Governor Kim Reynolds had a big week; she signed the bill to cut the taxes Iowans pay by $1.9 billion over the next five years and she was on national television Tuesday night to respond to President Biden's State of the Union speech. The House and Senate continue to debate long lists of bills each day, hoping to keep them moving as the next deadline approaches.

Legislators have just two weeks now - six working days - to get bills out of one chamber, and out of committee in the other. The chart below shows you where bills need to be in the legislative process by March 18, the next "funnel" deadline.

We know that DHS will be asking for money to help give people more options to live in the community, but we do not know how much will be added to the budget. The Revenue Estimating Conference meets this week (March 10) to see if the state is continuing to collect a lot more money than it spends. This meeting is usually the start of state budgets - so we should start to hear more soon. It is important to note that bills that spend money can be discussed at any time - they are "funnel proof" and deadlines do not apply to them.

What Does This Mean to You?

• Now is the time to talk to your legislators about bills you want to see move forward.
• Check the bill tracker.
• Are there bills in there you want to see move forward?
• Contact your legislators and ask them to keep the bill moving forward.

• Now is also a great time to talk about money - budgets. How do you want to see tax dollars used? Where do you want to see more money? Clearing waiver waiting lists? Increasing direct support staff wages? Making communities more accessible?
• Check the Iowa DD Council's 2022 Legislative Agenda for ideas.
• Email your legislator and tell your own story about why its important.
• Email us your story and let us know if we can include it in infoNET!

Dubuque Advocate Speaks Up

Bill Stumpf and his son Kyle are rock stars in the Iowa advocacy world. They've been on billboards, met with the President, advocated in both Washington DC and Iowa, and come to just about every event hosted by the Iowa DD Council (and Bill served on the Council). So you probably know them, or know of them.

This week Bill came to the State Capitol to attend a subcommittee on a bill (Senate File 348) that makes changes to the laws guardians must follow. Bill was especially concerned that changes made a few years ago on reporting are kept in place; he sees them as necessary to protect individuals with disabilities like his son Kyle. Rather than try to tell his story here, I'll let his own words (his subcommittee testimony) do the job:

Bill and other advocates say no changes should be made to reporting requirements currently in place, and that Senate File 348 should not be amended. Two of the three legislators serving on the subcommittee are lawyers who work with guardians, and they say changes are needed because some families are now "priced out of the system." They say costs have gone up too much to set up guardianships, from an average of $550 to $2,000.

Former State Representative Chip Baltimore is now a lobbyist for the Iowa Guardianship and Conservatorship Association (the group Bill is with). Baltimore said he is not sure those costs are accurate and says families do not need lawyers to fill out these report forms. He also said that oversight of guardians should not be simple, and argued that the reporting needs to be detailed. The only difference is in the forms that people use for reporting - and those forms are now consistent whether filed by a family member without a lawyer, or a lawyer on behalf of the family.

We always say that it's important to get to know your legislators, and develop a relationship with them. Bill has done that, and it shows. His State Representative (Chuck Isenhart) and State Senator (Pam Jochum) showed up to the subcommittee as a sign of support to Bill. By having that relationship, Bill's legislators got to advocate for him!

Want to get involved in this issue?

• Contact your State Legislator and ask them for help here.

• Tell your own story about this. That is what helps legislators know how this really impacts you and your family.

• If you want to talk through this with someone who knows more about it, let us know and we'll get you in contact with someone who can help!

We are saddened to share news of the passing of Cherie Clark, a longtime disability rights advocate. Cherie was part of many advocacy organizations and received several awards for her ongoing dedication. This includes the 2017 Iowans with Disabilities in Action Lifetime Achievement Award, which she received for her years of disability rights advocacy.

Perhaps the most important part of her legacy was how much she inspired other advocates. Eric Donat, another self-advocate, is just one of those people who was impacted and inspired by Cherie’s work. “Cheri taught me everything I know in how to be a disability advocate,” he said. “I am as good as I am because of her! It is because of her.”

We will miss Cherie and hope that her legacy lives on through the continued advocacy efforts of Eric and the many (too many to list) people who she motivated to take action. Role model and leader, incredible advocate, we'll miss her.

Below, you can find even more of Cherie’s great accomplishments and many of her friends are posting tributes on Facebook. They hope to have a celebration of life this summer. Always giving, Cherie donated her body to science.

• Cherie was instrumental in starting the Peer Action Disability Support (P.A.D.S.) advocacy group in Cedar Rapids, where she also served as leader for a great many years. The P.A.D.S group did many advocacy activities in their community, including making restaurants accessible for people using wheelchairs and others with mobility issues, along with an annual ADA Celebration for the whole community at the Cedar Rapids Kernels baseball game in July of each year.

• In 2007-2008 she was instrumental in contacting Iowa State Senator Bob Dvorsky and convincing him to find state funding for the six Iowa Centers for Independent Living. That year, Governor Chet Culver signed the state appropriations bill that, for the first time in history, provided state funds to assist with the costs of operating each of the six Iowa Centers for Independent Living.

• She was selected as the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) Region VII Advocate in 2008, and travelled to the NCIL Conference in Washington, DC, to receive that award. She also met with Senator Tom Harkin while she was there!

• She was involved in the Iowa Olmstead Consumer Task Force (OCTF) and received the Raymond Gerke Award for Outstanding Systems Advocacy from them in 2014.

Feel free to share your thoughts and memories of Cherie on her Facebook page or on the infoNET page.

Capitol Snapshot

It was a historic week at the State Capitol and we know some hot topics will be discussed next week, like the Election Bill. We also lost a long-time disability advocate last week. Learn more in Bill and Amy's weekly video Capitol Snapshot!

Click here to watch.

Sign up for our

March Capitol Chat.

March is Developmental Disability Awareness Month!

The Iowa DD Council wants to share your stories & talents during March. Not just advocacy stories - if you are a poet, writer, or artist, they want to show off of your talents. Click here to submit a story.

Celebrate DDAM with the Community Living Ambassadors! Join via Zoom on March 18 at 11:30 AM to discuss barriers to living in the community. Click here to sign up.

Advocate Resources

Bill Tracker

Action Center

Calendar & Legislative Town Halls

Guide to the Iowa Legislature

Advocacy Toolkit

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.