Inside this issue:

Appropriations 1

Agriculture 3

Economic Growth 4

Education 4

Environmental Protection

6

Human Resources 6

Judiciary 7

Labor 7

Natural Resources 7

Public Safety 7

State Government 8

Transportation 8

Veterans Affairs 8

Ways and Means 9

Education (Cont.) 9

Thursday, October 17, 2013 www.iowahouserepublicans.com

The Revenue Estimating Conference

predicted solid revenue growth in Fiscal

Year 2015 last week, as the group made

its initial estimate for the next budget

year. And while the group saw future

revenue growth, all three members of the

panel also expressed concerns about

potential pitfalls.

During its meeting, the REC revealed

that for the fiscal year ending on June

30, 2013, on-going state revenue came

in at $6.7688 billion. This is an increase

of $457.7 million over FY 2012, or 7.3

percent. The growth in state revenue

was driven by personal income tax col-

lections, which grew last fiscal year by

12.4 percent. Much of this is related to

one-time occurrences, like the rush by

many to prepay estimated taxes before

the expiration of the Bush-era tax

cuts. Also, farm income reported during

FY 2013 was significantly higher than the

state had experienced in recent years.

The REC revised their FY 2014 projec-

tion for state revenue to $6.6953 bil-

lion. This is a reduction of 1.1 percent

compared to FY 2013. That may sound

strange, but it is important to remember

that the Legislature made two significant

changes that impact the revenue num-

ber.

Beginning in FY 2014, all tobacco tax

revenue will be deposited in the Health

Care Trust Fund so that it goes directly

for Medicaid costs. The Legislature also

deposited the $66 million of gaming reve-

nue that had gone to the General Fund

into the newly created Skilled Worker

Initiative Fund. An equal comparison of

the two years revenue would put the

REC’s revised FY 14 projection at a 1.5

percent increase, according to LSA.

More important is how the new estimate

compares to the FY 2014 budget. When

the Governor signed the FY 2014 budget

into law last May, the state was expected

to spend $6.4901 billion this year. This

was 99.998% of the December 2012

REC estimate. With the revisions to the

FY 14 revenue projection, the budget is

now spending 96.94% of FY 14 on-going

revenue.

The other major function of the REC Oc-

tober meeting is to make a preliminary

forecast on state revenue for the upcom-

ing fiscal year. While this is not the offi-

cial number used by the Legislature and

the Governor in setting the FY 2015

budget, it does serve as a good indicator

of where state revenue will be. The com-

mittee agreed that on-going revenue

would be $6.9766 billion for FY

2015. This would be 4.2 percent higher

than FY 14, or increase by $281.3 mil-

lion.

While the state revenue number contin-

ues to report solid economic activity in

the state, all three members saw the

potential for trouble if the federal budget

and debt ceiling fight continued for some

time. The lack of economic certainty has

prevented Iowa businesses from having

the confidence to expand activities and

hire more workers. And in some areas,

companies cannot find workers qualified

to do the jobs available.

The Revenue Estimating Conference is

scheduled to meet again on December

11, at 2 PM. At that time, they will set

the official revenue estimate for FY 2015.

Appropriations (Contact Brad Trow at 1-3471)

“the budget is now spending

96.94% of FY 14 on-going

revenue”

Revenue Estimating Conference Finds Continued Growth

Page 2 House Republican Newsletter

Why It Is Important To Not Spend More Than Iowa Takes In: #2 in state debt rankings

For the past three years, House Republi-cans have worked hard to change the cul-ture under the Golden Dome when it comes to state spending. These efforts have produced balanced and sustainable budgets. The results of this common-sense approach to state spending are start-ing to be noticed at the national level. Barron’s this week published a review of state debt obligations which was done by the investment research firm Eaton Vance. They compared debt and pension obliga-tions of each state to their gross domestic product, and rated their performance. Iowa was rated second highest, only trailing Ne-braska. The number two ranking is an im-provement over last year’s third place fin-ish. Eaton Vance’s work shows that the state’s debt obligation is 0.7% of the state’s GDP.

