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There were some new bills introduced that we want to highlight this week:
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HF 285 excuses student absences if they are attending treatment for autism. Schools are not consistently excusing these absences. Parents are then sometimes charged with truancy. This would require all schools to excuse kids leaving school to attend these appointments. A companion will be coming in the Senate this week.
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HF 275 is the new number for the bill that replaces the $5,727 lifetime limit on HCBS/ID Waiver home/vehicle modifications with a $6,872 annual cap. It's ready for House debate, and safe from the March 3 funnel.
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NEWS FLASH! The state says this change will only cost $500,000 next year, and just under $700,000 the following year. That's not a lot of money when you consider the size of the Medicaid budget. This change will help keep people in their own homes and communities.
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HF 264 was introduced this week. It's the same as SF 7. These bills make the income a person earns being a direct service professional tax-free. They are both in the tax committee, so they don't have to be out of committee by March 3.
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NEWS FLASH! The cost on this one is more. Experts say this bill will reduce income taxes paid by caregivers by $9.2 million in the first year, and by $11 million after five years. While that means less money coming into the state, it means more money in the pockets of direct care workers!
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SF 177 passed out of subcommittee this week. We’ll talk more next week about this bill that requires school personnel to be trained on epilepsy and seizure disorders.
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HF 287 creates a "rare disease advisory council" to advise on research, diagnosis, and treatment options for rare diseases, with required public input into the process.
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SF 296 requires schools to conduct annual, evidence-based training to educators and other school staff on mental wellness, and ways to self-identify and mitigate negative mental health symptoms. This is training for teacher wellness, not student.
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SF 288 appears every year. This may be the year that insurance companies will have to pay for diagnosis and treatment of PANS/PANDAS (pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome/pediatric neuropsychiatric syndrome associated with streptococcal infections).
There are still a lot of bills we're tracking that have not yet been voted out of committee. aLegislators have only two weeks to get them out. Contact your legislators if these bills are important to you. You can find them in the Bill Tracker.
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SHOUT OUTS to the community representing Iowans who are blind or sight impaired. They made an impressive showing at a Senate subcommittee meeting on Monday. They spoke against the Department for the Blind reorganization. They demonstrated that the people who are most affected by programs and policies should be the ones leading this discussion.
Another SHOUT OUT to Sarah Young Bear-Brown (member of the DD Council’s Allies in Advocacy) who advocated for the School for the Deaf after her interpreter was shut out of the subcommittee meeting. Read more of the story here and in our Capitol Snapshot below!
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New Capitol Snapshot
Carlyn Crowe and Amy Campbell talk one-on-one with advocate Sarah Young Bear-Brown about the Governor's plans for the School for the Deaf here.
Not only was Sarah stepping up to talk about the impact of the reorganization changes of Iowans who are deaf or hard of hearing, but she also had to fight for access just to participate in the
legislative process!
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Sign Up for Our Capitol Chats
You can watch our Capitol Chats here.
Join us next Friday (February 24)!
Sign up for the Chats:
Feb. 24, Mar. 31, Apr. 28
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Iowa legislators still take time out of their weekends home to go to public forums or town halls. It's their time to meet the people they represent, share what they are doing at the State Capitol, and hear what people think that work.
You can find these on our calendar, and you can download the list for the next two weeks here.
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infoNET is the disability policy project of the Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council and its network of Iowans with Disabilities in Action. | |
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This project is supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $774,176 with 100 percent funding by ACL/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government. | | | | |
