March 12, 2010

Week Nine
New Book: A Watershed Year: Anatomy of the Iowa Floods of 2008.
Reforms will bring accountability and common sense to Iowa tax credits.
Visitors to Capitol this week.
Halt on health insurance rate hikes pending independent review.
Protecting Iowa home buyers from fraud.
Anti-smoking efforts are paying off.
First dental-only plan for kids.
Regenerating Communities, Ecosystems, & Landscapes – TONIGHT.

Week Nine

It was another busy week. I announced that I will run for re-election this fall. I will be seeking my 4th term in the Iowa Senate.

Work continued work on the state budget. The Revenue Estimating Conference met yesterday and made a very modest positive adjustment ($33 million increase) to their future state revenue projections. This was good news and a small sign of recovery.

We debated a bunch of bills. One of the more interesting ones was an exemption for the original Taylor’s Maid-Rite in Marshalltown. We exempted them on a voice vote from certain requirements about mixing uncooked meat with cooked meat. Yum!

We had a debate this week about nuclear power. It did not go very well. We granted MidAmerican Energy the ability to charge their electric customers $5 million a year for three years to pay for a study for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Iowa.

In a year that there is no new money (and cuts) for education, health care and public safety, we are allowing a very profitable company to tax customers up front to study something they should study as any business would research the development of a new product. What is wrong with this picture? We offered an amendment to strip the fee out of the bill and lost. There were several other improving amendments offered, all failed or were withdrawn.

Senator Rob Hogg (D-Cedar Rapids) led the debate for sensible energy and climate change policy. Senator Hogg has been the Legislature’s leading expert on these issues. Unfortunately, bad policy choices prevailed. We did not really have much of a debate on the merits of nuclear power and its role in addressing carbon constraints. It did mark the first real Senate energy policy debate in the last couple of years. I spoke against charging customers for a nuclear power study and about the need to invest in a more decentralized power system with more investments in solar electricity and solar hot water systems and energy efficiency. We have much work to do to make progress on more sensible energy policy.

The bill HF 2399 finally passed on a vote of 37-13. I joined Senators Appel, Beall, Dearden, Dvorsky, Fraise, Hatch, Hogg, Jochum, Kreiman, Seng, Quirmbach and Wilhelm in voting NO.

Yesterday, we introduced SSB 3250, corporate tax credit reform legislation, in the Iowa House and Senate. It is set of proposals to bring greater accountability to more than $400 million dollars in corporate tax credit spending. See some of the details below. We hope to move the bill next week.

This week, Governor Culver announced the need for third-party review of Wellmark’s recent health insurance rate increase. I am not extremely optimistic that anything will change. We need Congress to get off the snide and pass a national health insurance reform. See the article below.

The Senate passed HF 777 this week to make the laws clearer and to provide Iowans better access to government meetings and public records. The legislation helps secure compliance with and enforcement of Iowa’s open meetings and open records laws through a five-member Iowa Public Information Board.

The UI Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research co-hosted a breakfast in conjunction with the Iowa Flood Center on March 10 to talk about the 2008 floods and how Iowans can better prepare for the next major flood. They also educated other legislators about new technologies being developed to monitor both the quality and quantity of Iowa’s water resources. Pictured from left to right: Larry Weber, Representative Jacoby, Senator Dvorsky, Jerry Schnoor, Witold F. Krajewski, Ph.D., and me.

New Book: A Watershed Year: Anatomy of the Iowa Floods of 2008

Here is a terrific new book. “A Watershed Year: Anatomy of the Iowa Floods of 2008”.

The new book edited by Connie Mutel, is a compilation of essays by physical and environmental scientists, hydrologists, economists, public policy experts, engineers and community managers about what caused the floods in 2008, what can be learned from the experience and how to better prepare for future floods. Ecologist Cornelia Mutel, ahistorian and archivist at the University of Iowa College of Engineering.

