| During week eleven of the session we focused on debating bills on the floor. This week the Senate passed over 30 bills, talking about a range of issues including insurance companies, the duties and compositions of state departments, emergency medical services, deer hunting, and public safety.
One bill, House File 2594, establishes the crime of organized retail theft. This bill targets groups that go into stores, steal a large amount of merchandise, and try to sell it. It has become a more prominent problem over the last several years, and this bill will establish more consequences for this crime.
Last Friday, the Revenue Estimating Conference released its estimate for the coming year’s revenue. The projected income has increased since December’s estimate, but by law we must use the lower of the two projections. The new estimate confirms that conservative policies are working by giving taxpayers more money to spend in the state.
The Ways and Means Committee (which deals with taxes) advanced SSB 3189 this week. This bill would propose amending Iowa’s Constitution to require a flat income tax rate. There is another proposal that would require a two-thirds supermajority to increase tax rates in Iowa. Both of these must come before the people for a popular vote before becoming part of Iowa’s Constitution. The idea is to make sure the tax relief enacted in the past few years cannot be undone without the approval of a supermajority of the legislative bodies.
The biggest debate this year has centered on reforming the Area Education Agencies (AEA). The Federal Government has tagged Iowa as “needs improvement” in special education and will begin monitoring the state this fall.
The House’s AEA bill (HF 2612) was amended in the Senate this week. As amended it will give more control to Iowa school districts over special education, media, and other education services. It will also move the oversight of the AEAs to the Iowa Department of Education. One major change is to require the AEAs to provide an itemized “bill of sale” for the services they provided to that school. Included in this bill is a raise in minimum teacher salary to $46,251.
Nothing in this bill will cut services to students. The goal is to improve services for special ed. students. It is widely agreed that we need to improve this system. I have had many emails about this bill and I have learned much about AEAs. The House and the Senate version of AEA reform are not the same and we will negotiate a compromise between the Chambers. It is my hope this can be done quickly.
A topic of concern to Iowans is the lack of control over immigration into this country. This affects Iowa, even though we are a long way from the border. The House just passed SF 2340 that the Senate passed in weeks past. This bill would provide possible methods for the state of Iowa to fill the void in enforcement of immigration policy left by the irresponsible policies of the Biden Administration. SF 2340 empowers Iowa law enforcement and the judicial system to enforce immigration law and authorize the deportation of people coming to Iowa illegally.
The U.S. Supreme Court this week allowed a similar law in Texas to go into effect while litigation continued in lower courts. This is a reminder that our Founding Fathers viewed each state as a laboratory of democracy. They envisioned each state developing solutions to problems as they occurred, and the rest of the states would watch and adopt the best practices. The U.S. Supreme Court this week confirmed that the states may protect the culture and institutions that make the United States the greatest country in the world. |
