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Legislative update from Rep. Sharon Steckman

From Rep. Sharon Steckman –

Legislator Sharon Steckman
Legislator Sharon Steckman

This week was another week of debate on appropriations bills. The House Majority is still refusing to negotiate to end to the 2015 session. It’s a frustrating situation when one party refuses to compromise with anyone, including their own Republican Governor.

The Governor and the Senate are close on their budget targets for most budget bills. However, the House Majority is FAR below both the Governor and the Senate. For example; the House is $45 million below the Governor in Education, $87 million below the Governor in the Health and Human Services budget. Because the House Majority has created such a huge gap this year budgets are ending up in conference committees, and that is where the work is happening right now. Each conference committee is made up of; 5 Senators (3 Democrats, 2 Republicans), and 5 Representatives (3 Republicans, 2 Democrats).

Other News this Week

• After the Governor declared a state of emergency last week on avian flu, more cases have been found and the infection has now reached 32 million chicken and turkeys in Iowa.

• Just as high school graduations start across the state, House Republicans refused to compromise and end the k-12 school funding crisis again this week.
• Iowa’s largest insurer, Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield, said they will not enter Iowa’s health insurance exchange next year.

• A bill that may change Iowa’s texting while driving law was sent to a bi-partisan conference committee this week for lawmakers to work out their differences.

• The Iowa Dept. of Public Safety has returned almost 800 handguns purchased from Smith & Wesson under a contract that may not have followed state law.

Keeping Iowa’s Mental Health Institutes Open

Earlier this year, the Governor started a proposal of closing two of Iowa’s four Mental Health Institutes (MHI) without legislative input or approval. Already, some employees have received termination notices and patients are no longer being accepted at the MHI’s.

The Clarinda MHI provides a full range of diagnostic and treatment services through its Acute Psychiatric Program. The institute’s gero-psychiatric program provides nursing home beds for persons with mental illnesses. In addition, the Mt. Pleasant MHI provides active inpatient treatment to adults through the following programs:
• Center for Psychiatric Care (Adult Psychiatric).
• Iowa Residential Treatment Center (Substance Abuse)
• Dual Diagnosis Program (Psychiatric & Substance Abuse)

As part of the Health and Human Services budget bill, the House Majority party proposed a plan to delay the closure of the two institutes by six months. The plan does not provide enough funding to keep the institutes open and provide the needed services to Iowans.

Many lawmakers support a plan passed by the Iowa Senate that would fully fund the institutes and keep them open. This plan supports the highly trained employees and the high quality services that are provided to Iowans.

On the final vote, the House Majority passed the plan to close the institutes in mid-December of 2015. The bill, including this proposal, now goes back to the Senate for consideration.

First Time Homebuyer Savings Accounts Passes House

The House voted to create the “Iowa First-Time Homebuyers Savings Account Act” this week. The bill would encourage first time homebuyers to establish accounts to help save for the purchase of a house.

The program allows a first time homebuyer to subtract up to $3,000 for a single filer or $6,000 for a couple from individual income taxes for contributions to the account. In addition, an account holder may also subtract the interest and earnings from the account holder’s first-time homebuyers account.

The account holder can use any money in the account for costs related to purchasing a principal residence. Eligible costs include the down payment and closing costs on a principal residence in Iowa. The account holder has ten years after the year the account is first established to use the funds in the account.

The accounts can be established at any state or federally chartered bank, savings and loan, credit union, or trust company. The account must be an interest bearing savings account.

The bill is estimated to save taxpayers approximately $4.3 million annually once fully implemented. The bill would not allow accounts to be set up until January 1, 2016.

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