| This was the twelfth week of the legislative session, with less than three weeks remaining until our target date for finishing the session. We are debating every day to get budgets finished and legislative priorities passed.
An important issue we debated this week was House File 2543 which seeks to eliminate barriers to mental health care. It provides for a better step-down service for those seeking to transition from a mental health ward to a safe place in which to get their life back together. This lessens the burden on emergency departments that have been dealing with the care of persons in need of more specialized care.
This bill has five parts: it removes regulatory barriers related to admission to intermediary services; it accelerates prior authorization reviews; it removes barriers impacting employment at subacute mental health facilities; it brings transparency in bed availability at our PMIC facilities for children’s subacute needs; and requires Iowa HHS to review its capabilities to implement subacute and additional psychiatric services at the MHI in Independence.
One of the biggest issues remaining this year is reforming property taxes. A part of this discussion is finding new ways to finance necessary infrastructure. As we work on reducing property taxes we are discussing an increase to Iowa’s gas tax to provide more funds dedicated only to roads and bridges.
There has been some misinformation circulated about the Senate’s gas tax proposal. Here are the facts: under the Senate proposal, the gas tax in Iowa would be tied to inflation, but it cannot go up more than one cent a year. Not only that, but there are several opportunities to interrupt this automatic increase included in the bill to make sure prices don’t just continue to go up. If the gas tax increases by one cent per year for three years in a row, then it cannot go up for a fourth year. There must be a pause. The legislature can also step in to eliminate the increase for any given year if it chooses to do so. If this bill had been in place for this past year, the gas tax would not have gone up even a full cent – it would have increased by six-tenths of a cent, which is estimated to cost an average Iowa family of four roughly an additional $8 total last year.
We have all been noticing gas prices recently, especially as the conflict in Iran has driven prices up. The Wall Street Journal released an article recently discussing nationwide changes in gas prices. It showed that Iowa has much lower gas prices than the rest of the country. According to their research, the average price of gas has increased an average of 63 cents per gallon in Iowa over the last month. This is compared to almost $1.50 on the western side of the country. Iowa has some of the lowest prices per gallon in the country with an average of $3.50 per gallon this week (versus $5.91 in California).
Secondly, Iowa has the worst bridges in the country, along with being one of the worst states for property tax burdens. Just this week, the Tax Foundation released a study on road taxes and funding, putting Iowa at 29th in the country. According to their report, Iowa collects just 53.1 percent of the necessary road funding from road users, further necessitating the need for reform and modernization.
These funds are constitutionally designated to be used only for roads and 53 percent of every dollar would go to local cities and counties to support streets and secondary roads.
I am writing this newsletter just a few days before Easter. Easter is an important time for me and for all people. I made some comments about that importance on the Senate floor on Wednesday. You can hear them on the legislative website at about the 11:11 a.m. mark.
Have a blessed Easter! |
