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Petersen: Let’s give Iowans a healthier way to restart the economy
By State Senator Janet Petersen
Iowans have made big sacrifices to protect our families, friends and neighbors.
Businesses have been forced to close, people were laid off, and many parents are now at-home teachers—all while keeping a distance from the kind of community and family support we count on during a crisis.
And then there’s the lack of leadership at the top.
Save grandma or save the economy. Save Iowans working in meatpacking plants or save protein. Protect privacy or protect virus-outbreak data. Protect health or protect freedom of religion. Save Iowa’s economy or save ourselves.
These are false choices. Even Governor Reynolds knows it.
Yet, the Governor and Republican legislators continue to deliver narratives that are heavy on spin and light on facts and data.
Ignoring the warnings of health experts is more than dangerous. It’s deadly for our health and economy.
Iowa hasn’t flattened the curve. The number of COVID-19 cases is still increasing, and nationally ranked hotspots are popping up all over the state.
Despite the numbers and the clear warnings from health experts in Iowa and across the country, Governor Reynolds is distancing Iowans from the facts with ribbon-cutting rhetoric.
Instead, Iowans deserve:
COVID-19 REPORTING WE CAN TRUST: Iowans need daily access to ZIP Code-specific COVID-19 numbers. Data from the botched Test Iowa program is giving us inaccurate information on cases, deaths, hospitalizations and contact tracing. It is unacceptable that the Governor is allowing workplaces to hide COVID-19 outbreak information from employees, customers and the public.
ACCURATE, ACCESSIBLE & TIMELY TESTING: Nebraska legislators are calling for their Governor to put the kibosh on the failed Test Nebraska program. Governor Reynolds’s $26 million no-bid, no-results Test Iowa program is a failure. Iowans deserve access to testing and contact tracing in all 99 counties, every day. Local county health departments should be in charge of running testing and contact-tracing programs.
WORKPLACE & SAFETY NET POLICIES TO PREVENT SUPER-SPREAD: Keeping Iowans safe will require new policies that incentivize people to stay home instead of spread COVID-19 because they are pressured to go to work. We need a better safety net, more accountability for taxpayer dollars, and an end to sweetheart deals for campaign donors.
SAFE ACCESS TO FOOD, HEALTH CARE & DEMOCRACY: One of the easiest ways to make sure Iowans don’t go hungry is to expand nutrition assistance programs. They help families access food, while providing business for our local grocery stores and farmers. The Legislature also should extend telemedicine parity so that Iowans can get health care no matter where they live. And we ought to access federal aid to help more Iowans safely vote from home in the November general election.
ACCESS TO BROADBAND & TECHNOLOGY: Finally, the first day back to school will look completely different than what we’ve seen in our lifetimes. That’s why every Iowa family and child needs access to broadband and technology. Let’s expand Iowa’s networks. It will pay off in many ways for decades to come.
It is time to give Iowans confidence that the decisions to reopen ourbusinesses, local schools, childcare facilities, and houses of worship are based on data and common sense, not polling. Our lives and our economy depend upon it.
Senator Janet Petersen of Des Moines is the Senate Democratic Leader
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Dem leader on decision by Republicans to resume session
Statement from Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen
“The landscape in Iowa has changed dramatically since the Legislature recessed on March 17. At that time, there were 29 positive cases and no COVID-related deaths. Today, we are faced with more than 13,000 confirmed cases and more than 300 COVID-related deaths.
“We hope the focus of the reconvened Legislature will be to complete a balanced state budget and provide necessary oversight of the Executive Branch’s actions during this pandemic.
“Because of the expanding health care crisis in our state, we are recommending additional steps to ensure the health and safety of Iowans when the General Assembly reconvenes, and we support additional measures to ensure transparency for all proceedings.”
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Celsi: More testing, oversight needed
For Immediate Release: May 13, 2020
More Widespread Testing, Government Oversight is Needed in Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa (May 13, 2020) – State Senator Claire Celsi is calling on Governor Kim Reynolds to expand testing in cooperation with other entities in order to provide a larger testing footprint in Iowa. So far, TestIowa has not delivered on its contractual promise to test at least 5,000 people per day.
“I am hearing reports from all over the state,” said Senator Claire Celsi. “People who have significant symptoms and/or exposure to COVID-19 are not being selected to receive a test. Also, people who have been tested are still not receiving their results in a timely manner. I am calling on Governor Kim Reynolds to hold TestIowa accountable for their promises.”
