Week One
Iowa legislators returned to the Statehouse this week for the
start of the 2008 legislative session. It feels
good to be back! It took a matter of hours for the pace of activity
to accelerate to a frenzy. Can you say cluster-tasking?
On Tuesday, Governor Culver delivered his “Condition of the
State” speech. He did a great job a outlining
his priorities and goals. See review below. He was very confident
and relaxed and is ready for a good session.
On Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice Marsha Ternus delivered the
State of the Judiciary. See below.
Next Friday is the last day that individual legislators can
introduce their own bills. I will be working to get all my requests
filed in the next few days.
Please feel free to contact me on any issue of interest.
To follow the work of the Iowa Legislature visit www.legis.state.ia.us
.
Governor Vows to Continue Progress for Working
Iowans
On January 15, I had the privilege of attending Governor
Culver’s Condition of the State address. He
outlined a bold agenda to improve the quality of life for all Iowans
by building on last year’s successes.
During 2007, the Legislature worked closely with the Governor to
craft a sound budget, including creating the Iowa Power Fund to
enhance the state’s bioeconomy, increasing investment in
high-quality preschool, and taking steps that will bring teacher pay
up to the national average.
The Governor vowed this week to continue progress on these
important commitments in a fiscally responsible way. He also
made additional proposals for improving health care, jobs and the
environment in Iowa .
Governor Culver proposed ideas for reducing the cost of health
insurance, such as expanding options for pooling so that
associations and small businesses can qualify for lower group rates;
allowing families to maintain health care coverage on children up to
age 25; and implementing a wellness initiative to reduce the
state’s health care costs.
On the environment, the Governor called for investing more in our
natural resources, creating a new initiative to address livestock
odor, and requiring 25 percent of Iowa-produced energy to come from
renewable sources by 2025.
The Governor also recommended investing more to grow our economy
and make sure Iowa maintains a highly skilled workforce ready to
fill on the jobs of tomorrow.
I share many of Governor Culver’s priorities and will work with
my Democratic and Republican colleagues to thoroughly review his
proposals. I’ll work to keep the commitments we
made last year, while approving a fiscally responsible budget that
is good for Iowa ’s middle-class families.
Visitors This Week
Chief Justice Keeps Focus on Iowa Children
Marsha Ternus, the first female chief justice of the Iowa Supreme
Court, presented the State of the Judiciary to the Legislature on
January 16. Chief Justice Ternus focused on
improving the juvenile justice system, expanding drug courts, and
making the court system more user-friendly for everyone.
Last year, the Legislature expanded mental health treatment for
children and increased staff for our state’s juvenile courts.
The new staffers have helped the courts to improve oversight
of child welfare cases, making life a little better for children in
difficult circumstances. In addition, more judges have been assigned
to juvenile cases, and the Court Appointed Special Advocates program
(CASA) now operates in all 99 Iowa counties.
In spite of this progress, Ternus said that “work on behalf of
children in juvenile court has just begun.” She
hopes to build on recent success by providing more personalized
attention for young offenders. The goal is
increase the chances they will develop into productive adults,
rather than spending much of their lives in Iowa ’s correctional
system.
By expanding the use of drug courts, Ternus seeks to give
non-violent offenders a second chance at avoiding prison.
Drug courts have already proven successful at reducing
recidivism and improving the lives of offenders and their families.
In order to provide equal justice for all Iowans, Ternus outlined
four areas for improvement in the court system:
- Attracting more high-caliber, skilled staff;
- Continuing the move to a paperless system to increase
productivity;
- Increasing the use of forms to make it easier for those who
cannot afford an attorney to represent themselves in certain
types of cases;
- Expanding the use of foreign-language interpreters to meet the
needs of our state’s increasingly diverse population.
The Judicial Branch, in collaboration with the Legislature and
the Governor, is becoming more efficient and helping vulnerable kids
and non-violent offenders improve their lives. These
efforts are making our state a safer place and improving the quality
of life for all Iowans.
Events in Honor of Martin Luther King Jr.
