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Senate
Democrats
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Affordable, accessible
health insurance for more Iowans
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Legislature working on smarter,
tougher, safer laws
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Revitalizing Iowa’s small
towns, inner cities
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Growing Iowa’s economy with
biodiesel
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Help for Iowa consumers who’ve
been deceived
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Making a college education
more affordable
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Promoting job skills for
Iowa youth
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Missing veterans project
brings Iowa soldiers home
The Legislature
is continuing to work to ensure that every Iowan has access to the health
care they need.
Last year,
lawmakers committed to making affordable health insurance available to all Iowa children within
three years, which earned accolades from national organizations.
The Commonwealth
Fund report on health care for children ranks Iowa first in the nation. The Kaiser
Family Foundation found that Iowa
has the third lowest percentage of uninsured citizens. And the Dartmouth
Atlas of Health Care’s study of health care system efficiency found Iowa to be number one.
Senate File 389
is another big step toward extending health insurance to 30,000 Iowa kids who are
currently uninsured. It will give Iowa
the highest percentage of insured children in the nation – about 99.8
percent. This effort will be paid for with funds allocated last year, with
federal support for children’s health insurance, and with federal stimulus
dollars.
The bill will
also create a commission to come up with recommendations for:
** Providing
uninsured Iowans access to affordable health care coverage.
** Coordination
of a children’s health care network.
** Transitioning
between public and private health care coverage.
** Subsidized and
unsubsidized health care coverage programs.
** Providing
coverage to non-state public employees.
** Tax-exempt
health care spending plans for employees of small businesses.
In addition, our legislation
includes measures to reverse shortages of nurses, doctors, mental health
professionals and other medical workers.
By solving health
care problems that have troubled us for years, we can improve the lives of Iowa families and
strengthen our state’s economy.
We are currently
looking for smart ways to toughen Iowa’s
sex offender laws and keep our children safer.
A new proposal is
getting strong support from Iowa’s
law enforcement community, including the Iowa State Sheriffs & Deputies
Association, the Iowa State Police Officers Council, the Iowa Department of
Public Safety, and Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller.
The legislation
under consideration calls for “exclusion zones.” Under this bill, anyone who
has committed a sex offense against a minor:
** Cannot be on
school, childcare center or library property unless they have the permission
of the administrator.
** Cannot be in
school vehicles without the permission of the administrator.
** Cannot loiter
within 300 feet of school, childcare center or library property.
** Cannot work at
an elementary or secondary school or childcare center.
** Cannot loiter
within 300 feet of premises intended primarily for use by minors, including
public playgrounds, pools and recreational or sport-related activity areas.
This proposal
also helps law enforcement keep track of sex offenders by requiring offenders
to provide such details as vehicle license and registration numbers, passport
and immigration documents, and Internet identifiers. Many offenders would
need to report to the sheriff’s office more frequently to verify their
information and their whereabouts. In addition, the Iowa Sex Offender
Registry website would identify residency restrictions and exclusion zones
for offenders.
The proposed sex
offender legislation is smarter, tougher and safer than what we currently
have on the books.
Revitalizing Iowa’s
small towns, inner cities
Vibrant
communities are key to making Iowa a great place to live, work and raise
a family.
One way we can
revitalize our communities and neighborhoods and protect the character of our
older buildings is through Historic Preservation and Cultural &
Entertainment District tax credits. Iowans who restore historic buildings may
be eligible for a 25 percent state income tax credit
The recent
approval of Senate File 481 increases the tax credits that are available each
year from $20 million to $50 million.
These tax credits
provide incentive to revitalize neighborhoods and ensure that
character-defining features are retained when buildings are renovated. The
tax credit program also provides widespread economic benefits, such as local
job creation, quality housing and enhanced property values.
In addition to
the increase in tax credits, Senate File 481 creates new categories for
disaster recovery projects and for projects that create 500 or more permanent
jobs.
Learn more at www.iowahistory.org/historic-preservation/.
Growing Iowa’s economy with biodiesel
Iowa has always been a leader in renewable
fuels, and on April 15 the Senate took another step to continue that
leadership.
Senate File 464
calls for every gallon of diesel sold in Iowa to contain at least a five percent
blend of biodiesel—known as B5—by September. It also provides a $.03 per
gallon refundable tax credit to retailers for every gallon of diesel sold
containing at least a 10 percent blend of biodiesel (B10).
