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No News on Budgets, Little Work This Week
The Iowa House and Iowa Senate took most of this week off, with the Senate only coming in on Tuesday to do a few bills and retirement speeches. Legislators lost their expense checks and staff on Tuesday, so from here on out they pay for their own hotels and meals, and they are without staff to help answer emails and schedule their meetings.
Senate leaders are unwilling to move any budgets or finalize any big policy bills until the House passes the Governor's bill to allow public education dollars to be used as scholarships to students who want to go to a private school. It is our understanding that there is overwhelming opposition in the House to doing this. So here we sit. It's like a staring contest to see who blinks first. Meanwhile, many bills are still waiting for action. Here are a few we're tracking that are still in limbo:
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House File 2221 - Hearsay Evidence: Current law does not allow "hearsay evidence," literally something someone hears, then says to someone else. It's not under oath, and its not inside the court. Hearsay is not allowed in Iowa courts as evidence of a crime. This bill allows these "hearsay" statements in sex crime cases when the victim is a child or a person who has a developmental disability or cognitive impairment. What this means is if an individual with a developmental disability tells a friend or a personal attendant that someone sexually assaulted them, that statement could be used as evidence in a trial. This bill passed the House and was amended by the Senate, so the House must now vote on whether to accept the amendment.
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House File 2486 & Senate File 2093 - Service Animal Restrictions: If this bill passes, people who lie about their pet being a service animal will have to pay a fine. The bill also makes it clear that all housing providers must make accommodations that are reasonable in order for a person with a disability to have "equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling." The bill also says a housing provider can deny a request for a service or assistance animal if it costs too much, changes how a housing provider operates, or would conflict with another person's accommodation. These bills have not yet passed the House or Senate, but are still alive because they are the same and are on both House and Senate calendars.
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House File 2495 - Post Secondary Transition Programs: Iowans with developmental, intellectual, and learning disabilities can attend college programs after high school to help prepare them for a transition into the adult working world, but these programs can be very expensive and college scholarships cannot be used to cover the cost of tuition for these programs. This bill sets up a scholarship program to help pay for this tuition, so someone who wanted to participate in the University of Iowa's REACH program, or Northwestern's NEXT program would be able to get a scholarship to help pay for them, just like other students get scholarships to help pay for their college tuition. This makes these programs more affordable to families. The funding for this program is currently in the House Education Budget (House File 2575), and this bill is on the Senate calendar (it will go to the Governor if the Senate passes this bill before they finish work for the year).
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House File 2578 - House Health & Human Services Budget: Let's not forget this one! Remember there are increases to take 250 people off the HCBS/Intellectual Disabilities waiver waiting list ($7.4 million), more money for HCBS waiver providers to raise direct care staff wages ($14.6 million), increased rates for intermediate care facilities that serve Iowans with intellectual disabilities (ICF/ID - $3.1 million), and raises for rural home health service providers ($4 million). And all of these funds can be used to match federal dollars, so the full amount is much more than the combined $30 million! Remember, you can take action on this easily here.
You can read more about other bills still waiting for legislators to take action here. You can take action yourself by asking your legislators to pass a bill here.
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A loyal reader recently asked, “In your recent infoNET newsletter, you said that there is $25 million in new money in the Health and Human Service Budget. Will any of that reach and directly help Iowans with disabilities or will it just go to administrative cost?”
The proposed money will go directly to provider rates and employee wages. But the final decisions have not been approved yet, so please advocate today!
This would be a great time to reach out to your legislators and share your thoughts and perspectives.
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Learn more about the budget proposals here.
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Learn more about the proposed line items here that would support Iowans with disabilities here.
Reach out today to your legislators and share these ideas for this years budget.
- More money means more pay for staff, and hopefully they stay longer.
- More money also helps providers offer more types of services.
- Taking people off waiting lists lets more people get the services they need.
- The Senate may make changes to this budget.
- To pass, the Senate and House will have to agree on how to spend the money.
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The Governor recently signed the following bills into law. We are excited to share this news!
Each of these bills were the result of work by self and family advocates. Great work!
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Senate File 2197 will appoint a task force to investigate and find ways to make sure all children with disabilities receive the special education services they are entitled to, even if they go to a private school.
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Senate File 2345 will make sure the newborn screening each hospital does after the birth of a child to detect genetic conditions is updated and includes the full array of screenings possible.
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House File 2167 updates the definition of autism to align with the manuals health care professionals use to diagnose, and make sure insurance covers the treatment as they would other brain health conditions.
Advocacy works! Special thanks to the legislators who worked with advocates on these bills:
- Senators Mark Costello, Chris Cournoyer, Eric Giddens, Jesse Green, Craig Johnson, Carrie Koelker, Herman Quirmbach, Amy Sinclair, Sara Trone Garriott
- Representatives Steve Bradley, John Forbes, Joel Fry, Chad Ingels, Eric Gjerde, Shannon Lundgren, Ann Meyer, Sandy Salmon, Kristen Sunde
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Summer Youth Leadership Academy
The Youth Leadership Academy (YLA) helps youth with disabilities develop leadership skills. The training consists of five 2-hour sessions. All sessions will be held virtually and are free to all participants.
YLA is provided by Access 2 Independence, ASK Resource Center, Iowa Department of Human Rights, Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council, and UI Health Care Center for Disabilities and Development.
What will students learn? The five themes include leadership, goal-setting, self-determination, civic engagement, plus networking, and mentoring. All sessions will be interactive.
Who can attend? There are two statewide training sessions during the week - one in the morning and one in the afternoon. YLA is for students with disabilities age 14–21. Each session will consist of 8–12 students from Iowa communities. After the interview process, students will be selected for either the am or pm session.
When are these sessions held?
Trainings: Monday, July 25–Friday, July 29
Morning Session: 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Afternoon Session: 1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
Graduation Ceremony: Friday, August 5
How can I learn more? You can read the flyer here. You can also attend one of the information sessions:
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Capitol Snapshot: Voting in the June 2 Primary
This week's Capitol Snapshot features a conversation between the Iowa DD Council's Bill Kallestad and Iowa's Secretary of State Paul Pate. Last week's Capitol report included some information about getting ready for the June 7 primary election. We wanted to follow up with a conversation with the expert - our Secretary of State.
Many county auditors already have sample ballots for the June 7 primary on their websites (click here)!
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NEXT CAPITOL CHAT:
April 29 (11 a.m. to Noon)
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You can watch daily debate:
Daily Debate List:
Senate & House
Live Debate:
Senate & House (video)
Senate & House (audio)
Catchup on Recorded Debates:
Senate & House (video)
Senate & House (audio)
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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. | | | | |