Iowa’s unfunded pension obligation is 1.5% of state GDP. In terms of state debt, Iowa ranks fourth – trailing Nebraska (0), Wyo-ming (0.1%), and North Dakota (0.4%). On the pension side, only Nebraska has a low-er rating – 0.7%. Nebraska’s position at the top was ex-plained by their governor, Dave Heineman, when he told Barron’s: “We believe in a fundamental financial principle that they’ve never heard of in Washington. We don’t spend money we don’t have. It keeps you out of trouble every day.” This Midwest value can be seen with Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Kansas, and North Dakota taking five of the top seven spots in the Eaton Vance rankings. At the bottom of the scale is Connecticut, whose state debt equals 8.1% percent of GDP and unfunded pensions amounts to

another 18.7%. And to no one’s surprise, coming in at number 49 in the rankings is Illinois. The Land of Lincoln has debt equaling 4.7% of their GDP. Where Illinois stands out, in a bad way, is their unfunded pension liability. Illinois’ pension systems are short an amount that equals a stagger-ing 20.7 percent of state GDP. In working to maintain a balanced and sus-tainable budget, House Republicans have held firm on upholding their budgeting prin-ciples of spending less than the state col-lects, not using one-time money to fund on-going programs, and not balancing the budget by intentionally underfunding pro-grams. This has allowed the state to go from a $900 million budget shortfall in early 2011 to a $895 million over collection at the end of FY 2013.

As part of its work last week, the State Government Efficiency Review Committee took a look at how much state agencies spend to belong to a variety of organiza-tions that relate to their activities. Iowans may be surprised to learn just how much their state spends each year to belong to a multitude of groups who may or may not bring value to state government. A review conducted by the Legislative Ser-vices Agency finds that the state has spent over $2 million in organizational dues in each of the past three budget years. And while the total amount dropped in FY 2012, the number for fiscal year 2013 shows an increase of 7.5 percent in the cost of such dues. The LSA report showed that the Depart-ment of Education is the entity that spends the most on organizational dues is. In FY 2013, the Department spent $493,101 from various funds to pay organizational dues to a range of educational groups. This amount is 28% higher than what the De-partment spent on such dues in FY 2011. Much of the cost is related to numerous national organizational groups ranging from early childhood to community colleges. Who is second largest spender on the list may be a surprise to many. It’s the Legis-lature, paying its organizational dues through the Legislative Services Agency. In FY 2013 it spent $216,018 on just four

groups, including the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, the Council of State Governments (CSG), and the National Conference of State Leg-islatures (NCSL). The FY 2013 number is a significant drop from FY 2011’s expense. When Democrats last controlled both chambers, the General Assembly spent $306,078 to belong to just four groups.

NCSL also holds the distinction of having the second highest organizational dues of any group the state belongs, just behind the National Center for State Courts. In FY 2013, the Legislative Services Agency paid $107,663 for Iowa’s membership in the group. While this is the largest single out-lay for a group, it is also only 70% of what the Legislature paid NCSL for membership in FY 2011. In that year, NCSL cost $153,427 while membership in the Ameri-can Legislative Exchange Conference (ALEC) only cost the state $6,400. The largest increase in dues over the peri-od goes to the Banking Division, which saw

its expenses climb from $2,100 in FY 2011 to $94,911 in FY 2013. The vast majority of the increase came from what it pays to belong to the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. In FY 2011, the Division paid nothing to this group, but by FY 2013 their annual dues expense was $92,746. The report also raises issues as to which groups state agencies choose to belong to. Four different state agencies (DAS, Voc Rehab, DNR, and IWD) are dues paying members of 27 different local chambers of commerce, including the Prairie Du Chien Area Chamber of Commerce in Wisconsin. Also interesting is the fact that numerous agencies are dues paying members of indi-vidual professional groups. Prison Indus-tries, Board of Regents, and IPERS are all members of the Iowa Society of Certified Public Accountants. IPERS is also a mem-ber of the Iowa Association of Legal Assis-tants, while the Department of Public Health belongs to the American Grant Writ-ers Association. For citizens and policy-makers, one ques-tion that comes from the LSA report is what oversight is there of state agencies’ deci-sions to join certain groups. It appears that these decisions are left up to individual agencies. And since the source of pay-ment often is not the General Fund, there would seem to be a natural gap in over-

(Continued on page 3)

Iowa’s Cost of Organizational Memberships - $2.2 Million

“dues paying members of 27

different local chambers of

commerce”

Page 3 House Republican Newsletter

On Thursday, October 3, 2013, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stew-ardship (IDALS) issued a press release in which it announced that Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) has been identified in a residential tree in the city of Mechanicsville in northern Cedar County, making this the fourth loca-tion where the invasive beetle has been found in Iowa. Allamakee County was de-clared infested in May 2010, Des Moines County in July 2013, and Jefferson County in August 2013. EAB kills all ash species and is considered to be one of the most destructive tree pests ever seen in North America. With four total EAB finds in east-ern Iowa, officials are considering a region-alized quarantine to slow the accidental movement of EAB by humans. This regu-latory action restricts movement of hard-wood firewood, ash logs and wood chips out of the quarantined counties. State Entomologist Robin Pruisner IDALS entomologist IDALS noted--“I think we’re seeing the culmination of an EAB popula-tion that is finally large enough to detect,