The book was developed with the support of the UI Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research and the Iowa Flood Center.

For more information about the book or to order your copy, visit http://uipress.uiowa.edu/books/2010-spring/mutel-water.htm.

Reforms will bring accountability and common sense to Iowa tax credits

In recent months, Iowans have expressed anger about abuses in some of the state’s tax credit programs. We’ve listened and are taking steps to bring more accountability and common sense to Iowa’s tax credit spending.

A proposal introduced this week would end some tax credits, cut many remaining credits and dramatically increase accountability for all tax credits. If approved, these steps will reduce Iowa’s tax credit liability by more than $115 million.

When it comes to Iowa’s corporate tax credit programs, we’ll continue to invest in our Main Street businesses—not Wall Street—whose success will benefit more Iowans. In these tough times, we must continue to support small businesses across Iowa.

Part of the problem with tax credit programs is that Iowans often don’t know how the money is spent or if it is creating jobs and economic growth. That will change this year. The public will know who receives each tax credit, the purpose of that credit and the dollar amount spent on it.

The proposal introduced this week includes:

** Increasing research and development incentives for our small businesses across Iowa;
** Cutting the Supplemental Research Activities Tax Credit in half for large corporations;
** Suspending the film tax credit program for two years;
** Lowering the cap from $185 million to $120 million on business tax credits;
** Cutting the Iowa Fund of Funds contingent tax credits from $100 million to $60 million;
** Cutting many other tax credit programs by 10 percent;
** Implementing an on-going oversight process that will regularly evaluate all tax credits for results. Credits that don’t produce results will be fixed or eliminated.

In addition, Iowans can use a searchable database of tax incentives awarded to businesses, which has been developed by the Iowa Department of Economic Development. Find the database at www.iowalifechanging.com/AnnualReport/2009/asp/search.aspx.

Every part of the budget is being cut and that will now include tax credits. As we give tax credit spending the same careful, regular, open examination as the rest of the state budget, we’ll save money and make sure the dollars we do spend benefit Iowa middle-class families.

On March 10, head coach of the Iowa Hawkeye football team Kirk Ferentz visited the Statehouse. Pictured). The nationally ranked Hawkeyes won 11 games in 2009, wrapping up an impressive season with a 24-14 victory over Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl. We are all looking forward to another great year in 2010. Go Hawks! Pictured from left to right: Sen. Tom Rielly, Coach, Sen. Kibbie, Sen. Dvorsky and me.

Visitors to Capitol this week

Andy Rocca, Chief, Iowa City Fire Department.
Maggie Elliott, Iowa City Hospice.
Witold Krajewski, Director, Iowa Flood Center.
Larry Weber, Director, IIHR-Hyrdoscience & Engineering.
Jerry Schnoor, co-Director, University of Iowa Center for Global & Regional Environmental Research.
Jim Malewitz, University of Iowa Center for Global & Regional Environmental Research.
Kirk Ferentz, Coach, University of Iowa.
Todd Simpson, Teacher, Roosevelt Elementary School.
Jim Dane, Johnson County Farm Bureau.
Eric Fuhrmeister, Johnson County Farm Bureau.
Katie Miller, Johnson County Department of Public Health.
Sorry if I missed you.

Halt on health insurance rate hikes pending independent review

As a result of a recent Commerce Committee hearing and other reviews, Governor Chet Culver has called for Wellmark to justify its 18 percent health insurance rate increase to the 80,000 Iowans.

The Governor has directed the Iowa Insurance Division to temporarily halt the insurance premium increases awarded to Wellmark Blue Cross-Blue Shield until a third-party, independent review can determine if the increases are justified. The health insurance premium rate increases were scheduled to take effect on April 1.

In order to make sure Iowans are not gouged on their health insurance rates, the Governor has also instructed the Insurance Division to:

** Have an independent, qualified third-party actuary conduct a secondary review whenever a health insurance company doing business in Iowa submits a health insurance premium rate increase request.

