Session Week Two
Week two got underway after Martin Luther King Jr. Day was observed and celebrated. We had a short week packed full of committees, bill assignments and subcommittees, as we start the work of vetting the Governor’s proposals with bills held over from last year and those being newly submitted.
In IT committee we are always looking for ways to connect those stuck in broadband deserts. Conversations on what the hang ups and difficulties are with using Federal funds and how well our State funds were doled out have been happening, as well as, what our collective step forward should be. Again, there are problems that the grant funds can’t solve, such as, supply chain issues and workforce needs.
In Economic Growth committee, you can expect another butchery bill, to continue to address the bottlenecks in that industry. It is a business with many hungry customers, yet a butchery field that is drying up. I’ve also assigned a IEDA bill to start working it’s way through the process and am receiving various committee bills this week. Also this week, the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) announced investments of $16.6 million in community infrastructure, housing, and revitalization projects. Awards were made through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which provides support for community improvements.
In Education, our Chairman, Representative Dustin Hite (Marion & Mahaska Counties), just ran a bill through our committee that I think you will find interesting. Currently in Iowa as we see more and more wind energy, we are also seeing more and more Tax Increment Financing involving these wind projects. TIFF allows a county or city to capture all of the property taxes from a certain area, which are then supposed to be used for development and infrastructure within that area. Money that would have flowed to the school for their share of the state cost per pupil is instead rerouted to counties and cities, and the state is required to back fill the schools. This backfill has grown to over $70 million in recent years. These TIFF districts were originally intended to help cities and counties offset the cost of infrastructure for development or redevelopment areas. These areas are called Urban Revitalization Zones. What we have seen with these wind turbine areas is the money is being taken from schools and other taxing entities, not for “urban revitalization,” but instead to be used by counties for other projects in other parts of the counties, and the Iowa tax payers as a whole are paying for it. Rep. Hite’s bill simply says that if a city or county wants to create an Urban Revitalization Zone which includes wind turbines. they can, but the schools are going to keep their money and therefore the State will not have to backfill these districts. This bill will help keep the state budget in check.
Over the last 5 years, the legislature has passed bipartisan mental health reform, created the state’s first ever children’s mental health system, provided significant funds to mental health providers through Medicaid rates, and expanded access to mental health care through telehealth. This week, the House Human Resources Committee introduced four pieces of legislation to address mental health workforce and additional beds for Iowa’s most difficult patients. These bills will (HSB53) increase the current capacity at the Independence and Cherokee Mental Health institutes by 50%, and add 32 adult beds and 14 child/adolescent beds for Iowa's most difficult-to-place mental health patients. (HSB532) will fund 12 psychiatric residents per year. Iowa currently ranks 44th in the country in psychiatrists per capita, and this bill will help increase the number of psychiatrists trained in Iowa. (HSB537) will add $1 million per year to expand loan forgiveness opportunities to continue to retain new prescribing mental health providers in Iowa. (HSB530) requires DHS to establish a Medicaid rate for those needing a higher level of inpatient psychiatric care. It will take time to develop the new mental health services, and Iowa has made great progress in expanding community supports statewide.
To my constituents in Adair, Guthrie, Dallas and Cass, and my future constituents in Madison, Union and Clarke—thank you for your continued support and input. I can be reached at Ray.Sorensen@legis.Iowa.gov. OUR LIBERTIES WE PRIZE AND OUR RIGHTS WE WILL MAINTAIN!
