January 15, 2010
Week One
Special Election for Johnson County Supervisor - TUESDAY
Martin Luther King Celebration Events
Visitors to the Capitol this week
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement legislative forum - Saturday
Chief Justice Ternus addresses Legislature
Upcoming public forum
Senate approves reforms designed to help improve student achievement
More action is needed to make tax system accountable, cost-effective
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Week One
Back to work at the Statehouse this week. It was great to get back to work this week and see colleagues, staff and friends in the lobby. We went right to work with committee meetings and debate on a couple of education bills. It seems like we have been here for weeks already. We have a lot to do in just 80 session days.
On Tuesday, Governor Culver gave his Condition of the State address. I thought he did a good job of describing our efforts in the last year to recover from the devastating natural disasters and outlining our path forward to create some much needed jobs.
Also, on Tuesday I participated in a meeting with renewable energy advocates to discuss how to move Iowa into the solar energy production age. The potential is huge to help homeowners and small and large businesses generate electricity and hot water with available solar technologies. Unfortunately many barriers exist to the growth of distributed power systems. We are working to identify incentives to help finance more opportunities and bring green job opportunities to every Iowa community.
On Thursday, the Senate Ways and Means Committee met for the first time to begin the process of evaluating the effectiveness of more than $400 million in corporate subsides. It was a full committee room as Dick Oshlo, director of the Iowa Department of Management, presented a recent Governor’s Task Force report (see more details below) on reforming the fastest growing area of state spending. I will focus a lot of attention on this issue this session.
Due to the shortened session, today is the last day for individual legislators to request new bill ideas. So sad.
NFL star and former University of Iowa football player Tim Dwight (left) visited the Capitol on January 12. We discussed Dwight's plans to invest in solar energy projects in Iowa in an effort to promote sustainable job creation and energy independence.
Special Election for Johnson County Supervisor - TUESDAY
There is a special election this Tuesday, January 19, for the Johnson County Board of Supervisors. I am supporting Democratic candidate Janelle Rettig.
There is early voting this Saturday and Sunday. You can vote Saturday at the Auditor's Office from 9 am to 5 pm. and at the Iowa City Library from noon to 6 pm., or on Sunday at all three Hy-Vees from 11 am to 5 pm. If you can't vote early, Election Day is Tuesday and polls will be open from 7 am to 9 pm.
For more information, contact the Johnson County Auditor at 356-6004.
Martin Luther King Celebration Events
There are many MLK Celebration of Human Rights events next week. All events are free and open to the public.
Here is a link to some area activities http://mlk.uiowa.edu/events/
Visitors to the Capitol this week
Sally Mason, President, University of Iowa
Bob Downer, member, Board of Regents
Bob Bacon, UI Center for Disabilities and Development
Michael Flaum, University of Iowa
Stephen Trefz, Executive Director, Eastern Iowa Community Mental Health Center
David Purdy, City of Iowa City
Jim Fausett, Mayor, Coralville
Kelly Hayworth, City Administrator, Coralville
Jody Murph, UIHC
George Phillips, UIHC
Chris Squire, University of Iowa
Eileen Fisher, University of Iowa
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement legislative forum - Saturday
Local members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI) will host a meeting to discuss combined corporate reporting, interest rate caps on payday loans, campaign contribution limits and local control over the siting of factory farms. This legislator forum will take place on Saturday, January 16, starting at 10 am in the Illinois Room of the Iowa Memorial Union.
Iowa CCI is a statewide, grassroots community organization with more than 3,000 members across the state. The organization is recipient of the Nation Magazine’s 2009 Grassroots Advocacy Group of the Year Award. I will attend Saturday’s forum along with Representative Mary Mascher.
Chief Justice Ternus addresses Legislature
Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court Marsha Ternus gave her annual State of the Judiciary speech to the Legislature on January 13.
