Statement from State Sen. Tony Bisignano on misuse of tax dollars by Iowa State Patrol and Department of Public Safety
“I can’t believe the silence by Governor Reynolds and other state leaders after the State Auditor reported the misuse of $40,000 in taxpayer money by the Iowa State Patrol and Iowa Department of Public Safety.
“An audit released yesterday determined that there was no legitimate reason to spend $40,000 to help move an Iowa State Patrol supervisor and his family from Adel to West Des Moines.
“The Governor should take immediate action to require the Iowa State Patrol supervisor to repay that money to the State of Iowa. She should make sure someone is held accountable for this poor judgment call, including officials who approved it.
“In addition, the Senate’s Government Oversight Committee should meet the first week of the 2020 session to investigate this matter and to recommend legislation that would stop further misuse of taxpayer dollars.”
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Senator Tony Bisignano of Des Moines is the Ranking Member of the Senate’s Government Oversight Committee.
Bipartisan State Legislators to Seek Public Comment from Residents of Iowa Manufactured Housing Communities and Discuss Comprehensive Reforms
“Iowa law should treat residents of manufactured housing with dignity and respect. Earlier this year, Democrats and Republicans came together to take the first steps in the right direction, and now it’s time to finish that bipartisan work.”
DES
MOINES—In light of widespread reports earlier this year of double-digit
increases in rent by out-of-state landlords for residents of Iowa manufactured
housing communities, a bipartisan group of Iowa lawmakers is seeking public
input on proposed changes to Iowa law overseeing manufactured housing communities,
also known as “mobile home parks.”
A meeting to gather public input on proposed reforms will be held
on Saturday, December 14, at the Iowa Statehouse. The
meeting will take place in Room 103 of the Statehouse, the original chambers of
the Iowa Supreme Court. The session will begin at 1 PM and end at 3:45 PM.
Iowa legislators from both political parties and both the Iowa House and Senate,
as well as representatives from the office of Governor Kim Reynolds and the Iowa
Finance Authority, will attend the Saturday meeting.
Residents, landlords, and experts have been invited, and lawmakers
have been informed that residents of manufactured housing from across Iowa plan
to attend.
Compared to residents of other states, Iowans living in
manufactured homes on rented plots of land lack the basic protections that
traditional renters have. In recent years, out-of-state companies looking for
quick profits have bought up Iowa manufactured home parks and sharply increased
the rent. Earlier this year, double-digit rent increases as high as 69% were
widely reported by the press. In response, legislation to improve the
rights of manufactured housing residents was approved unanimously by the Iowa
Senate.
“Iowa law should treat residents of manufactured housing (i.e. ‘mobile homes’) with dignity and respect. Earlier this year, Democrats and Republicans came together to take the first steps in the right direction, and now it’s time to finish that bipartisan work,”said Senator Zach Wahls of Coralville. “Iowa law should protect those who have worked hard for their piece of the American Dream from predatory out-of-state landlords taking advantage of Iowa’s unequal protection for manufactured housing residents.”
To reserve a time to speak at the Saturday, December 14th meeting, Iowans are encouraged (but not required) to contact legislative staffer Rusty Martin at 515-418-8709 or via email at rusty.martin@legis.iowa.gov.
Statement by Senator Joe Bolkcom on proposed
privatized management of University utility system
This elaborate, 50-year creative borrowing scheme is the result of the failure over the last decade by the Iowa Legislature and Governor Reynolds to adequately fund our public universities.
The University of Iowa and Iowa Board of Regents are
moving at breakneck speed toward approving a proposed University of Iowa’s plan
to privatize management of the institution’s electricity and water systems in
exchange for a $1 billion-dollar (my guesstimate because it’s still a secret)
payment.
Like a hedge fund, the University of Iowa will invest
this borrowed money in the markets, in hopes of realizing large capital gains
to both payback the borrowed money to the investors and realize a financial
gain to fund the University. Like a home mortgage, every dollar that the
University receives in an upfront payment will have to be paid back with
interest over the next 50-years.
Exotic and possibly risky financing with international
investors’ money is the latest plan by Governor Reynolds, the Board of Regents
and university leaders to support educating our Iowa college students. The plan
relies on the performance of the markets to succeed. If for some reason the
University can’t pay back the money, Iowa taxpayers will.
This elaborate, 50-year creative borrowing scheme is the
result of the failure over the last decade by the Iowa Legislature and Governor
Reynolds to adequately fund our public universities.
Except for handful of legislative leaders and the Governor’s
office, Iowans have been left in the dark about the financial details of this
deal. The assets of the University of Iowa belong to Iowa taxpayers not any
board or unelected administrator. We have not privatized the University of Iowa
yet! Iowans deserve a far more transparent process and a timely sharing of the
financial details of such a complicated long-term deal.