“At this point, she should not hesitate to add more testing from other entities to fill the gap,” said Celsi. “Iowans cannot wait. Governor Reynolds is planning to open up the state. The only defense we have is knowing who has tested positive for COVID-19. We must act now to make sure our testing is adequate to protect Iowans. People want to get back to normal, but to do so safely and with confidence people can get the testing they need.”
Many Iowans are being told to “contact their health provider” to be considered for a test. However, the providers are not able to test all people – they must meet significant criteria in order to qualify for a test. Even people who have been exposed to COVID-19 in nursing homes, jails and hospitals sometimes do not qualify.
“Mitigation efforts will not be adequate until our state has the capacity to test, at a minimum, all symptomatic individuals as well as asymptomatic individuals with suspected COVID-19 exposure or who work in high-risk environments,” said Dr. Austin Baeth, an internal medicine physician in Des Moines. “It is widely held among epidemiologists that premature resumption of economic activity before implementing robust testing and contact tracing poses a substantial risk of resurgence of COVID-19.”
Lorna Truck, a retired librarian who lives in West Des Moines, wrote to Celsi recently, pleading for more testing for all who have been exposed to the COVID-19.
“Even though there have been several confirmed cases in a long-term care facility where Lorna’s mother lives, the facility has been denied additional testing, despite Reynolds’ claim to have testing available for all residents and employees of nursing homes. We need to change that immediately,” said Celsi.
“As Iowa moves into the next phase of reopening, our state will receive a significant amount of money from the Federal Government to boost testing and contact tracing,” said Celsi, “I urge Governor Reynolds to spend that money bolstering county public health departments and Iowa-based testing labs instead of giving more money to unproven and unsatisfactory testing companies like TestIowa.”
Celsi suggests that eventually Iowa should be testing 10,000 people per day and that number should include all Iowans who request a test as well as a significant sampling of asymptomatic people to monitor the spread and activity level of COVID19. Moving toward fall when many expect schools to reopen, this knowledge will be essential information for workers, students and all services that support school districts, like transportation and food service.
Senator Celsi is a member of the Senate Government Oversight Committee. She plans to ask the Iowa Senate’s Republican leadership to hold a committee meeting dedicated to the TestIowa $26 million no-bid contract. The meeting would focus on recovering the state funds given to TestIowa or requiring TestIowa to use different, more effective equipment to fulfill the terms of their contract.
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Hogg: Virus spreading faster in open counties
For 11 days in a row, COVID-19 cases have increased faster in the 77 counties where Gov. Reynolds LOOSENED restrictions than in the rest of Iowa
CEDAR RAPIDS – State Senator Rob Hogg (D-Cedar Rapids) released today a chart showing that the 77 counties where Gov. Reynolds loosened restrictions on May 1 have increased faster than in the rest of Iowa for eleven consecutive days.
“The tragic news today that six more Iowans died from COVID-19, bringing the total for the last seven days to 83, is a reminder that we need to do even more to slow down and stop the spread of this dangerous and highly contagious disease,” Hogg said.
Today’s report from the Iowa Department of Public Health showed a 3.5% increase in the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases (up 414 to 12,373), while the county-by-county data show that the 77 counties where Gov. Reynolds loosened restrictions on May 1 increase by 8.0% (up 116 new confirmed cases to 1,562).
The chart gives the daily increases since April 30 for the state as a whole and the 77 counties where Gov. Reynolds loosened restrictions.
Source: Senator Rob Hogg using Iowa Dep’t of Public Health Data provided daily at coronavirus.iowa.gov. The 116-case increase in the 77 counties reported today was the second highest increase yet in terms of actual number of new cases for those counties, second only to the 145-case increase reported May 7.
On Thursday, May 14, Hogg plans to release his second weekly “Top 25” chart for the counties with the fastest increase in COVID-19 cases since April 30.
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Boulton: Workers’ compensation should cover coronavirus
More than 100 years ago, Upton Sinclair chronicled the misery and abuse of American workers in the meatpacking industry.
In The Jungle, he described the packing plants as “centers of contagion, poisoning the lives of all of us.”
Today, we are witnessing a new chapter in the life and deaths of meatpacking workers and other essential workers through the COVID-19 pandemic.
They are called “heroes,” but it’s clear where they rank in this public health crisis. It is painless to say you support them and are proud of those on the front line of public health, the nation’s food supply, or our economy. The hard part: Doing what’s needed when casualties start to mount. And casualties are mounting.
