|
Senate
Democrats Legislative Report
·
Where does Iowa rank?
·
Curb teen drinking by holding hosts accountable
·
More sunshine on campaign spending
·
Opening up public employee negotiations
·
Better health care through “Medical Homes”
Iowa Democrats and Republicans are working
together to make Iowa
an even better place to live, work and raise a family. And our efforts are paying off. Here are a few national rankings that show
off our strengths.
The “Kids Count” survey looks at key
indicators to determine how well a state’s children are doing. The Kids Count Survey found Iowa to be the 5th
best state in the nation for kids.
We’ll do even better once we expand health insurance to all children.
The annual “Grading of the States” by the Pew Center
for the States gave Iowa
a “B”. Only eight states ranked
higher. We got good marks for
maintaining healthy rainy day funds and for limiting spending to no more than
99 percent of our income. Next year’s
budget will set a new record with regard to money set aside for emergencies.
The respected “Smartest State”
ranking is a comprehensive look at K-12 schools and student achievement. The most recent survey found Iowa to be 9th “Smartest State,”
an improvement of five steps over the previous survey.
That upward movement will continue because we
are keeping our commitments to increase student achievement, expand access to
early childhood programs across the state, and bring teacher pay up to 25th
in the nation.
Iowa's
per capita personal income surged six percent in 2007, placing us ninth in
the nation in growth, according to the Federal Bureau of Economic
Analysis. One reason is our success at
growing our renewable energy economy. Iowa currently ranks
first in the nation in ethanol, second in biodiesel and fourth in wind energy.
State-by-state comparisons are interesting,
and I’m glad Iowa
does well. But what really counts on
health care, education and jobs is not where we are, but what we’re doing to
move ahead. That continues to be the
focus of my bipartisan work at the Iowa Statehouse.
The Iowa Senate took another bipartisan step against
underage drinking recently by voting to hold adults accountable when they
encourage and accommodate underage drinking.
Under the “social host” legislation, if a person who is
not in the business of selling alcohol provides alcohol to an underage
drinker, that person can be sued if the underage drinker becomes intoxicated
and then injures or kills someone as a result.
Current law states that an adult must physically hand the
alcoholic beverage to the underage drinker to be held liable. That’s not tough enough. Irresponsible adults who provide alcoholic
beverages should be held accountable.
The social host bill takes a giant step in that direction.
The bill provides civil penalties to persons who permit
underage drinking on their property.
If you are aware that underage persons are drinking at your home or on
your property, then you can be fined $250 if this legislation is approved by
the House and signed by Governor Culver.
You would also be liable for the injury or death caused by that
intoxicated underage drinker.
Communities throughout Iowa, frustrated with problems associated
with teen drinking, have already passed local social host ordinances. With this bill, the Senate recognizes the
state’s role in tackling this issue.
The Iowa Senate voted to make the campaign reports filed
by candidates more revealing and easier for the public to use.
The legislation will create a searchable, web-based
database at the Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board for all political
candidates and committees. This will
be a dramatic improvement in citizen access and ease of use.
Many functions of the new database are already up and
running. To learn more, go to https://webapp.iecdb.iowa.gov/PublicView.
This week the Senate passed a bill that will broaden the
range of topics that can be considered when public employees negotiate
contracts.
Iowa’s
public employee collective bargaining law is nearly 35 years old and needs to
be modernized to reflect current workplace issues. House File 2654 makes modest changes that
bring Iowa in line with every private union
in Iowa, as
well as with 27 of the 34 states that permit collective bargaining by public
employees. They include South Dakota, Nebraska,
Minnesota, Wisconsin
and Illinois.
Current Iowa
law strictly limits the topics on which employers are required to
bargain. Under the new bill that passed the House and Senate, if an
issue is important to either side, it can be discussed. These topics could include:
- Work clothing and equipment, such as weapons,
bulletproof vests and other safety equipment for law enforcement
officers, firefighters and prison guards.
- Staffing levels, including the number of police per
squad car based on criminal activity or the number of firefighters
necessary before entering a dangerous situation.
- Selection of insurance carrier. Currently, workers
can bargain for benefits but can't bargain for a more favorable carrier
for cost savings or better service.
Under the legislation, management would continue to have
the right to hire, fire and direct the work of its
employees. In addition, “fair share” fees could still not be collected or be
the subject of negotiations.
This legislation has attracted support, opposition, and
misconceptions. For example, just
because one side requests something, the opposing side is not required to
agree. Because Iowa law forbids public employees from
striking, serious disputes are settled by binding arbitration.
Even then, legislation includes several safeguards to
protect taxpayers. Arbitrators must
make decisions based on past practice and consider the welfare of the public
and legal limits on the power to levy taxes.
Decisions that fail to do so are illegal and unenforceable.
This legislation improves a time-tested process that upholds
the values of fairness and predictability for all concerned, including
taxpayers, and does so without disruptive work stoppages and strikes.
This session legislators are taking a hard look at the
best ways to improve access to affordable health care for Iowans. One of the
proposed improvements is the creation of individual “medical homes.”
A medical home is not a building, house or hospital.
Instead, it’s a team approach to providing health care. A patient’s medical home offers coordinated
care by a personal health care provider who has the right tools to best
prevent and treat your medical concerns.
The medical home concept is central to the recommendations
of the Legislative
Commission on Affordable Health Care.
That nonpartisan group has spent the last year studying how to make
high-quality health care accessible for every Iowan.
Patients choose a medical home when they select a doctor,
medical clinic, nurse practitioner or other certified professional to be
their primary health care provider.
The goal is to coordinate patient-centered care that is focused on
prevention, wellness, and management of chronic conditions. In addition, medical homes help lower
health care costs by using electronic medical records and focusing on
maintaining and improving health, rather than curing sickness.
|