As the weather finally warms, we’re still working towards finishing up the 2011 legislative session here in Des Moines. While I am anxious to wrap up and get back up to North Iowa, in Des Moines we’re getting some great work done on behalf of Iowans. |April 30, 2011
As the weather finally warms, we’re still working towards finishing up the 2011 legislative session here in Des Moines. While I am anxious to wrap up and get back up to North Iowa, in Des Moines we’re getting some great work done on behalf of Iowans.
This week the House Ways and Means committee took up a property tax relief bill. Over the last ten years, property taxes have increased $1.75 billion. In fact the total average increase for property taxes over the last ten years is 66%. Personal income for Iowans has only grown 46%. This is simply not sustainable.
The House, Senate and Governor have all rolled out property tax proposals this session ñ everyone recognizes we need to act on this issue. If we do nothing, large increases will continue to occur to residential property taxpayers over the next ten years.
House File 691, which passed out of committee this week, brings many of the ideas together. The bill provides broad-based property tax reform to all classes. Property poor school districts would benefit as the inequities in the current school aid formula would be mitigated with the state increasing its share from the current 87.5% to 100% of the regular program foundation base. Commercial and industrial classes would be assessed at 60% – with a five year phase in.
This bill would help put Iowans back to work and once again give taxpayers a seat at the table. Tax relief and spending discipline go hand in hand, so we are also working to be sure sound budget practices are being carried out.
We continue with our commitment to pursuing legislation that will help put Iowans back to work. Consistent with that mission, the House took up House File 561 on Tuesday, providing the next step in consideration of building a next-generation nuclear facility in Iowa.
The approval of this bill marks a major step forward to bring jobs and economic development to Iowa, while ensuring that Iowans will have a reliable supply of energy for the future. The bill provides the roadmap that a utility would have to follow in order to get authorization from the Iowa Utilities Board to explore the construction of a facility. The bill itself does not approve the construction of a facility.
If the Board does approve construction of a new facility, it is expected to use small modular reactors to generate electricity. The reactors would be similar to those currently used by the United States Navy in powering the submarine fleet and aircraft carriers. House File 561 was strengthened on the floor with recommendations from the Iowa Utilities Board and bipartisan amendments to ensure that safety procedures are part of the discussion from the start of the process.
While I am supportive of other types of renewable energy such as wind and solar, these methods do not provide the same sort of baseload power to fulfill the state’s energy needs. I am also supportive of clean coal, but the federal government has made these types of developments even more difficult. Having been passed by the House, the bill now goes to the Senate for their consideration.
Another issue that many legislators have been working on all session is the redesigning of the delivery of mental health and intellectual disability services in Iowa. Currently, our state’s mental health system is not serving Iowans as well as it could be. The bill that is being worked on, House File 689, starts a multi-year process that provides Iowans in all parts of the state with access to core services.
Again, this bill is still a work in progress, but it is a step in the right direction. During the interim, much work will be done on detailing core services and how they are provided.
As always it is a pleasure to visit with some North Iowans who came to the Capitol. This week Gabe and Carolyn Haugland and their two children, Grace and Nicholas stopped by for a visit. It was a heartwarming visit because Carolyn worked with me here at the Capitol a couple years ago, and Gabe recently returned from combat duty in Afghanistan.
If you are planning a trip to the Capitol, please contact my office at (515) 281-4618 or linda.upmeyer@legis.state.ia.us. Again, with session winding down, please let me know if there is an event you would like me to attend in your community. I really enjoy that part of my job, so I will get it on my schedule if at all possible!