** Seek any other practical ways to inform and educate Iowans and elected officials about the rate review processes and its relationship to Iowa’s health care costs.

** Provide an annual report on current trends in health care costs with an emphasis on how the costs of delivering health care services relate to the amounts charged by health insurance companies.

Protecting Iowa home buyers from fraud

The Senate has taken another step to protect Iowa home buyers by addressing concerns about some unregulated closing companies, also known as escrow companies.

In recent years, we’ve seen some serious problems in our state. For example, a closing agent in Emmetsburg told home owners that she was acting on their behalf to refinance their home. Instead, she changed the home owners’ address to her own post office box and funneled the pay-off funds to her personal account. Although previously convicted of theft, she was able to operate a real estate closing company.

In Polk County, the Wolford Group’s closing agents were involved in a complex mortgage scheme that deceived more than 200 homeowners. Wolford was charged with multiple counts of fraud.

A closing agent in central Iowa failed to pay off the seller’s mortgage as required and did not pay all of the bills associated with that closing and several others. The lender was ultimately forced to pay off the seller’s mortgage.

Senate File 2348, which passed unanimously, will combat these types of abuses by requiring independent companies that offer real estate closing services to third parties to be licensed and regulated similar to mortgage bankers and brokers.

The Iowa Division of Banking and the Iowa Finance Authority worked with lawmakers to craft this legislation to better protect consumers and reinforce mortgage regulation efforts. The bill has the support of the Iowa Attorney General, Iowa State Bar Association, the Iowa Bankers Association and others.

Anti-smoking efforts are paying off

In a bipartisan manner, the Legislature has taken steps to reduce smoking by Iowans and to protect Iowa workers from the dangers of secondhand tobacco smoke and to reduce smoking.

By listening to constituents and standing up to big tobacco companies, legislators are making a difference.

According to a recent report from the Iowa Department of Public Health, Iowans are smoking less. The 2009 Tobacco Control Progress Report shows Iowans are smoking half as many cigarettes as they did in 2006.

Legislative initiatives, including the Healthy Indoor Clean Air Act that passed the Legislature in 2008, have played a major role in reducing smoking, which ultimately improves the health of Iowans and saves lives.

To learn more about how smoking rates have changed in Iowa, go to www.idph.state.ia.us/tobacco, and look under “Tobacco Program Evaluations and Progress Reports.”

First dental-only plan for kids

On March 1, Iowa launched the nation’s first dental-only program for children in low-income and middle-class families.

The program, which we approved during the 2009 session, is just one of the many ways Iowa is leading the nation by providing children’s health care to hard-working families.

Run by the Iowa Department of Human Services, the dental-only program is free to families with incomes below 150 percent of poverty and will cost no more than $30 a month, depending on family size and income. The maximum family income threshold is three times the poverty level, or $43,710 for a family of two.

The federal government pays 75 percent of the cost of the program. To learn more, call 1-800-257-8563 or go to www.hawk-i.org.

Regenerating Communities, Ecosystems, & Landscapes - TONIGHT 3/12/10

Backyard Abundance will host a presentation featuring keynote speaker Dave Jacke. The presentation, “Regenerating Communities, Ecosystems, and Landscapes by Design”, will be held Friday, March 12 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the Pomerantz Center. Doors open at 5:30 pm. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased at the door or at www.BackyardAbundance.org. University of Iowa students will be admitted for free.

Backyard Abundance is a Johnson County nonprofit organization which provides comprehensive environmental education. Dave Jacke is a nationally acclaimed ecological designer and the author of the award-winning book Edible Forest Gardens.

As part of the annual Iowa State Association of Counties’ day at the Capitol, Johnson County residents visited the Statehouse and met with me. Pictured from left to right: Johnson County Supervisor Pat Harney, Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek, me, and Johnson County Assistant Director of Planning and Zoning R.J. Moore.