Having biodiesel
available at the pump has many benefits, including:
** Improving
engine performance
** Strengthening Iowa’s renewable
energy economy
** Reducing our
dependence on foreign oil
** Diversifying
markets for our local farmers
** Creating
good-paying green-collar jobs for Iowans
** Reducing
carbon emissions by as much as 80 percent compared to conventional diesel
Biodiesel
contributed $655 million to Iowa’s
Gross Domestic Product in 2008 and supported more than 3,700 jobs across the
state. Enacting Senate File 464 would eliminate the need for 1 million
barrels of foreign oil a year.
Under the
bipartisan bill, the Governor would have broad authority to suspend the
biodiesel requirement in the event of a shortage, a lack of distribution
infrastructure, or if a market change would cause economic hardship. Minnesota has already
enacted similar legislation.
Help for
Iowa consumers who’ve been deceived
The Iowa Senate
and House overwhelmingly approved legislation this week to better protect
Iowans from the bad actors that do or say anything to make a buck.
With the passage
of House File 712, Iowa joins the other 49
states by allowing a “Consumer Private Right of Action.” If signed by
Governor Culver, this initiative would allow Iowans to go to court to try to
get their money back when they’ve been deceived about a product or service.
Under this
legislation, consumers will be able to collect attorney’s fees if they win
their case. In addition, if the court finds that the behavior of the accused
was egregious or exhibited a disregard for the safety of others, it can award
up to three times the amount of actual damages.
As an example, an
Iowa
couple paid a contractor $55,000 to remodel their home after it was damaged
by a tornado. The contractor did approximately $15,000 worth of work and then
took off. This legislation could have
helped that couple. They could have hired an attorney and sued the
contractor; plus, if they’d won their case, they could have collected
attorney’s fees.
This bill will
also be good for the vast majority of Iowa businesses
that play by the rules, yet face unfair competition from those that use
fraudulent practices against consumers.
As college costs increase and the national recession
continues, parents and students are forced to make tough decisions when it
comes to college affordability.
To save on tuition and living expenses, more students are
attending a community college close to home for their first two years, and
then transferring their credits to a 4-year public university. Under
legislation approved this week, figuring out what classes and credits will
transfer will be a whole lot easier.
The Legislature passed a bill that directs community
colleges and the State Board of Regents to enter into a collective statewide
“articulation agreement” to provide for the seamless transfer of academic
credits. This would allow a student who fulfills the requirements of the
agreement to effectively transfer to a Regent university as a junior.
Learn more at about transferring at www.TransferInIowa.org.
By following the “Transferring Your Credit” links, you can discover how your
community college credits might transfer to Regent universities. Additional
links include information on the transfer process, distance education and
existing statewide transfer agreements.
Iowa’s
youth have a new opportunity this summer thanks to Youth for Iowa Summer
Employment Program. This new statewide program is giving young people a
chance to earn a paycheck while developing the skills they’ll need for
success in the workforce.
The Summer Employment Program runs from May 1 through
September 30 and is open to Iowans ages 4-24, who are considered low-income,
and one of the following:
** Deficient in basic literacy skills
** A high school drop-out
** Homeless, runaway or foster child
** Pregnant or parenting
** An ex-offender
** Requiring additional assistance to complete an
educational program or to secure and hold employment.
To register or learn more, go to www.youthforiowa.org or call Diane
Oak-Goode, youth coordinator for Iowa Workforce Development, at 515-242-0057.
Eight Iowa veterans will finally
be put to rest in the Iowa
Veterans Cemetery
on April 24, as part of the Missing in America Project (MIAP).
The Iowa
Veterans Cemetery
has worked closely with the Iowa Chapter of MIAP to arrange for a service and
burials of the veterans, whose remains have been in storage at funeral homes
around the state. No families have been identified.
The military honors ceremony includes a 21-gun salute by
the Iowa Army National Guard and an F16 missing man formation fly-over. The
Mackenzie Highlanders Band will escort the military urns.
MIAP is a non-profit organization launched two years ago
to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed, cremated remains of American
veterans with the honor and respect due these forgotten heroes. For more
information, go to www.miap.us.
Those who will be laid to rest on April 24 are WWII
veterans PVT. Batestta Lipuma
and PFC. Lester O. Julch of the U.S. Army; Korean
veterans Petty Officer Leroy Thomas Stephens and Seaman Albert Lee Ramey of
the U.S. Navy, and CPL. Ward Dewey Stockstill of
the U.S. Marine Corps; and Vietnam veterans Airman Bennie L. Hall of the U.S.
Air Force, PFC. Kenneth D. Gonsalves of the U.S.
Marine Corps, and PVT. Michael Alan Pfeifer of the U.S. Army.
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