coupled with trees readily showing symp-toms because of multiple stresses, includ-ing EAB, drought and floods occurring in recent years.” Pruisner said all Iowans are strongly cautioned not to transport firewood across county or state lines, since the movement of firewood throughout Iowa or to other states poses the greatest threat to quickly spread EAB even further. Most EAB infestations in the United States have been started by people unknowingly mov-ing infested firewood, nursery plants or sawmill logs. The adult beetle also can fly short distances, approximately 2 to 5 miles. The current EAB infestation was found as a result of a resident contacting local officials about declining ash trees. Investigation by the Iowa EAB Team members revealed larvae in multiple trees in the area. The EAB Team provides EAB diagnostic assis-tance to landowners. This team includes officials from IDALS, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, the Iowa Depart-ment of Natural Resources, USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service and the

USDA Forest Service. “Preventive treat-ments next spring — mid-April to mid-May 2014 — are available to protect vigorously healthy and valuable ash trees within 15 miles of the known infested area,” said ISU Extension and Outreach Entomologist Mark Shour. For more details, see ISU Exten-sion and Outreach publication PM2084, www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM2084.pdf. Ash is one of the most abundant native tree species in North America, and has been heavily planted as a landscape tree in yards and other urban areas. According to the USDA Forest Service, Iowa has an estimated 52 million rural ash trees and approximately 3.1 million more ash trees in urban areas. It is unknown how many pub-lic and residential ash trees are located in Mechanicsville. To learn more about EAB and other pests that are threatening Iowa’s tree population, please visit www.IowaTreePests.com.

IDALS Announces Emerald Ash Borer Confirmed in Cedar County, Iowa: ISU DNR Informational Meeting Scheduled for Cedar Rapids on November 7th

Agriculture (Contact Lew Olson at 1-3096)

“Fueling our Future”: New Biofuels Program to Expand E -30 & Biodiesel Availability Usage in Iowa

On Monday, October 14, Governor Terry E. Branstad, Lieutenant Governor Kim Reyn-olds, Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey, and Iowa DOT Director Paul Trombino announced a new biofuels pilot program called “Fueling Our Future.” It is a public-private partnership that assists ex-panding the market for mid-level biofuels blends and building on Iowa’s history as a leader in ethanol and biodiesel develop-ment and production. Through the use of current funding, this initiative will redirect federal funds to further leverage state dollars in the existing renew-able fuel infrastructure program, establish-ing more blender pumps containing E-30 and biodiesel at gas retailers around the state. Iowa State University will work closely on this initiative to evaluate con-sumer perceptions and the impact of in-

creased assess to mid-level biofuels blend-ing options, including impacts on improved air quality. The Fueling Our Future program will be supported by the Iowa Department of Agri-culture and Land Stewardship (IDALS), the Department of Transportation (DOT), Iowa State University and the Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Board More information on the program can be found at: www.iowaagriculture.gov/agMarketing/IRFIP.asp. In a related news story last week, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) re-leased a report on Thursday, October 10, 2013 by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) that confirms real world E15 test data released by the Iowa Renew-

able Fuels Association (IRFA) last week. The NREL report found that the available literature on E15, a 15 percent ethanol blend, “…did not show meaningful differ-ences between E15 and E10 in any perfor-mance category.” It also noted that with respect to the Coordinating Research Council’s (CRC) controversial engine dura-bility study, NREL found “…the conclusion that engines will experience mechanical engine failure when operating on E15 is not supported by the data.” The NREL report consisted of carefully reviewing 43 studies on the effects of E15 on engine durability, emissions, and other factors. The NREL report it can be accessed at the following internet page and is a 53 page document-- http://ethanolrfa.3cdn.net/b378858ac325c6e165_sgm6bknd4.pdf.

sight. An example of this is the Attorney General’s office, which in FY 2011 spent $149 out of the Victims Compensation

Fund to join a groups noted as “JEWISH WOMEN INTL”. The 16 page list of organizational dues also raises the question of what does the state get for its membership. Without oversight

beyond the agency, there appears to be little necessity to show taxpayers that the money being spent on membership is mak-ing Iowa a better place. The full LSA report can be viewed by click-ing here.

(Continued from page 2)

Page 4 House Republican Newsletter

Education Contact Jason Chapman at 1-3015)

Federal Shutdown Impacts on Education

The United States Congress failed to come

to an agreement on the FY2014 budget by

October 1, thus leading to a shut-down of

non-essential federal services. The U.S.

Department of Education and other govern-

ment agencies are experiencing a partial

shutdown for the first time since 1995/96.

Most schools and school districts aren't

going to be immediately affected by a short

-term shutdown. However, a longer-term

shutdown could cause more headaches.