Iowans will have no opportunity to express their views on
the final details of borrowing plan. At the Board of Regents meeting next week,
they will reveal the successful bidder and the amount of the deal moments
before they vote to approve the contract. Their agenda does not allow for any
public input.
Taxpayers deserve some straight answers to basic
questions before the Board of Regents rubber-stamps the deal. Some of the
questions include:
Who is the company and what is their expertise and experience operating both a power plant and drinking water system?
Where is the money coming from?
How much money will need to be paid back?
Who is financially responsible if the plan fails?
Why does the University of Iowa continue to pay all the costs of staff, fuel and capital improvements to operate the utility systems?
Why have Iowan’s been left in the dark?
This is no way to run a public university. This is not a
long-term solution to fund higher education. Iowa taxpayers and University of
Iowa faculty, staff and students deserve better.
(Des Moines) Improved health care for tens of thousands of
Iowans depends on passing major reforms of Iowa’s medical cannabis program during
the 2020 session according to two legislative leaders on this issue.
At a
statehouse news conference today, Senator Joe Bolkcom of Iowa City and Representative
John Forbes of Urbandale listed reasons why the 2020 session will determine whether
Iowa’s struggling medical cannabis program is able to improve.
“Time is
running out. Recreational cannabis sales
in Illinois will soon be undercutting Iowa’s legal, regulated medical cannabis
businesses,” said Senator Bolkcom. “As
that program expands, it threatens the goal of making affordable, regulated
medicines available to Iowans regardless of where they live.”
For the last
six years, legislators have debated various efforts to establish a working
medical cannabis program.
“Iowa’s state
government has so far failed to meet the needs of Iowans,” said Representative
Forbes, an Urbandale pharmacist. “Today,
less than 4,000 Iowans have managed to become approved to legally purchase
medicines made from cannabis. That’s far
less than the number that could be helped and not nearly enough to create a viable
system. The vast majority of all
Americans live in states that have successfully created regulated, affordable, sustainable
medical cannabis programs. Why not Iowa?”
In 2019, the
Iowa House and Senate overwhelmingly approved major reforms to Iowa’s medical
cannabis program. The reforms would have
expanded the number of conditions and made other changes that would have made
Iowa’s program more similar to successful programs in other states. After the session ended, Governor Reynolds
unexpectedly vetoed that legislation.
Republicans, who control both chambers, unanimously refused to override Reynold’s
veto.
“Eliminating Iowa’s current 3% cap
on the level of THC is very important for some patients with severe medical conditions,”
said Representative Forbes. “Adopting the
standard of a 25 grams/90 days purchase cap would provide effective, affordable
medication and put Iowa in line with what other states have done.””
“When faced
with serious, life threatening medical conditions, Iowans want better choices
than opiods and other potentially dangerous drugs,” said Bolkcom. “In just the first half of 2019, Iowa doctors
wrote 850,000 prescriptions for narcotics.
Why are we preventing Iowans from having access to less dangerous
alternatives?”
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Representative John Forbes and Senator Joe Bolkcom argue for reforms to Iowa’s “worst in the nation” medical cannabis program in a news conference at the Iowa Statehouse on Friday, November 15, 2019.
Key reforms for Iowa’s “Worst in the Nation” Medical Cannabis Program
Eliminate the 3% THC cap and adopt a 25 grams/90 days purchase cap to provide effective, affordable medicine.
Add additional chronic conditions, including PTSD. (See the list from SF 506, the legislation overwhelmingly approved last year by the Iowa House and Senate.)
Allow twelve more dispensaries, particularly in small towns and rural Iowa.
Allow other practitioners, such as PAs, ARNPs and podiatrists, to certify medical conditions.
Revise the membership of the Advisory Board to include at least three medical cannabis patients.
Eliminate the Iowa Department of Transportation from the cannabis card process and allow IDPH to issue cards directly. Lower the cost to apply for a card to $25.
Eliminate the Iowa Board of Medicine from the process of getting approval for new conditions and cannabis products.
Add additional chronic conditions, including PTSD. (See the list from SF 506, the legislation overwhelmingly approved last year by the Iowa House and Senate.)
Additional Conditions for Iowa’s Medical Cannabis Program
Stop forcing sick Iowans to come to the Capitol and
beg legislators for treatment options that could help them.
Instead, Iowa should simply adopt the conditions
covered by most other states. That would
mean adding the conditions listed below.