In the midst of a difficult national recession, Chief Justice Ternus delivered a rather dire address describing the impact of budget cuts on the courts and citizen access to justice. We really need to address this on-going underfunding. She also had some good news to share about the court system’s efforts to improve and streamline services for Iowa’s citizens:
• The court system’s plan to go paperless is being tested in Plymouth County. The system would ultimately help the courts manage their growing caseload and process cases at any location.
•The courts have established a steering committee to look at ways to make Iowa’s civil justice system faster, less complicated and more affordable.
•They have examined using and expanding family law mediation across the state.
Iowa’s judiciary is considered among the best in the nation. Surveys conducted by the Harris Poll for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce regularly rank Iowa’s judiciary among the top ten in terms of competence, fairness and impartiality.
Upcoming public forum
Please join us and share your views at this public forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters:
January 30 from 9:30 - 11:30AM
Iowa City Legislative Forum
At Emma Harvat Hall at City Hall,
410 E. Washington Street
Senate approves reforms designed to help improve student achievement
The Legislature took steps to boost student achievement by competing for significant federal help for local schools during the first week of the 2010 session.
The competitive Race to the Top grants—part of President Obama's $4 billion school improvement effort—would help Iowa better prepare students to be “learners, earners and citizens” in the 21st Century. The grant would help us develop better classrooms, tools and materials that can make it possible for all students succeed.
Iowa schools are eligible for up to $175 million, which would help implement the more challenging Iowa Core Curriculum and help local school districts make major reforms. The legislation that supports Iowa’s application for Race to the Top funding allows for more charter schools and other innovations that enable schools to do things differently so that students can achieve at higher levels.
Parents, teachers, principals and school board members have all taken part in this effort to increase student achievement.
To receive funds, local Iowa school board presidents must sign an agreement, and additional signatures from superintendents and teachers’ association presidents will strengthen Iowa’s chances of receiving the grant.
For more on Race to the Top and what it could mean for Iowa, visit the Iowa Department of Education’s web site: http://tiny.cc/vDfK4.
In a separate effort, Iowa is guaranteed new federal dollars to help our persistently lowest achieving schools. While these 35 Iowa schools are better than most American schools, additional support to increase student achievement and graduation rates will be welcome.
More action is needed to make tax system accountable, cost-effective
As chair of the Senate Ways & Means Committee, I believe we must do more to ensure that our system of business tax credits is more accountable and cost-effective.
This session Republican and Democratic legislators will take a hard look at new recommendations designed to reform our system of business tax credits.
On January 8, the Tax Credit Review Panel issued recommendations to ensure tax fairness, competitiveness, simplicity and accountability for all Iowa corporate tax credits.
After two public meetings and a thorough review, the panel recommended:
• Ending some tax credits
• Capping all credits
• Establishing a five-year sunset for all tax credits
• Providing greater transparency and accountability
• Ending the sale of tax credits
• Ending refundability, which is a system where the state writes a check to a business when their tax liability is less than their tax credit
The Tax Credit Review Panel estimates these changes would save $55 million this year and $106 million in the next budget year.
Here’s the bottom line: Tax credits that aren’t creating promised jobs or accomplishing their intended goals should be fixed or eliminated.
For the complete report from the Tax Credit Review Panel, go to www.dom.state.ia.us/tax_credit_review/files/TaxCreditStudyReviewReportFINAL1_8_2010.pdf.
How to Contact Me
Joe Bolkcom
728 2nd Avenue
Iowa City, IA 52245
319.337.6280
joe.bolkcom@legis.state.ia.us
joe@joebolkcom.org
www.joebolkcom.org
www.senate.iowa.gov/bolkcom
www.legis.state.ia.us
About The Networker
The Networker provides brief summaries of some of the things that I am working on, the work of the General Assembly, and political perspectives on issues. I also use it to announce meetings and how to find useful information about state government.
Additional information
Senator Joe Bolkcom is an Assistant Majority Leader and chair of the Ways & Means Committee. He also serves on the Appropriations, Commerce, Environment & Energy Independence, Human Resources, and Natural Resources committees.