Here is how it might affect Iowa:

How many people will report to work at

the Education Department? A lot fewer

than usual. More than 90 percent of the

department's employees—about 4,000

people in all—will be furloughed for the first

week of the shutdown. If the shutdown

goes on for more than a week, more em-

ployees could return on a temporary basis,

but it would not be more than 6 percent of

the department's staff.

This could lead to a frustrating situation for

districts and state education agencies that

are trying to get quick answers to their

questions—furloughed federal employees

aren't even supposed to be checking their

work email today.

Will there be any delay to formula funds,

such as Title I, special education, and

career and technical education? For the

most part, no. Employees will be on hand

to ensure that roughly $22 billion in formula

(Continued on page 5)

On Tuesday, October 8, 2013, the Iowa State University Extension service issued a press release in which it announced that the City of Cedar Rapids, in collaboration with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), will host two informa-tional meetings concerning the presence of emerald ash borer (EAB). The meetings will be held November 7, 2013 at the Ladd

Library Community Room, 3750 Williams Blvd. SW, Cedar Rapids. An afternoon meeting (1-4 P.M.) is planned for people working in the Green Industry – arborists, urban foresters, public works and parks personnel, horticulturalists, Master Gar-deners, tree trimmers, landscapers, nurse-ry centers, commercial pesticide applica-tors; and an evening public meeting (6:30 P.M.-8 P.M.) is scheduled for homeowners and others interested in the topic.

Last month, on September 13, 2013, Iowa

State University Extension and Outreach

released a revised publication on how to

protect ash trees from Emerald Ash Borer

damage. Emerald Ash Borer Management

Options, PM 2084, is available for free

download from the Extension and Outreach

Online Store at the following webpage--

(https://store.extension.iastate.edu/

ItemDetail.aspx?ProductID=13114).

(Continued from page 3)

Economic Growth (Contact Louis Vander Streek at 1-3626)

Awards Made to Five Iowa Communities by Vision Iowa Board

The Iowa Economic Development Authority

announced that the Vision Iowa Board has

made five awards at its most recent board

meeting. The October meeting saw the

awarding of a total of $1 million in grants

for the communities of Jefferson, Temple-

ton, Emmetsburg, Coon Rapids, and Wa-

verly.

The Jefferson project consists of adding

fencing, irrigation, and landscaping to the

Thomas Jefferson Gardens of Greene

County, a public park. Jefferson had re-

quested $71,233 to help offset the total

project cost of $369,362, and the Vision

Iowa Board awarded $70,000.

The Templeton project will convert a former

elementary school into a multi-purpose

community and recreation center. Temple-

ton requested and received $200,000 to

help offset the total project cost of

$1,738,306.

The Emmetsburg project will construct a

new community room located on the

shores of Five Island Lake. Emmetsburg

had requested $357,388 to help offset the

total project cost of $2,649,426, and the

Vision Iowa Board awarded $350,000.

The Coon Rapids project will involve the

construction of 35 miles of ‘soft trails’

through the Whiterock Conservancy, re-

modeling the visitor’s center, and trail sign-

age. Coon Rapids had requested $404,785

to help offset the total project cost of

$4,225,890 and the Vision Iowa Board

awarded $400,000.

The Waverly project involves the construc-

tion of a new amphitheater in Kohlmann

Park. Waverly requested and received

$78,000 to help offset the total project of

$285,000

The Vision Iowa Board consists of thirteen

members who, with the exception of the

statewide elected representatives and the

Director of Economic Development, are

subject to Senate confirmation. The specif-

ic members of the board include three

members of the general public (one from

each of the three tourism regions), one

mayor of a city with a population of less

than twenty thousand, one county supervi-

sor from a county that has a population

ranking in the bottom thirty-three counties,

four members of the general public, one

mayor of a city with a population of twenty

thousand or more, the Director of the Eco-

nomic Development Authority or the Direc-

tor’s designee, the Treasurer of State or

the Treasurer’s designee, and the Auditor

of State or the Auditor’s designee. The

Board is located within the Iowa Economic

Development Authority.

All of the awards were funded as a result of

funding through either the Community At-

traction and Tourism (CAT) Fund or the

River Enhancement Community Attraction

and Tourism (RECAT) Fund. As of the

most recent meeting, there remains over

$5 million in the CAT fund to be awarded

and almost $100,000 in the RECAT fund to

be awarded in this fiscal year.

Page 5 House Republican Newsletter

A recent survey by the Friedman Founda-

tion for School Choice provided some inter-

esting insight in Iowan’s opinions on school

in general and school choice in particular.

The survey measures Iowa registered vot-

ers’ familiarity and views on a range of K-

12 education topics and school choice re-

forms.

A randomly selected and statistically repre-

sentative sample of Iowa voters responded

to 17 substantive questions and 12 demo-

graphic questions. A total of 605 telephone

interviews were conducted in English from

June 24 to July 2, 2013.

