Week
Two
Today
is the deadline for individual legislators to file bill
requests for the 2008 session. So this week I was a busy
working with staff and constituents getting all of my
requests in the system. Visit Joe's
Bills to see the bills I have introduced or am
co-sponsoring so far. My bills filed this year begin
with number 2007. I have several more bill requests being
drafted that will soon be introduced.
One
of the bills I'm drafting
will address predatory payday lending practices by
lowering the interest rate on payday loans from an average
of around 360 percent APR to 36 percent APR. I am
also working on several energy efficiency and renewable
energy bills.
I
ran the first bill of the session in the Senate this week
to provide a small amount of property tax relief to
certain counties that are having difficulty meeting their
mental health budget needs. The bill passed unanimously.
The
bottle bill debate was kicked off by Governor Culver last
week. The Governor deserves a lot of credit for putting
this issue on the table after years of stalemate. The
Governor would like to see the program expanded to include
more drink containers as well as raise the deposit fee and
capture a couple of cents for handlers and environmental
programs. It is now up to legislators to take this
proposal and work with the Governor to improve this
program.
The
Iowa Policy Project has a new report out on the impact of
climate change on the energy costs of low income families.
See their report: A Climate Policy Challenge -
Iowa
's Climate Responses Need to Consider Low-Income Families
at http://www.iowapolicyproject.org/
I met
with members of the Middle Iowa River Watershed at the
State Capitol on Wednesday, January 24th. We discussed
their conservation efforts along the Iowa
River, which is currently the third most endangered river
in
America
. Pictured from left to right are; Dave Ratliff, Kasey
Hutchinson, Craig Just, Senator Bolkcom, Hillary Maurer,
Carol Sweeting, Kaylene Carney, and Jim Caldwell, all of
Iowa City.
Visitors
This Week
League
of Women Voters Legislative Forum – Saturday
Johnson
County
legislators will participate in a forum on Saturday,
January 26, 9:30 am at the
Iowa City
Civic
Center
. The forum is being sponsored by the League of Women
Voters of Johnson County. The forum can also be seen live
on Cable Channel 4.
Iowa City
Civic Center, Emma Harvat Hall,
410 E. Washington Street
,
Iowa City.
Community
Colleges are Key to Iowa’s Future Workforce
One of
my top goals is ensuring that our community colleges
continue to provide an affordable, high-quality education
to tens of thousands of Iowans each year.
Community
colleges have proven themselves to be an excellent pathway
to a better life for so many Iowans. They
are essential to building the high-skill workforce needed
to attract high-wage jobs and grow our economy here in
Iowa
.
For a
decade beginning in the mid-1990s, the Legislature failed
to adequately support our community colleges. This
resulted in tuition increases that made
Iowa
’s community college tuition rates the highest in the
nation.
Over the
past few years, I’ve helped find the bipartisan support
necessary to significantly increase state support for
community colleges. In fact, the length
of the 2005 session was extended by three weeks because
pro-education legislators refused to adjourn until the
issue of community college support was settled in favor of
Iowa
students.
Last
year, I voted to make sure that community colleges got a
$12.9 million increase in funding and an additional $2
million dedicated to community college faculty salaries.
I am confident that community colleges will be in
great shape when the Legislature’s budget is passed this
year.
Successful
Families Caucus Sets Priorities for 2008
A bipartisan group of legislators took a major step in
2007 with the formation of the Successful Families Caucus.
This coalition, of which I’m a founding member,
is now actively working to alleviate poverty in
Iowa
through good state policies that help
Iowa
families and communities become more economically
successful.
The
Successful Families Caucus is made up of Democrats and
Republicans from both the House and the Senate.
We come from a wide variety of backgrounds and
diverse perspectives, yet our membership is growing.
What brings us together is the belief that when
families are successful, communities are successful.
We focus
on areas of agreement that we believe will provide
long-term financial benefits to
Iowa
families. Some of our current
priorities include providing quality health care for all
children, teaching financial literacy in our schools,
improving consumer protections, expanding collaborations
that help Iowans find and keep good jobs, and raising the
Earned Income Tax Credit.
For more
information about
Iowa
’s Successful Families Caucus, read my article,
“Uniting lawmakers to help families succeed,” in the
August issue of Stateline Midwest at Successful
Families Article.
I
visited this week with Michelle Kenyon-Brown of
Iowa City
, at the Iowa Statehouse on Wednesday, January 24th.
Michelle is part of Iowa Renew, and they spoke about the
state of renewable energy in
Iowa
and how to improve.
Dinner
for
Darfur
– Saturday January 26
STAND (A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition)
in cooperation with
Nile Valley
restaurant will host a benefit dinner for
the refugees in
Darfur
- 2.5 million people
have been driven from their homes.
Nile
Valley
will be providing Sudanese
and Mediterranean cuisine, and there will
be guest speakers from the
Sudanese community.
The event will take place on Saturday,
January 26, 5:00-7:00 pm at The Nile Valley restaurant,
335 South Gilbert St., Iowa
City, IA 52240
Ticket prices are under 5 – free,
ages 6-18 - $15 prices at the door, adult
- $18 and pre-purchased - $15
What
Would Jesus Buy and Listen to the Exchange TODAY
What
Would Jesus Buy? This comedic documentary from the
same producer as Supersize
Me, Morgan Spurlock, will begin showing at the
University
of
Iowa
's Bijou Theater from
January 25-31.
The NPR
program The Exchange. This week’s program
features the director of WWJB, Rob VanAlkemade, who will
be joining two
University
of
Iowa
professors to discuss consumerism in
America
. The program airs Friday morning, January 25th
(from 10-11am).
Free
eFiling for Iowa Taxpayers
Hundreds
of thousands of
Iowa
taxpayers qualify to electronically file their
Federal and
Iowa
income tax returns FREE, but only from the Iowa Department
of Revenue Web site at www.state.ia.us/tax.
One
qualification of Free File is a combined adjusted gross
income of $30,000 or less. According to the Iowa
Department of Revenue, more than 650,000 Iowa
taxpayers fall into that category.
Other
qualifications for Free File include:
