(If you watch the above video on YouTube, you can use the comments to click to specific speakers.)
Below are documents that were presented to the public during the meeting.
Link to more information on manufactured housing reform: senate.iowa.gov/democrats/manufactured-homes/
“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.
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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:
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.
Who is buying up Iowa’s manufactured home parks?
Here’s a complete list compiled by Iowa’s nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency with additional information from Iowa State Association of Counties.
Contact: Robin Madison, robin.madison@legis.iowa.gov
(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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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
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.
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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.”
The Iowa Medical Cannabidiol Advisory Board decides which conditions can be treated with medicines made from cannabis. The current list of qualifying conditions can be found here: Medical Cannabidiol Information for Patients and Caregivers.
Key meeting on Friday, November 1, 2019:
Link to Agenda
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
Facts from the VA’s policy on medical cannabis :
Additional links regarding VA policy:
Iowa Senate Democratic Research Staff research papers and blog posts on Medical Cannabis
Iowa Senate News Release
For Immediate Release: 9/5/19
Iowans need a leader at the Department of Human Services who will stand up for people instead of for-profit companies.
Apparently Governor Reynolds shared her ‘ambitious goals’ for serving Iowa’s most vulnerable populations with newly appointed director Kelly Kennedy Garcia.
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.
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Iowa Senate News Release
For Immediate Release: September 4, 2019
Senator Liz Mathis receives “2019 Legislative Friend of Housing” Award
CEDAR RAPIDS: Today State Senator Liz Mathis of Hiawatha received the 2019 “Legislative Friend of Housing” award at the statewide 2019 Housing Iowa Conference currently being held in Cedar Rapids.
The award recognizes “a legislator who has actively participated in committees involving affordable housing legislation, has developed strong grass roots initiatives and makes improving the lives of Iowans through affordable housing an integral part of his/her legislative work.”*
“There are few things more important in life than a home that is safe and affordable,” Mathis said. “Iowa communities both large and small struggle to provide families with high quality, affordable places to live. In the State Senate, I’ve focused on housing because solving this problem will help our children succeed, help businesses grow, and improve the lives of Iowa seniors.
The specific work that led to Mathis’ nomination included:
Housing legislation Senator Mathis helped pass or fund include: the State Housing Trust Fund, the Workforce Housing Tax Credit, the creation of a new state income tax exemption for deposits in a First-time Homebuyer Savings Account, Workforce Housing Set-Asides for Iowa’s smaller communities, the Home Ownership Assistance Program for military service members and veterans, and Redevelopment Tax Credits.
Senator Mathis is the ranking member of the Human Resources Committee and Ag & Natural Resources Budget. She also serves on the Agriculture, Appropriations, Commerce and Ethics committees. Additional information and photos of Senator Mathis can be found at http://www.senate.iowa.gov/senator/mathis/
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* https://www.housingiowaconference.com/awards/legislative-friend-of-housing-award
Labor Day is about recognizing the contributions workers make to their communities and our state. It really can’t be overstated: Workers are the backbone of our way of life.
A thriving workforce is a sign of a strong economy and a successful society. When workers aren’t valued, we’re headed in the wrong direction—and that’s exactly what many Iowans are facing.
In recent years, decades of advances toward fair wages, working conditions and benefits have been lost to policies that are upending the principles that made our country strong, along with opportunities for Iowans to achieve the American dream.
In spite of record low unemployment, our economy has slowed to a crawl. Working families have been pushed aside in favor of corporations and profits.
Most GOP legislators and the Governor gutted the state’s collective bargaining law that ensured employees and public employers collaborated on mutually agreeable solutions in the workplace; slashed protections for Iowans injured on the job; put pensions in danger; and weakened wage and “Buy American” requirements.
The nonpartisan Iowa Policy Project sums it up this way: “Unfortunately, policy choices have put us on a road that prioritizes corporate profits over worker wages and corporate tax cuts over the public investments that allow for a strong, sustainable economy.”
The result is a growing inequality, with the rich getting richer. Meanwhile, many Iowans work multiple jobs and still struggle to make ends meet. That’s not right.
As we celebrate Labor Day, Senate Democrats remain committed to fighting for working Iowans, restoring and protecting workplace rights, and ensuring Iowa employees and employers have a fair shot at getting ahead.