The results were favorable for all school

choice options that were a part of the sur-

vey. The topics included state perfor-

mance, education spending, grades and

preferences for different types of schools,

and views on private schools, charter

schools, school vouchers, tax-credit schol-

arships, and education savings accounts.

What Do Voters Say About K-12 Education

in Iowa? Here is a snapshot of some of the

findings:

Education is the second most im-

portant issue facing the state of Iowa.

Nearly one out of five Iowans (19%)

said this was the most critical public

policy issue. Health care was close

behind as a priority (17%). The econo-

my and jobs was cited as the top issue

by 27% of voters.

More than three out of four voters in

Iowa (77%) are paying attention to

issues in K-12 education

Iowans are slightly more likely to think

that K-12 education has gotten off on

the “wrong track” (46%), compared to

the two-fifths of voters (40%) who say

it is heading in the “right direction.”

Nearly two out of three respondents

give positive ratings to the state’s pub-

lic school system (65% said “good” or

“excellent”; 34% said “fair” or “poor”).

Based on open-end survey responses,

Iowa voters do not know how much is

spent per student in the public schools.

There is very low awareness about

public spending on K-12 education.

45% of voters said that public school

funding is “too low.” However, an alter-

native version of the question which

included a sentence referring to data

on per-student funding in Iowa, the

proportion of voters saying “too low”

shrank by 11 percentage points to

34%, effectively a 24% reduction

When asked for a preferred school

type, 49% of Iowans would choose a

public school first. A private school

option is the second most frequently

cited preference (38%). Equal propor-

tions of voters would prefer to send

their child to a charter school (5%) or

homeschool (5%) This is different (Continued on page 6)

Education Survey Shows Support for School Choice

funds to states and districts makes it out

the door, as scheduled, in October.

What about student loans and college

aid? Pell grants and federal student loans

would largely be unaffected by the shut-

down. Campus-based aid programs, such

as Work Study, will be affected, however.

What about money from other agen-

cies? School lunch? Head Start? Fund-

ing for most child nutrition programs, in-

cluding school lunch and school breakfast

programs, which are run by the U.S. De-

partment of Agriculture, will continue

through October.

Head Start, which is administered by the

U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services, is trickier. Nationwide, potentially

19,000 vulnerable children in 23 programs

across 11 different states will be affected.

23 programs is a small number of the near-

ly 16,000 grantees. Iowa is fortunately not

one of the affected states at the moment.

Overall, the impact of the shutdown on

Iowa should be minimal. For most districts

they may not notice it at all. A longer-term

shutdown, however, could be problematic.

It could severely curtail the cash flow to

school districts, colleges and universities,

and vocational rehabilitation agencies that

depend on the Department to support their

services.

What happens down the road? This

might not be the last fiscal showdown, by a

long shot. In fact, the debt ceiling deadline

could cause additional implications for

school districts, potentially worse than the

shutdown.

(Continued from page 4)

Page 6 House Republican Newsletter

Environmental Protection (Contact Lew Olson at 1-3096)

EPC Rebuffs Efforts to Impose Unworkable Water Quality Standards for 159 Lakes

On Monday, October 14, 2013, the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) rejected a call for enacting stricter water quality standards for 159 Iowa lakes. The Iowa Environmental Council (IEC) was among the groups pushing for the changes. The EPC voted unanimously to reject the petition for the new rules. Supporters for the petition pointed out that signs warning against swimming at state park beaches were posted 65 times between 2010 and 2013 and was posted 20 times in 2012 and 24 times this past summer. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey told the commis-sion that the state and landowners are al-ready pumping millions of dollars into ef-

forts to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous runoff in Iowa lakes. The DNR attorney noted that the “one size fits all” set of numeric standards is the wrong approach to cleaning up Iowa’s lakes because there’s a lot of variability between lakes and lake systems, and we really don’t completely understand the rela-tionships right now, so it’s hard to adopt a specific number standard for all of the lakes with all of the variability between causes and results in watersheds in Iowa. Propo-nents of the petition argued that it was based on a plan initially developed five years ago by a group that included scien-tists and DNR staff that ultimately was

abandoned in 2011 by the EPC because of the direct correlation between nitrogen and water clarity was inconclusive. Additional-ly, a recent 2012 study of historic water quality conditions in 33 of Iowa’s natural lakes estimated that the average historic total phosphorous concentration for these lakes was 93 micrograms per liter far above the 35 microgram criterion of the proposed petition for rule making. The DNR argued to the EPC that this level “… would be inappropriate for many of these lakes as it would appear to require meeting a level of total phosphorous below what occurred naturally prior to European settle-ment in Iowa in the mid-1800s.”