Too many leaders have shown an alarming willingness to abandon front-line workers the moment words aren’t enough. When outbreaks hit meatpacking plants, the inspectors didn’t rush in. There are still no new workplace safety rules or clarifications of workers’ compensation eligibility for infections.The state took a costly wait-and-see approach. When testing was rolled out, the infection rates were staggering. This week, nearly 60% of the meatpacking workers at one Iowa plant tested positive. That doesn’t include those who couldn’t be tested, meaning more than two-thirds of that workforce is likely infected. Still, the state and federal governments remain on the sidelines when it comes to worker protection, even after the Defense Production Act was used to keep plants open.
After four years of stripping away workplace rights, it is time to protect those who are now hailed as essential. For our workers and our economy, we need a law and rules presuming COVID-19 infections as qualifying for workers’ compensation and providing a minimum of two weeks of benefits to workers with a positive diagnosis. Those carrying the infection must be removed from their workplace and be supported by benefits for necessary time off—for their own safety and that of their coworkers, families, and communities. Unless another source of infection is proven, no worker who remains on the job should have to fend for themselves on medical care or income when the risks they were asked to take become reality. This should be our first bipartisan priority when the legislative session resumes.
The state also must back off the dangerous message that refusing to work is simply a “quit” and recognize, with unemployment rules, quits for good cause when employers fail to take reasonable precautions where increased risks of transmission exist.
Our essential workers are critical to Iowa’s success. By ensuring they are protected and can take time off when infected, we can reduce the spread of disease and get a step ahead on future outbreaks. Then, after addressing these immediate concerns, we can work on positive policies.
A government of the people holds a sacred duty and trust to protect the people it serves. If it undermines the wellbeing of its workforce, it has fundamentally failed its purpose. It’s time to repair Iowa’s broken trust with the workers who will strengthen our state’s future.
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Smith: Making Tyson safe for workers must be first priority
State Senator Jackie Smith
For Immediate Release: May 1, 2020(Sioux City) State Senator Jackie Smith of Sioux City today said that the Tyson meatpacking plant in Dakota City must be made safe before it reopens.
Senator Smith believes an independent body must oversee Tyson’s reopening, one with the power to require additional changes, including plant shutdowns, when needed.
“Tyson created this disaster by failing to protect Tyson workers,” Smith said. “That’s why independent experts must oversee an intensive, ongoing effort to make the plant a safe place to work.”
In conversations with workers, community leaders and public health experts, Smith said several ideas were repeatedly raised.
“One, we need thorough, repeatedly updated improvements in worker safety. Two, we must have comprehensive, on-going testing of workers, their families and their communities. Three, we need funding for the ongoing treatment and long-term health care needs of Tyson workers, their family and our communities,” said Smith.
Smith noted that the failure by bad actors in the meatpacking industry is already imposing heavy costs on Northwest Iowa.
“The meatpacking industry failures have created an unprecedent crisis for farmers across our region. Tens of thousands of cattle and hogs may be euthanized due to this industry’s reckless disregard for the health and safety of their workers.
Smith is calling on Iowa’s state and federal leaders to act decisively.
“Governor Kim Reynolds has repeatedly told the people of Northwest Iowa that she would fight for us,” Smith said. “Governor Reynolds, this is your moment. Help us make sure the Tyson plant does not reopen without fundamental changes, independent monitoring, and comprehensive testing and health care services.”
Smith also appealed to the area’s Congressional representatives.
“Senators Ernst and Grassley, you are our community’s only functional voice in Congress,” Smith said. “We need you to bring the power and resources of the federal government to help solve these problems.”
Smith said the problems exposed by the Tyson outbreak won’t be solved without putting the health and safety of Iowa workers first.
“Tyson recklessly harmed hardworking Iowa men and women. Tyson’s neglect spread the virus to those workers, their families and our community,” Smith said. “That’s why independent, ongoing health and safety reforms are essential to recovering from this economic and health care disaster.”
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Dem leaders: Take precautions when re-opening state Capitol
Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen and House Democratic Leader Todd Prichard submitted a memo April 29 to the Legislative Council with recommendations for protecting the health and safety of legislators, staff and constituents when the state Capitol re-opens to complete the 2020 session.
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Hogg: Don’t deny unemployment to workers
Statement from Senator Rob Hogg on decision by Governor Reynolds to deny unemployment benefits to workers
“Governor Reynolds is failing to protect Iowa workers again.
“The Governor has failed Iowa workers at meatpacking plants, workers and residents at long-term care facilities, and inmates and staff at our correctional facilities.
“Now, after prematurely allowing Iowa businesses in 77 counties to reopen, the Governor announced that Iowans who don’t go into work — out of fear for themselves or a vulnerable person in their family contracting COVID19 — will lose their unemployment benefits.
“Iowa workers should have a Governor and a government that has their back during this crisis.”
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