DES MOINES – The last day for Iowa legislators to receive per diem pay is Friday, May 3rd and the work at the capitol is not yet complete. There is no official adjournment date at the Iowa legislature. Last year, the Iowa legislature adjourned 22 days past its “target” date and was several weeks late in 2011.
Budgets have moved to conference, but democrats and republicans are far apart on the amount of state revenues to spend.
On one of the major issues this session at the capitol -health care- Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal said Thursday that “The Legislature continues to work toward a compromise that will expand affordable health care to more low-income Iowans. On April 30, the House approved Governor Branstad’s alternative to Medicaid expansion with only minor changes. In the face of bipartisan opposition, the measure passed on a narrow vote of 51-49.”
Gronstal said the legislative session won’t end “until the people’s work is finished.”
“While I hope the 2013 legislative session wraps up soon” Gronstal said, “I won’t vote to adjourn until Iowa has a balanced state budget that will help strengthen and grow our middle class.
“We can do that in a fiscally responsible way because Iowa’s state budget is in good shape, thanks to sound bipartisan management. The state is expected to have a budget surplus of about $844 million on June 30, the end of the current budget year. In addition, we have $622 million in our reserve funds, the largest amount in state history.”
Senator Amanda Ragan stated Friday that there are many issues left unresolved.
“Many key bills that will have major impacts on the lives of Iowans are still before the Legislature and will be considered before we adjourn,” Ragan stated.
“I support these key initiatives to help strengthen our economy and create jobs:”
• Expanding access to high-quality affordable health care for uninsured working Iowans
• Approving education reform that improves student achievement
• Providing reliable, responsible funding for our local schools
• Ensuring affordable college tuition and expanded worker training opportunities
• Helping every Iowa business, especially small businesses, by cutting commercial property taxes
• Cutting taxes for working Iowa families to help lift them out of poverty and boosts the economy
• Assisting 73,000 Iowa small businesses by providing a state tax credit on employee health insurance costs
• Helping grow local communities by investing in economic development initiatives
It’s about time they were paid what they are worth. We should cut their paid time down by 2 months to get them to do their jobs faster. Maybe then they would learn how to compromise and not play games.