Human Resources (Contact Carrie Malone at 5-2063)

Integrated Health Home Implementation has Rolled Out in Five Counties The Integrated Health Home (IHH) model was developed as a result of the Affordable Care Act and is designed to create a team-based delivery model to health care. This model provides comprehensive care to people with mental health conditions with the goal of maximizing health outcomes. The approach provides a high degree of care coordination for those individuals most in need of behavioral health services. It uses a team based approach, while ensur-ing that individual social workers make a

personal connection with clients who need intensive care management. IHH teams consisting of nurses, social workers and peer support coordinators work with individuals and families to identify needs and get services to positively ad-dress their health. Magellan has been working closely with providers and commu-nity stakeholders to implement IHH across Iowa over the last three months.

In the first phase of IHH, providers began offering this new service delivery model in five counties as of July 2013. The second group of providers will start April 1, 2014, in 29 additional counties, and starting July 1, 2014, the remaining IHH providers will offer services in the last 64 counties. A map of the county roll-out is available at www.MagellanofIowa.com.

than the actual enrollment numbers

(Public School Students 93.0%, Char-

ter School Students 0.1%, Private

School Students 7.0%) showing a de-

sire for greater school choice.

Iowa voters are twice as likely to favor

charter schools (50%), rather than

oppose such schools (25%).

A majority of Iowans (54%) said they

support school vouchers, compared to

38% of voters who said they oppose

such a school choice system. The

margin of support (+16 points) is al-

most four times the survey’s margin of

error.

Iowa voters are more likely to support

an “education savings account” system

(ESA) rather than oppose it. The per-

centage of those who favor ESAs

(48%) is significantly greater than the

proportion who says they oppose this

type of public policy (38%). Voters

clearly prefer universal access to edu-

cation savings accounts, compared to

eligibility that is based solely on finan-

cial need.

The Friedman Foundation points out that

the big message from Iowa flies in the face

of a lot of what we see in the blogs and

headlines: If you support education reform,

you must bash public schools; or if you are

a public school advocate, you must be anti-

reform or anti-voucher.

The Iowa message is this: Iowans support

local public schools, vouchers, education

savings accounts, and other school choice

reforms all at the same time. Support for

these things are not mutually exclusive.

The full document shows further demo-

graphic information, additional details on

the questions and findings, follow-up ques-

tions that were asked, and a great section

of charts and graphs of the information.

Find it here: http://www.edchoice.org/Blog/

October-2013/Transcending-Partisan-

Views-of-Choice.aspx

(Continued from page 5)

“Iowa voters do not know

how much is spent per

student”

Page 7 House Republican Newsletter

Public Safety

Large Quantities of Methamphetamine Continue to Enter Iowa

Duck Season Opens October 19th

The duck, merganser and coot hunting sea-son opens Oct. 19 in the south duck hunting zone. Hunters have a few new law chang-es to be aware of, including a new posses-sion limit of three times the daily bag limit,

which is an increase from twice the daily bag limit. The scaup limit increased to three per day and the canvasback limit in-creased to two per day. For more infor-mation, visit www.iowadnr.gov/hunting.

Natural Resources (Contact Carrie Malone at 5-2063)

Methamphetamine continues to plague the

nation and Iowa. In the past month, more

than 15 pounds of meth has been seized in

North Eastern Iowa. Officers involved esti-

mate the meth to be worth over $1 million

and more is expected to be seized as the

month continues.

Even with strong anti-meth laws, trafficking

and production continue to be a problem. In

the past three months, the Tri County Task

Force has seized more than 26 pounds

methamphetamine with a value of more

than $1.8 million. According to the Tri-

County Drug Enforcement Task Force,

Meth is normally sold by the gram, a gram

weights approximately as much as one

paperclip. That means that 15 pounds of

meth seized this month equals approxi-

mately 7,000 paperclips, or grams of meth.

Nationally, in 2012, more than 8,500

pounds of meth was seized and that num-

ber could be topped this year.

The Tri-County Drug Enforcement Task

Force, in North East Iowa, is responsible

(Continued on page 8)

Judiciary (Contact Amanda Freel at 1-5230)

Crime Stoppers addressing Copper Theft

Crime Stoppers and electric companies, in

Iowa, are joining forces to help stop copper

thefts. Iowans will now be able to call a

special number to report suspicious activi-

ties around substations and other electrical

equipment.

Copper theft has become a major problem

in Iowa and elsewhere around the nation.

Scraps of copper sell for approximately $3

per pound, but it’s not just the cost of the

copper that is causing concern for utility

companies. When electric equipment has

been tampered with, due to copper theft,

utility workers and others who may come in

contact with the equipment could be seri-

ously hurt or killed. Additionally, those

stealing copper also face the risk of electro-

cution.

