The Capitol Report by Rep. Curt Hanson

Legislative update from week 16.

The last weekend in April was filled with forums in both Keosauqua and Bloomfield. It is always nice to chat with people over a cup of coffee.

My wife and I capped the week with a trip down memory lane with our attendance at ?Take Me Home ? The Music of John Denver,? a concert in tribute to the music of John Denver. The Sondheim Auditorium was nearly filled and the audience greatly appreciated the music of Jim Curry, the performer, who resembled John Denver in both appearance and sound.

This (first week in May) may be the last ?regular week? of this legislative session. Although there is not an official end of the legislative session; however, there is a strong incentive to end the session when legislators and their staff no longer receive pay.

The Iowa Legislature is a part-time body usually meeting for the first four months of the year. May 3 was the last day payment for food and lodging will be paid, and the last day secretaries will receive pay.

This session is not unlike several past sessions when agreement on important bills could not be reached by the House and the Senate within normal session length.

Bi-partisan conference committees are appointed by both bodies and those committees continue to work and seek compromise. Normally the legislature does not adjourn, but goes into recess while the rank-and-file members return to their homes and regular jobs.

When compromise occurs and action is required by the entire body, members are recalled to the Capitol and the session continues. This recess will not cost Iowa taxpayers more because no expenses or wages are paid upon return from such a recess.

While several budget bills were discussed and sent to a conference committee, there were also a number of bills that were debated and passed, including a bill regarding the production of biofuels and the cultivation of algae, a new area of biofuel production in Iowa.

The House and the Senate have each passed different plans to expand health care and replace the current IowaCare program for working adults who don?t have health care through their employer.

A comparison of the plans show the plan supported by the governor and Republicans costs more and covers less. The governor?s plan also includes the transfer of local property tax funds from local counties to fund his state plan. This plan would leave the counties without the funds necessary for mental health reform or perhaps even for continuation of programs in place. This places a double burden on the legislature of not being able to solve one issue without a solution to a second equally difficult issue.

Most of the taxpayers? expense for medical payments goes to the support of the disabled and the elderly. We can make our tax dollars go further by helping care for people of little means who wish to stay in their own homes. When people of little means have no other choice but to go to a long-term care facility, it costs taxpayers a great deal.

Much of Wednesday afternoon was spent in debate of the Health and Human Services Budget. This budget includes funding for the Departments of Aging, Public Health, Human Services and Veterans Affairs. In addition to attention spent in debating funding of these departments, much of the time was spent in the debate of language that often referenced divisive social issues that have no clear solution. After the debate of 29 amendments, the bill passed along party lines. The funding passed in the House bill is both under the governor?s recommendation and under the bill passed by the Senate. In my opinion, this bill will also be placed in a conference committee.

Last year we came close to commercial property tax reform, but the bill failed to make it to a conference committee. This week, commercial property tax reform took an important step in the legislative process and was sent to a bi-partisan conference committee. The plan approved by the Senate costs about $250 million and is targeted to small businesses and Main Street, without shifting the property tax burden to homeowners and farmers. House Republicans have offered a broad tax proposal that costs nearly $2 billion which could shift the property tax burden to homeowners and farmers. Many think this plan is so large that it is not sustainable for the state in the long run. Perhaps this bi-partisan conference committee will be able to reach a compromise.

The annual Standings and Miscellaneous Provisions bill was debated Thursday. This is a necessary bill that makes adjustments to standing appropriations in current law, addresses several miscellaneous policy issues, and a number of truly corrective code fixes. I think of these corrective fixes as typos. After a lengthy debate, a House version of this bill was sent back to the Senate where it is expected to be added to the bills in a bi-partisan conference committee.

According to the latest report from the non-partisan fiscal bureau, state revenues continued to surge in April. So far this year, state revenues are running over $400 million ahead of last year ? nearly 9 percent. Iowans should be proud that our cash reserves and rainy day funds now total nearly $1 billion.

As I stated earlier, I think this will be the last regular week of the legislative session.

I fully expect to return to the Capitol on Monday; however, I don?t think the week will be a normal week. I don?t expect to adjourn as we have many unfinished budget bills and conference committees have yet to report, or in some cases even meet.

I suspect we will recess and remain on standby; awaiting a call to return.