Legislative update from Rep. Sharon Steckman

After a month of overtime, we wrapped up the 2015 legislative session earlier this month on Friday, June 5th. There was progress made this year to help everyday Iowans.

The 2015 session opened with a plan to strengthen Iowa’s working families, build a vibrant economy, and re-vitalize rural Iowa. Key legislation approved this year maintains Iowa’s balanced budget, invests in Iowa’s economy, and keeps vulnerable Iowans safe.

In an effort to build a strong economy, the Legislature worked together to approve bills that will cut red tape and encourage more investment in small businesses, entrepreneurs, and start-up companies. A bi-partisan group of legislators also worked to re-vitalize rural Iowa by expanding broadband to un-served areas, encourage new development in rural communities, add more value to the crops of Iowa farmers, and create renewable energy jobs.

A new Safe at Home program was created by lawmakers to protect the confidentiality of victims of sexual or domestic abuse and another bill to protect Iowans makes it easier to locate cell phones in life-threatening situations.

I was disappointed the majority party missed many opportunities this year, especially in Iowa’s k-12 public schools. With Iowa’s strong economy, there was no reason to leave schools in budget uncertainty for over a year. Other missed opportunities include raising Iowa’s minimum wage, protecting workers from wage theft, and developing a paid sick leave plan for workers.

School Aid Compromise Approved, Falls Short of Needs

Going into the 2015 Session, k-12 school funding was to be addressed quickly since it was not established the previous year as the law required. However, it was one of the last bills addressed when leaders of the majority party in the House refused to compromise for over a year, despite many attempts by House Democrats to set school funding sufficiently.

This delay caused schools to not know how many teachers they would have in the upcoming year and created problems for student class registration in many districts. School funding also affects class size and a schools ability to purchase up-to-date materials and invest in technology.

School leaders and many lawmakers said the compromise funding was too low, but it would prevent cuts at most schools. The Supplemental State Aid (SSA) was set at an increase of at 1.25% which is an increase of $84.8 million compared to FY 2015. This will increase the state cost per pupil from $6,366 to $6,446 (or $80).

School districts will also receive one-time funding of $55.7 million. However, these extra funds cannot be used for salaries for staff, which is the largest portion of every school’s budge. With such insufficient funding, this may force many schools to raise property taxes.

Branstad Moves Ahead on Closure of Mental Health Institutes

Iowa lawmakers came to a bi-partisan agreement this year to keep open Iowa’s two State Mental Health Institutes (MHI) in Clarinda and Mt. Pleasant. Earlier this year, Governor Branstad unveiled a plan to close both MHI’s on July 1, 2015. The deal reached by lawmakers would keep open the Mt. Pleasant MHI and delay the closure of the Clarinda MHI until December of 2015.

The Clarinda MHI provides a full range of diagnostic and treatment services through its Acute Psychiatric Program for Iowans who are 18 years of age and over and have a serious mental illness. The facility’s Geropsychiatric Program provides long-term care to adult Iowans with chronic psychiatric and behavioral problems and who meet the Iowa Foundation for Medical Care (IFMC) guidelines for nursing home level of care and whose behaviors are such that community-based facilities cannot manage the resident.

As part of the compromise, for the MHI in Clarinda, the amount of patients that can be treated is limited until December or until appropriate alternative treatment services that meet the needs of the current Geropsychiatric Program residents can be secured, whichever is earlier.

The Mt. Pleasant MHI provides active inpatient treatment to adults through:

– The Center for Psychiatric Care for adults 18 years of age and older from the 15-county catchment area in southeast Iowa.
– The Iowa Residential Treatment Center: IRTC (Substance Abuse) for adults 18 years of age and older from all 99 Iowa counties.
– The Dual Diagnosis Program (Psychiatric & Substance Abuse) program for adults 18 years of age and older from all 99 Iowa counties.

The Governor has yet to approve or reject the bipartisan Legislative agreement; however Department of Human Services (DHS) has begun the process of laying off employees of both MHI’s. Recently, DHS delivered pink slips to all employees at the Clarinda and Mt. Pleasant MHI’s. Pink slips were delivered to 28 employees at the Mt. Pleasant Mental Health Institute (MHI) and 53 staff at the Clarinda MHI. At the time of the pink slips, there were 13 patients at Clarinda and 10 at Mt. Pleasant.