When electrical equipment is damaged it

can lead to power surges, outages, fires

and even explosions. Repairing the dam-

age can cost thousands of dollars.

If you see someone tampering with substa-

tions or other electrical equipment you can

call 800-452-1111 to report the activity and

location. Alliant energy, the Iowa Associa-

tion of Electric Cooperatives, the Iowa As-

sociation of Municipal Utilities and Mid-

American Energy are all participating in the

program. If a call leads to a crime being

solved the caller is eligible for a reward of

up to $1,000. Typical awards will run from

$20 to $200.

Labor (Contact Colin Tadlock at 1-3440)

With the federal government experiencing

a partial shut down, Iowa has yet to see

any major impacts. However, on Thursday,

October 3, two Iowa agencies announced

that they are furloughing a total of 180 em-

ployees.

Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) an-

nounced furloughs for 69 employees, while

the Department of Public Defense (PDP)

announced that they would be furloughing

111 employees. Both IWD and PDP are

largely funded by federal dollars which is

the reason for the furloughs.

An IWD spokesman said that the furloughs

will occur in four areas of the agency:

OSHA Inspections

Services to disabled veterans

Labor market information

Information Technology (IT)

Additionally, the Iowa National Guard fur-

loughed more than 1,000 full-time employ-

ees on October 1st, but brought them back

shortly after on October 7th. The Guard

also announced some additional lay-offs

that will go into effect if a federal spending

deal is not reached by October 17th.

Federal Government Shutdown Causes Some Iowa Furloughs

“trafficking and production

continue to be a problem”

Page 8 House Republican Newsletter

Transportation (Contact Brittany Telk at 1-3452)

Iowa Gold Star Museum Remains Open Despite Shutdown

Veterans Affairs (Contact Kristi Kielhorn at 2-5290)

Last week, a press release from Camp Dodge was sent out detailing the closing of the Iowa Gold Star Military Museum located there. It was slated to close on October 13 because many of the employees who work there are funded by federal dollars and have been temporarily laid off. This week however, Governor Branstad released a follow-up press release explaining that the

museum would remain open with support from the state and museum volunteers. The Gold Star Military Museum will keep its reg-ular business hours of Monday through Friday, 8:30-4:30 and Saturday, 10:00-4:00. The museum was established in 1985 to preserve Iowa’s military history and to hon-or the service of Iowans. Exhibits at the

museum include stories of Iowans serving from the 1840s through present time. There are special exhibits honoring the 34th Infan-try Division, small arms collections, and history of the Iowa State Patrol.

State Government (Contact Brittany Telk at 1-3452)

Governor Will Not Call In Legislators to Discuss Federal Shutdown

With the federal government shutdown

continuing to grab headlines, Governor

Terry Branstad addressed the issue on

Monday indicating that he will not call legis-

lators back for a special session to discuss

the federal government shutdown and its

effects in Iowa. He indicated that calling

such a session would be costly and unnec-

essary, stating further the government de-

faulting on the debt would be bad for every-

body, but it is the responsibility of the feder-

al government and President to solve. He

stated state government will continue to

monitor the situation, but he is working for

what is in the best interest of the people

and that does not include a special ses-

sion.

While half of the state’s budget includes

federal funding, most of the federal money

goes towards Medicaid and welfare bene-

fits. The governor maintained that state

agencies currently have enough money to

run without federal aid, and that these

agencies should focus on not letting

“stupid” things happen; for example, shut-

ting down the WWII Memorial. In furthering

his point, Governor Branstad announced

that state government funds will be used to

cover the costs of the Iowa Gold Star Mili-

tary Museum in lieu of shutting it down.

While the state has this ability to cover

such costs while running smoothly now, the

governor made sure to say that the state

cannot do so indefinitely.

There has been some opposition from

Democratic legislators, pushing for the gov-

ernor to call such a session to discuss us-

ing emergency funding for various soup

kitchens and the like, but the governor dis-

agrees. He stated that state departments

and agencies have found ways of manag-

ing the federal government shutdown to

soften any impact.

New Arch Angel Program Locks Motor Vehicle Enforcement Laptops

In an effort to not only enforce laws related

to distracted driving but also to be part of

the solution, the Iowa Department of Trans-

portation is installing a new combination

hardware/software program to lock Motor

Vehicle Enforcement vehicle laptops while

on the move. This new computer program,

called Arch Angel, is in the process of be-

ing installed and the Office of Motor Vehi-

cle Enforcement hopes to have training

complete with the program up and running

by November 1 of this year.

