April 4, 2010

TOPICS
Thank you for your ideas and suggestions
Accomplishments that will help the University of Iowa
Johnson County League of Women Voters Legislative Forum - Saturday
Session successes good for Iowa families, businesses
State Energy Program online application system open

Thank you for your ideas and suggestions

The shortened 2010 legislative session wrapped up last Tuesday, March 30. It’s great to be home after some very busy months in Des Moines. It is great to see spring finally arrive. On balance, given our financial challenges, I think we had a good session with some notable accomplishments. See the list below.

Thank you to all who contacted me during session and contributed to the many good ideas some of which made it to the Governor’s desk. I also appreciate the comments of those who spoke with me at legislative forums and other local events.

If you have anything you’d like to share with me—questions, concerns, ideas—feel free to call me at 319-337-6280 or e-mail me at joe.bolkcom@legis.state.ia.us.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve in the Iowa Senate. Please stay in touch!

The Networker will now go to a more periodic schedule. I hope the withdrawal is not too hard!

Tulips waiting to open.

Accomplishments that will help the University of Iowa

** $14 million for UIHC physicians serving IowaCare patients – this is the first time the UIHC physicians will be compensated for their work in the IowaCare program.
** $3.7 million for the UIHC to help make up for Medicaid rate cuts.
** Continued funding for the Iowa Flood Center of $1.3 million and an additional $10 million for the Flood Center to complete state-of-the-art flood maps for the entire state.
** FY10 supplemental appropriations for the University totaling just over $14 million.
** A FY11 infusion of $21 million to the Regent universities to help off-set the loss of ARRA funding.
** Inclusion in the Government Reorganization Bill in a way that will save the University money and will leverage the University’s expertise to also save the state money.

Johnson County League of Women Voters Legislative Forum - Saturday

The Johnson County League of Women Voters will host a legislative forum on Saturday, April 10, at 9:30-11:30am, at the North Liberty City Council Chambers. The meeting is open to the public.

Session successes good for Iowa families, businesses

The national recession made the 2010 session one of tough decisions. I’m proud that, in the end, we responsibly balancing the budget and laid a solid foundation for Iowa’s economic recovery.

It wasn’t easy. We made deep cuts in order to keep to our commitments to educational opportunity, affordable health care, renewable energy, public safety and job creation. At the same time, we tackled the first major reorganization of state government in 25 years. The changes we made will stretch today’s dollars and save hundreds of millions over the next five years.

Highlights of the 2010 session include:

** Balancing the state budget without raising taxes. We finished the session with an ending balance of $160 million and put a total of $200 million into our savings accounts.

** Saving money by reorganizing state government. By streamlining services and finding efficiencies, we’re saving taxpayers more than $120 million this year. An early retirement plan for state employees will save about $190 million over the next five years, and an executive order from the Governor is giving the state an additional $70 million in savings.

** Preserving educational opportunity in our schools. We invested in student achievement by increasing state aid to local schools by $145 million over last year, protecting dollars to recruit and keep great teachers in our classrooms, expanding pre-school and making sure students graduate with the skills they need to land a good job.

** Maintaining affordable higher education. To help keep tuition costs down, we increased state support for Iowa’s community colleges by $10 million and provided more than $550 million to our public universities.

** Expanding access to affordable health care. We will continue to be among the nation’s leaders when it comes to children’s health care. Now it will also be easier for rural residents to access health care and for rural hospitals to be paid for the care they provide. In addition, insurance companies will be required to give small businesses and Iowans more notification and more specific justification before increasing rates.

** Helping small businesses grow. We made new low-interest loans available to help small businesses create jobs and strengthened Iowa’s Small Business Development Centers. In addition, a new Web site will be developed as a central point for small business assistance.

** Reforming business tax credits. By shifting the focus of our tax credits away from big business and investing more in our local Main Street businesses, we cut the state’s tax credit liability by $115 million and dramatically increased public accountability. Our reforms will make sure that tax credits are creating jobs and growing Iowa’s economy. If they aren’t, they’ll be eliminated.

** Protecting Iowa communities. We approved tougher laws on sex offenders, Internet sex predators and domestic abusers. At the same time, we expanded gun rights for law-abiding citizens. New traffic laws will make our roadways safer and save lives.

** Supporting our service members and veterans. Iowa became the first state in the nation to approve the Department of Defense’s ten measures in support of military families. We also passed numerous measures that honor and assist our veterans.

** Building Iowa’s alternative energy economy. The Legislature approved the fourth year of the Iowa Power Fund and other legislation to expand the production of Iowa-grown energy, help family farmers and make our state more energy independent.

Unfortunately, the national recession isn’t over yet. However, the steps we’ve taken this year make Iowa far better positioned than most states to recover quicker and stronger.

You can find a more detailed summary of this session’s highlights at www.senate.iowa.gov/Bolkcom/highlights_2010.pdf.

State Energy Program online application system open

The Iowa Office of Energy Independence is now accepting proposals from school districts, cities, counties, other local government agencies and non-profits to make Iowa more energy efficient and energy independent.

A total of $4 million in grants is available, with a maximum award of $1 million per project. The initiatives include State Energy Program, the Building Energy Smart Program and the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Funding is available through July 30 on a first come first serve basis. Go to www.iowagrants.gov to apply. For more information, visit www.energy.iowa.gov.