to
their rightful owners. I’m proud that
we’re honoring our commitment to Iowa’s
off-road enthusiasts. They’ve done
their part to expand recreational opportunities, and they deserve our
support.
On April 9, the House followed the Senate’s lead by
unanimously passing Senate File 2392, which provides Iowans with important
new consumer protections. A key part
of the bill addresses the growing nationwide concern over stranger-originated
life insurance.
Stranger-originated life insurance is increasingly being
used to prey on the elderly. The
scammer takes out a life insurance policy on somebody they don’t know and
waits to cash in when they die. Hedge
funds and investment firms have also been known to participate in this
unscrupulous money-making scheme.
The bill places a five-year ban on selling
stranger-originated life insurance policies, which should substantially cut
the profits for third parties or investor group.
The legislation does not, however, affect Iowans who pay
for their insurance policies with their own money. If you have such a policy,
you can still sell it to someone else after two years, which is current law.
You can also sell your policy at any time if any of these conditions apply:
terminal or chronic illness; death of a spouse; divorce; retirement;
disability; or bankruptcy.
I am pleased that we added this legislation to this
session’s list of consumer protection accomplishments.
How much is in Iowa’s rainy day funds, and what’s the money
used for?
The current state budget will set a new record when it
comes to the amount we have set aside for a rainy day. Next year, if the problems of the national
economy hit Iowa
and cause an unexpected drop in state revenue, we’ll have $615 million in the
bank to soften the blow.
Iowa’s
rainy day funds are made up the Cash Reserve and the Economic Emergency
funds. If there is a national
recession, some of these funds will help keep our commitments on education,
health care and jobs.
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