Arch Angel detects when a Motor Vehicle

Enforcement car reaches 15 MPH and

locks the laptop from use, including the

touch screen, keyboard and mouse. How-

ever, even while the laptop is locked, motor

vehicle enforcement officers will be able to

access critical applications, for safety pur-

poses, such as: a one keystroke call for

help, a state map showing emergency are-

as and other GPS devices that allow all

drivers to know physical locations of fellow

drivers. When the vehicle drops below the

15 MPH limit, the computer automatically

unlocks and becomes completely useable

again.

The Office of Motor Vehicle Enforcement

cites distracted driving as one of the lead-

ing causes of car crashes and wants its

drivers to re-focus on driving, not on their

laptops. Motor Vehicle Enforcement offic-

ers’ using their laptops while driving is one

of the biggest complaints received by the

DOT, and the use of the Arch Angel will

help in stopping these complaints.

“wants its drivers to re-focus

on driving”

for removing this deadly drug from the

streets. The Task Force is comprised of full

time investigators from the Waterloo and

Cedar Falls police departments and Black

Hawk County Sheriff’s Office as well as

supplemental officers from Evansdale, Wa-

verly, Hudson, La Porte City, and the

Bremer County Sheriff’s Department. In-

vestigations are conducted in Black Hawk

and Bremer counties.

In 1991, the Tri County Drug Enforcement

Task Force was established. In their cases

the Task Force receives help from the FBI,

Homeland Security, the Iowa Division of

Narcotics Enforcement, the Iowa State

Patrol, the US Attorney’s Office, the black

Hawk County Attorney’s Office and count-

less county sheriffs.

(Continued from page 7)

Page 9 House Republican Newsletter

Late Education News (Contact Jason Chapman at 1-3015)

Ways & Means (Contact Kristi Kielhorn at 2-5290)

Recently Iowa was ranked 40th in the Tax

Foundation’s 2014 edition of the State

Business Tax Climate Index. The Washing-

ton based, conservative foundation did not

take into consideration Senate File 295

(Property Tax Reform) passed last session

in this new report.

More specifically, the report ranked Iowa’s

corporate income tax structure as 49th

overall and individual income tax structure

as 32nd overall. Iowa has a top personal

income tax rate of 8.98 percent—making it

the fourth highest among all states. This

ranking does not take into consideration

the fact that Iowans can deduct 100 per-

cent and corporations 50 percent of their

federal tax liability on their state returns—

lowering the effective rate actually paid.

The states at the top of the overall busi-

ness climate index were (in order): Wyo-

ming, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Flori-

da, Washington, Montana, New Hamp-

shire, Utah, and Indiana. New York bot-

tomed out the list. More information and the

full report can be found here: http://

taxfoundation.org/article/2014-state-

business-tax-climate-index.

Iowa’s Business Climate Ranked Low

Governor Issues Executive Order on Education Standards

Governor Branstad issued an Executive

Order this week to address growing con-

cerns over the Common Core and the fed-

eral government’s reach into state-level

education policy. Executive Order 83 aims

to clarify that any decisions made on edu-

cation standards, assessments, and data

collection will be made by the state and not

the federal government.

The criticism of the Common Core has

been growing considerably over the year.

Adopted by 45 states now (Minnesota has

adopted only 1 of the 2 CC subjects), the

CC is in the process of rolling out national-

ly. With this rollout has come concerns of

untested standards, concerning data col-

lection, and costly new assessments.

The Executive Order makes several decla-

rations:

The adoption of state standards should

be done in an open, transparent way

that includes opportunities for Iowans

to review and offer input

It is the responsibility of local school

districts to make decisions related to

curricula, instruction, and learning ma-

terials consistent with state academic

standards; and

It is inappropriate for the federal gov-

ernment to require as a condition of

application of federal grants the adop-

tion of any federally developed stand-

ards

The protection of student and family

privacy is paramount and Iowa must

protect its citizens against intrusive,

unnecessary data collection and track-

ing.

The State of Iowa, not the federal gov-

ernment or any other organization,

shall determine the content of Iowa’s

state academic standards, which are

known as the Iowa Core.

The Iowa Department of Education

shall develop a regular review cycle for

the Iowa Core, including public com-

ment, to determine the contents of and

to continually improve state academic

standards.

(Continued on page 10)

The State of Iowa, not the federal gov-

ernment or any other organization,

shall choose the statewide assess-

ments that will measure how well stu-

dents have mastered the Iowa Core.

School districts may also choose to

use additional assessments to meas-

ure student academic progress.

The collection of student data by

school districts and the Iowa Depart-

ment of Education shall be done in a

manner consistent with state and fed-

eral laws intended to protect student

and family privacy. Only aggregate

student data shall be provided to the

federal government to comply with

federal laws.

No Constitutional right of Iowa children

and their families shall be violated

through an overreach by the federal

government into Iowa’s educational

system.

(Continued from page 9)

Page 10 House Republican Newsletter