Session in overtime with no progress on Iowa’s workforce crisis

The 2022 legislative session was officially slated to wrap up April 19. Unfortunately, there’s been no progress on issues Iowans care about most: fixing Iowa’s workforce crisis, a balanced state budget that invests in critical needs, and ensuring public money for public schools.

My goal is to give skilled workers every reason to make Iowa their home by:

• Investing in our local public schools so that every student gets the opportunity to prepare for the college or career that’s right for them—not siphoning off funding to the point where they can’t even keep up with inflation.

• Supporting workers’ rights and helping small businesses that respect and reward hard work in every field, rather than corporate greed.

• Approving a timely, balanced state budget that fully funds critical needs throughout the state—not more tax breaks for wealthy donors and special interests.

Voucher bill causes Statehouse stalemate

Iowans have made it clear: They don’t want millions of their hard-earned tax dollars diverted from their local schools so that 2% of Iowa kids can attend the private school of their choice—with no accountability for how those tax dollars are used. Representatives in the Iowa House know this. That’s why they’ve refused to take up SF 2369.

When it comes to helping all of our students succeed, Iowa already provides a variety of options, including financial support for non-public education. The private school voucher proposal simply goes too far.

If you believe public money is for public schools, please keep speaking up. Contact legislative leaders in the Iowa House and Senate and tell them to end discussion of school vouchers and wrap up the legislative session. You can find their contact information at legis.iowa.gov/legislators/leadership.

Some things get worse as session drags on

The longer session lasts, the more bad initiatives have a chance of becoming law. This week, Senate passed two bills that will likely create more problems than they solve. I voted “no” on both of them.

Lowering child care standards

Part of Iowa’s workforce crisis is working families struggling with limited child care options. Some can’t find child care they can afford; others can’t find child care at all.

Lowering child care standards is not the answer, but that’s what HF 2198 would do. The bill would allow employees as young as 16 to care for school-aged children unsupervised. Two in three Iowans think that’s a bad idea that could risk the health and safety of our kids, according to a recent Iowa Poll.

HF 2198 would also increase the number of little ones that each child care worker is responsible for. If it becomes law, one child care worker could be responsible for up to seven 2-year-olds, or up to 10 3-year-olds.

Packing more kids into a daycare won’t encourage more Iowans to enter the child care field, and it won’t assure parents that their children are in a safe, nurturing environment when they leave for work each day.

This bill has returned to the Iowa House for further consideration.

Stripping homeowner rights

Iowa law should treat all homeowners with dignity and respect. Unfortunately, owners of manufactured houses—often known as “mobile homes”—don’t enjoy the same rights as other homeowners.

In fact, they have fewer rights than renters in Iowa, and often fall victim to predatory, out-of-state landlords who take advantage of our Iowa’s unequal protections for manufactured housing residents.

HF 2562 further limits the rights of manufactured housing owners, increasing the chances they could lose their home in several ways. These include:

• Giving homeowners much less time to fix potential lease violations, which could get them evicted more quickly.

• Changing notice requirements for increases in utility rates so that homeowners may not get notice before their bills are due.

• Allowing an eviction to proceed even if the court cannot hold an eviction hearing within the time set by law.

• Using a court order to prevent a homeowner from taking possession of their property, even if they’ve paid off an “abandonment” judgment.

• Requiring the homeowner to give notice if they wish to bid on their mobile home or personal property after it has been declared “abandoned.”

This bill is on its way to the Governor for her signature.