IOWA SENATE NEWS For immediate release: Oct. 30, 2019
Trump proposal ‘sides with the oil industry, not family farmers’
MOUNT PLEASANT – State Sen. Rich Taylor (D-Mount Pleasant), a member of the Iowa Senate Agriculture Committee, today called on Iowans to raise their voices in support of Iowa farmers and against a proposed policy from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that could cripple rural America by weakening the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
“The proposed rule by the EPA is contrary to an ethanol plan announced in early October by the Trump Administration. Another broken promise is bad news for Iowa,” Taylor said. “Like many living in rural Iowa, I believed the Administration was moving toward keeping its commitment to the biofuels industry and American corn growers. Unfortunately, the EPA’s proposed rule sides with the oil industry, not family farmers.”
Taylor says he’s talked to many Southeast Iowa farmers who are worried
about the mixed messages they’re getting from Washington, D.C., especially
after ongoing tariff wars and bad weather that has created extra challenges for
planting, growing and harvesting crops.
One of those farmers is Dennis W. “Denny” Anderson of rural Mt. Union,
who farms corn and soybeans in Henry County.
“I’m a lifelong Iowan and farmer, and I can’t figure out what Trump and the EPA think they’re doing,” Anderson said. “Flip-flops and short-sighted decisions that line the pockets of big oil will hurt the ag economy and all the biofuels advancements we’ve made for generations to come. President Trump and our folks in Congress need to be straight with us. We’ve got to have some leadership now, or rural Iowa will tank completely.”
The Iowa Corn Growers and other commodity groups have objected to the
EPA’s plans for the federal Renewable Fuel Standard, including during an
EPA-sponsored forum today in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The RFS was established to
promote the use of renewable fuels and to replace fossil-based fuels.
Visit the Iowa Corn Growers website and send messages in support of Iowa farmers and the biofuels industry to President Trump, Senator Ernst and others.
Taylor encourages Iowans –
farmers and non-farmers – to join the Iowa Corn Growers’ quick and easy public
comment initiative on the EPA’s proposal.
Before the November 29 deadline, Iowans can visit the Iowa Corn Growers’ user-friendly website — https://ncga.com/public-policy/stand-up-for-corn/take-action — and send messages in support of Iowa farmers and the biofuels industry to President Trump, U.S. Senator Ernst and other federal officials.
Unlike most
American veterans, Iowa vets cannot legally use medicines made from cannabis
(marijuana) to treat PTSD. That
restriction also applies to other Iowans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder. Any Iowan with PTSD should not
be denied access to effective treatments, especially those that are safe
alternatives to risky opioids.
It is important to note that the Veterans Administration policy on medical cannabis has changed: “Veteran participation in state marijuana programs does not affect eligibility for VA care and services. VA providers can and do discuss marijuana use with Veterans as part of comprehensive care planning, and adjust treatment plans as necessary.”
On Friday, November 1, the Iowa Medical Cannabidiol Advisory Board will decide whether to add PTSD as a qualifying condition under the Iowa medical cannabis program. The meeting will take place at the Iowa Laboratory Facility, 2240 DMACC Blvd in Ankeny.
8:30 AM – A subcommittee on medical cannabis takes public comments (3 minutes per person) and then decides on a recommendation to the full committee.
10:00 AM – Public comments will also be heard at the start of the full Board meeting at 10:00 a.m.
Before the meeting, you can email your comments to the Board at medical.cannabidiol@idph.iowa.gov or call the office at 515-725-2076.
Tell them why you think Iowa veterans and other Iowans should have legal access to safe, professionally prepared medicines made from cannabis, just like most other Americans .
More about how the Veterans Administration views medical cannabis
It is time for Governor Reynolds to also share those goals with Iowans. The Reynolds Administration has been working behind closed doors on a ‘new direction’ for the department for nearly a year. Yet Governor Reynolds has continued to keep Iowans in the dark about what to expect.
Like most Iowans, Senate Democrats are hopeful the new Iowa DHS director will have the courage to help Governor Reynolds fundamentally change course. Her to-do list should start with:
1) Fixing Iowa’s privatized Medicaid system, a failure that is unsustainable, unaffordable and unaccountable.
2) Reversing the policies that destroyed Iowa’s once successful family planning network. The result has been more unintended pregnancies, more risky births, and more teenage mothers.
3) Addressing Iowa’s maternal health crisis which has more than doubled maternal mortality in less than three years. Reynolds Administration policies have contributed to making Iowa a more dangerous place to have a baby.
4) Establishing a comprehensive, adequate source of funding for child and adult mental health services.
5) Ending dangerous practices and procedures in use at Glenwood, Eldora and other state-operated facilities.
6) Rebuilding Iowa’s child protective safety net by mending the holes that have resulted in abuse and death.
The Reynolds Administration does not have a good record on helping Iowa families. Senate Democrats hope the Garcia appointment signals real change rather than more failure. Iowans deserve better.
