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Expect three busy weeks at the Capitol. Legislators will continue to work through their list of bills to get them out of committee before February 18. If a bill has not been voted out of its first committee by this date, it is no longer considered alive and its path to becoming a law ends. Last week there were 159 meetings over three days, and 514 new bills have been introduced.
The big news this week was House and Senate leaders released their tax plans. As we reported a few weeks ago, the Governor announced a very big plan to cut income taxes for Iowans and businesses, get rid of taxes on the income people get in retirement, and help farming families with other tax cuts.
The Senate plan is similar, but it makes a little bit bigger cut in state taxes (they want a 3.6% flat tax vs. the Governor’s 4%) and will set it up so they can eventually get rid of state income taxes). The Senate plan also takes over the one-penny local option sales tax and makes it statewide and uses a part of that money for outdoor recreation, trails, and water quality projects. This is what people call “IWILL” or “Iowa’s Water & Land Legacy” – years ago Iowans passed a constitutional amendment that requires the first 3/8 penny of any sales tax increase to go toward these projects.
The House plan is most like the Governor’s but does not include a business income tax cut. You can read more details about the plans in our Bill Tracker. It is very clear that the Governor, Senate and House are all in agreement that taxes need to be cut, and they plan to do it this year. Each plan has its own cost – but all would cut taxes by over $1 billion. That’s a lot out of an $8 billion budget that still does not fund its Medicaid program enough to keep services open, expand services to fill gaps, keep trained staff, and keep up with demand (let alone start to fix the problems the US Department of Justice found).
What Can You Do?
- If you are concerned about the state having enough money to pay for Medicaid services, education and other programs important to you, let your legislators know.
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Go to our Action Center here. Put in your name and address, and it will show you your legislators. Tell them why Medicaid services (or other programs you care about) are so important to you, and let them know you are worried about how tax cuts will impact the state’s ability to meet the needs of Iowans with disabilities. Ask them how they plan to fix the ADA violations against Iowans with disabilities in this state while cutting taxes? Ask them how Medicaid providers can keep direct staff employed when they cannot pay them a living wage? Let them know what happens if you don’t have the staff to help you each day. Do you miss work? Are you unable to do things you want to do? Remember, your personal stories are what matter the most!
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You can also host an in-person or virtual local Capitol Day with the help of the Iowa DD Council. Find out more here.
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Bills on the Move
The House Human Resources Committee is moving fast on bills, with almost 20 on its agenda this week. Many of the bills dealt with access to psychiatric services, with loan repayment programs for both prescribing and non-prescribing mental health professionals, creating a new rate structure to help pay more for more intensive psychiatric inpatient services, and not allowing insurance companies to switch medication for people who are stable. That last one is very important to Iowans with mental illness, epilepsy, and other chronic conditions that make finding the right drug or mix of drugs is difficult.
Finally, Autism Speaks and the insurance industry got together to support a bill that would update the definition of autism in such a way that it would be covered under mental health parity law, which would not allow discrimination in payment for services or based on age. That bill also made it through committee this week.
You can read about these and other bills in our Bill Tracker.
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MHI Beds & More
The Iowa Legislature is considering a bill that would open services at state’s two Mental Health Institutes (MHIs) to more adults and children.
House Study Bill 531 adds 14 beds for children/teens and 32 beds for adults to the two MHIs. The bill's subcommittee had planned to meet last Tuesday to talk about this, but the meeting was cancelled to give legislators more time to talk about options.
Several Iowa sheriffs have met with legislators over the past two years to ask for help in finding beds for people needing inpatient care – somewhere other than hospital emergency rooms that are already overrun with COVID patients and without enough staff to provide adequate services to people in crisis. Legislators have heard about day-long waits in hospital emergency rooms before getting help.
If you have ideas for your legislators, let them know! This is a hot topic right now.
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Victory for Students with Disabilities in Iowa | |
The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled this week that federal law (Rehab Act) requires schools to require school-wide masks when it is necessary to allow students with disabilities to safely attend school.
The decision comes in a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Iowa, Disability Rights Iowa, The Arc of the United States, and others on behalf of The Arc of Iowa and 11 parents of children with disabilities. The court said that masking is a reasonable accommodation to allow students with disabilities to go to school safely.
Here is what a few people are saying about this decision:
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“To be able to attend schools safely, many students with disabilities need their schools to require masks…this decision ensures that schools can continue to take basic public health precautions like requiring universal masking to protect their students.” Susan Mizner, ACLU’s Disability Rights Program Director
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“Today’s decision is an important victory for the civil rights of children with disabilities in Iowa, who have a right to go to school with their peers. No parent should have to choose between their child’s health and safety and their education, but that is the terrible position that the state put our clients in. It’s important to note that the court’s reasoning also means that even schools that are not named in the lawsuit should be requiring masks when needed to accommodate students with disabilities so they can go to school with their peers. This decision is a huge relief to families across our state.” Rita Bettis Austen, legal director of the ACLU of Iowa
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“I welcome today’s ruling that universal masking as an accommodation is both reasonable and necessary for students with disabilities to attend school in-person safely during the ongoing pandemic. This ruling comes during a time when Iowa is experiencing a surge of COVID-19 cases throughout the state. We are hopeful this opinion provides relief, confidence and clarity for parents, students, and schools to work collaboratively to restore our students’ long established civil rights under federal law and safely return our students with disabilities to their schools.” Catherine Johnson, Disability Rights Iowa Executive Director
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“In the midst of yet another COVID-19 surge, the court is making it clear that students with disabilities have the right to go to school safely during this pandemic. The Arc will continue fighting to ensure that students with disabilities in Iowa and nationwide are able to attend their neighborhood schools alongside their peers without putting their health and their lives at risk.” Shira Wakschlag, Senior Director of Legal Advocacy at The Arc of the United States
What Does This Mean To You?
- Iowa has told schools that they cannot require masks. The courts said that Iowa cannot do that – that schools MUST require masks if it is needed to make sure children with disabilities can attend school safely.
- Schools that have students with disabilities are required to provide accommodations for them to attend school safely, which includes wearing masks to prevent the spread of Covid. If you are a student with a disability, you have the right to go to school safely and request that your school require masks.
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The Iowa Department of Human Services has over $50 million to help home and community based services (HCBS) providers with hiring, training, and supporting staff. This includes people providing services through Consumer-Directed Attendant Care (CDAC) and the Consumer Choices Option (CCO)!
You must apply for funding by February 18, and awards will come out soon after that. These funds come from the federal ARPA dollars (American Rescue Plan Act). Find out more here.
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Friday was our first 2022 Capitol Chat, a zoom meeting where you hear about what’s going on at the State Capitol and share your thoughts about the issues and your advocacy. We had a record 48 people on this month’s Capitol Chat – and about as many joined us for a post-chat Advocacy 101 session. To watch them:
Our next Capitol Chat will be Friday, February 25 at 11:00 a.m. We’ll talk about what made it through the first “funnel” deadline and spend a lot of time talking about your issues, and what our advocates are up to. You can sign up for that here.
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infoNET is a disability policy newsletter of the Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council and its network of Iowans with Disabilities in Action.
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This project was supported, in part by grant number 2101IASCDD, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy. | | | | |