The University of Iowa will hold a community convocation for
Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Week 2008 at 4:30 p.m., Monday,
Jan. 21, in the Second Floor Ballroom of the Iowa Memorial Union.
The event is sponsored by the UI Office of Student Life and the
Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Committee. All events during
Human Rights Week are free and open to the public.
Other events slated for Monday, Jan. 21:
Interfaith dialogue breakfast, 10–11 a.m., Asian Pacific
American Cultural Center
Community youth leadership program, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., Iowa City
Area Chamber of Commerce, 325 East Washington Street
Human rights awareness social, 11 a.m.–1 p.m., Colonial Lanes,
2253 Old Highway 218 South
Click here for
more information about Human Rights Week 2008.
Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council
Last year, the legislature approved a bill I introduced
establishing the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council. The Council
has been meeting over the past few months and has recently reported
to the legislature with some initial recommendations. Learn about
the work of the Council at http://www.iaclimatechange.us
.
Obesity Summit : Roadmap for Change – Friday January 25, 8am
- noon
The childhood obesity rate in the US has more than doubled
between 1980 and 2004. Children in our neighborhoods, our
schools and our community need your help in making change.
That is why Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County and the
University of Iowa Children ’s Hospital are hosting the Childhood
Obesity Summit: Roadmap for Change on January 25, 2008 - 8am
to noon, Levitt Center in Iowa City .
Summit participants will create a community plan to reverse the
growing problem of obesity in Johnson County . To register
email your name, address and telephone number to: obesity@ncjc.org
, or call Tony Branch at 319-354-7989.
I visit with Jim Merchant (left), Dean of the UI College of
Public Health, after the final meeting of the statewide health care
reform commission on Jan. 8. I was a member of the commission
and Merchant chaired a advisory panel of experts. The report’s 79
individual recommendations call for universal coverage, medical
homes, telehealth and other electronic reforms, and cost containment
and transparency. It is now up to the Iowa Legislature to act on the
commission’s recommendations.
Affordable, Accessible Health Care for All
Today, too many Iowans have no health insurance.
Iowans who have insurance too often find out it doesn’t pay for
the care they need. And far too many small businesses struggle
to pay the ever higher cost of insuring their employees.
To find a way to make quality health care available to all
Iowans, the Legislature established a bipartisan Commission on
Affordable Health Care last spring. I served on this
Commission and had the chance to work with all interested parties:
medical providers, consumers, legislators, the insurance industry,
small businesses and hospitals.
Over the last several months, we studied factors impacting
the cost of health care, such as cost-sharing, collaborative
opportunities, and wellness- and disease-prevention initiatives.
On January 8, we announced our recommendations for reforming health
care in Iowa . Our proposal uses innovative approaches to
cover all Iowans while controlling health care costs.
The first step is to provide health care insurance for
every Iowa child. Other aspects of our long-term plan for
health care in Iowa include universal coverage; an emphasis on
healthy lifestyles and preventing chronic problems; tele-health and
electronic reforms; containing medical costs; and increasing
transparency in the health care system.
During the 2008 session, the Legislature will thoroughly
review the Health Care Commission’s bipartisan recommendations.
It is my hope that we can come up with a comprehensive approach to
providing top-notch health care for Iowans, while keeping costs down
for patients, providers and employers.
Click Health
Care Commission . Then click on additional information then
click on Material Distributed to see the subcommittee
recommendations. The next meeting of the Commission is January 8. At
that time a final report is expected to be voted on.
Award Assists Local Entrepreneur
Governor Chet Culver recently announced a new Targeted Small
Business loan for an Iowa City entrepreneur.
Congratulations to Zameer Khan, who is purchasing an existing
Iowa City restaurant located in Old Capital Mall, Joe's Fish
& Chips, and changing it into an Indian restaurant called
S&Z. Mr. Khan was awarded a $35,000 loan with an interest
rate of four percent over a five-year period to purchase additional
equipment, inventory and supplies.
During the 2007 session, the Legislature approved an additional
$4 million to Iowa ’s Targeted Small Business program to make it
easier for women, minorities and entrepreneurs with disabilities to
start or expand a business in Iowa .
To qualify for assistance, the businesses must:
