ISSUE: April 21, 2024

It was an intense week finishing up the budget and voting on many other bills. It was like having a race to stuff 30 bushels of corn in a 1 bushel bag. All members of both chambers (House and Senate) saw the capitol in the dark as they left their respective chambers. Suspending the rules to be able to go past midnight became the norm for the week. Finishing on Friday (3 days past the 100 day session limit) was the goal. It was 4:23 am Saturday when the House gaveled out Sine Die...Final with no forwarding work. I hope to continue to represent District 56 and draft further legislation to protect those in our state.

Arton Gaxherri, citizen of Junik, Kosovo, visited the Capitol while in the United States. Andrew Young of Clarion hosted Arton's visit and brought him to the Capitol. Junik is the sister city to Clarion. The time to visit was short due to this week's intense schedule be glad we were able to connect for a few minutes.

Area Education Association Clarification

I have received recent emails with AEA concerns. It has been a legislative year filled with AEA proposals scraped and discarded, started over, accepted by superintendents to then have changes to it by the Senate. I plan to monitor the promises made by the bill passed and now law, are actually followed and implemented as we were told. If the legislation does not allow our special education students to continue to thrive, I will be working with those within the State House to fix, change or enforce the law as written and promised.

Just to clarify, the AEA bill we passed this year takes the responsibility of oversight from the AEAs and places it under the Department of Education’s Special Education division. The $10 million transferred to the DE represents the amount the DE says it needs to handle the responsibility of oversight.

According to previous budget reports from the AEAs, the AEAs collectively spend somewhere between $12.4 million and $47.2 million to perform the oversight and compliance services. (They don’t have a more accurate number for us than that range.)

This means, with this $10 million transfer, the AEAs will have a minimum of $2.4 million up to $37.2 million in additional money to now spend on special education and other services. 

House File 2683: Transportation Budget

·       The first budget we passed through the Iowa House for Fiscal Year 2025 was the Transportation budget.

·       This budget operates a little differently than any of the other budgets. That’s because the Transportation budget doesn’t come from the general fund. Instead, this budget funds the Department of Transportation using money generated by the gas tax and other driver fees.

·       Money left over after funding the Department of Transportation’s operations goes toward building roads and bridges. So, we are always looking to be as efficient as possible as we draw up this budget.

·       This fiscal year’s budget spends about $2 million less than last year. This is made possible by reaching the completion of implementing RealID and extending the driver’s license renewal cycle from five years to eight years.

·       This leaves additional money available for essential infrastructure projects.

House File 2688: Rural Veterinarian Innovation and Revitalization Program

---There is a great need to support veterinarians serving Iowa livestock farmers in rural Iowa.

---In many rural areas, there aren’t enough large animal veterinarians, leaving livestock without timely access to preventative care and vulnerable to dangerous diseases.

---In many cases, individuals have continued working long past their preferred retirement year because without them their communities and clients would be vastly underserved.

---This bill seeks to address this crisis and reward the veterinarians who have stuck around by creating the Rural Veterinary Practice Innovation and Revitalization Program. 

---This program would provide grants up to $25,000 to veterinary practices in rural counties to: improve or expand existing facilities; acquire existing equipment and tools; incorporate new methods and technologies.

---This bill came out of a roundtable with rural veterinarians.  

House File 2689: Rural Attorney Recruitment Assistance Program

     The limited number of attorneys in rural Iowa is astounding. Looking toward the future, it is only predicted to get worse as many of the attorneys currently serving rural Iowa are approaching retirement age.

---Van Buren County has two attorneys left. One of which is over 65.

---Ida County has six attorneys. Two of whom are over the age of 65.

---Adams County has one attorney.

       These rural communities need young, new attorneys to serve their area. Establishing a law career in a rural area has become increasingly difficult.

       House File 2689 aims to aid that problem by establishing a Rural Attorney Recruitment Assistance Program within the Department of Education.

       We will start this program by limiting the number of attorneys to five. Though this may not seem like a lot, having one additional attorney may mean a great deal for that rural community. We hope this program will be a success and we can continue to expand it in future years.

 House File 626 – Nonmedical Switching

·       This bill prohibits health insurers from switching someone’s prescription drugs to a less costly alternative when the individual is stable on the drug and their doctor continues to prescribe the same drug.

·       This bill prioritizes quality care for the patient over the insurance industry’s profits.

·       This is a bill the House passed last session. Thankfully the Senate decided to take it up this year and it is now sent to the Governor’s desk.

House File 255 – Alternative Teacher Licensure

• Last year, the Iowa House passed a bill to create additional pathways to license teachers in Iowa in an effort to address the teacher shortage.
• Unfortunately, the House’s version of the bill died in the Senate last session. However, this session they have revisited the idea of creating an alternative teacher licensure and sent the House the bill with an amendment.
• To qualify to participate in the program to attain this alternative teacher license, a person must have graduated from college and meet requirements for an endorsement area approved by the Board of Educational Examiners (BOEE). that person must also have already received an offer of employment from a school upon attaining the license.
• If a person has already graduated from college with a different degree, they may have transferrable skills that give them a head start on the training required to become a teacher.
• Rather than send them back for another expensive four-year degree, this alternative teacher licensure program will allow more folks to change career paths and help fill the teacher shortages we face. 

Pastor Bob Dodge (Retired) and his wife Brenda visited from Clear Lake. Bob and Brenda recently retired from the church in Brit and have recently retired in their residence in Clear Lake.

I was honored to be invited to Trinity Lutheran Church in Ellsworth to join in a human trafficking presentation to about 90 people. I stepped away from the capital late Thursday afternoon and returned to the chamber around 10 pm for further debate. My remarks followed a presentation provided by the Iowa's Department of Public Safety and a Highway Patrol Trooper. It was an excellent opportunity to convey what we've done to stop this scourge as well as what still needs to be done regarding personnel and resources required to enforce our laws.

Grooming Law passes both House and Senate

Awaits Governor's signature

House File 2602

The House judiciary committee staff and I drafted this bill. Grooming is often the precursor for trafficking of minors. Grooming will now be a class D felony.