State legislators receive Chamber's legislative priorities

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance members had their dinner date Friday at the Mt. Pleasant Golf and Country Club with State Sen. Rich Taylor, D-Mt. Pleasant, and State Rep. Dave Heaton, R. Mt. Pleasant, relaying their 2017 legislative agenda to the two legislators.

Topics included on the agenda were economic development, workforce, transportation, education, health care, tax policy and housing.

?This is an incredibly important topic,? Chamber Executive Vice President Kristi Ray told the gathering at the outset.

Following the outlining of the topics, which will be mentioned later, Heaton and Taylor provided attendees a quick snapshot of what they anticipate will happen during the session and they recapped the first week of activity in Des Moines.

Money, money, money, or the lack thereof headlined both the legislators? report.

Heaton, who is beginning his 12th term in Des Moines, said the first week ?was kind of a different week. Because I am on the appropriations committee, most of my work is how we are going to address the $117 million shortfall (in the fiscal 2017 budget).?

The representative said a de-appropriations bill would be released next week, noting that the longer the legislature waits, the deeper the problem becomes.

Looking ahead, he said the Legislature is ?extremely limited with new revenue of about $213 million.? School supplemental aid of 2 percent to state K-12 school districts will take $75 million of the new money, and Heaton said he will be asking for $130 million in his health and human services budget (he is chairman of that committee in the house) to help fund the expansion of Medicaid and the rising cost of Medicare supplemental policies for dual eligible people (residents eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare.

?After those two things (school aid, and health and human services funding), there isn?t much left,? he said. ?Money is going to be extremely limited.?

In addition to the downturn of the ag economy, sales tax receipts and tax credits are having a dramatic effect on state revenue.

He said that in 2000, 43 percent of the retail sales in Iowa was subject to sales tax. With the increase in online sales, taxable sales in Iowa dropped to 28 percent in 2014. That translates into a loss of $330 million in state revenue, Heaton emphasized.

Looking at state tax credits, Heaton related that in 2007 there was $165 million in tax credits. The number jumped to $364 million in 2016 and is predicted to be at $404 million in 2017.

?Along with agriculture and the lagging economy, the loss of sales tax and the increase in tax credits are causing the loss in the growth of revenue,? he said. ?The state is going to have to study tax credits and exemptions to solve the revenue problem.?

The state representative also said the legislature will look at the minimum wage, possibly passing a bill that pre-empts cities and counties from setting their own minimum wage. He said he thinks a new state minimum wage will be set with a gradual increase from the current minimum wage.

Finally, Heaton said something has to be done to encourage people to enter the health-care field. ?It is the biggest industry in the country. There are so many opportunities there.?

As far as Taylor is concerned, everything is about education. ?We have to fund it better than we do now,? he noted. He has long been an advocate of early childhood education and said he would like to see kids begin the learning process at age two.

?I think we have to help students at all levels, whether it be K-12 schools, technical schools, community colleges or four-year colleges,? Taylor remarked.

He is also hopeful that a water quality bill is passed. ?I hope we can find something we can agree upon because if we don?t have water, we won?t have Iowa.?

Taylor supports tying a state minimum wage to the inflation index. ?I?ve always supported an increase in the minimum wage. There are lot of people pushing for (a minimum wage of) $15 an hour but that is not possible.?

The state senator said improvement is needed in health care, especially for the mentally ill, adding ?our prisons are now our mental institutes.?

Concerning the budget shortfall, Taylor said it would take a lot of elbow grease to overcome it. ?It is going to be very hard to recover from because it will carry over into next year.

?Our priorities have to be education, education and education,? he continued. ?I think we (Republicans and Democrats) can work together and get through this.?

The Chamber Alliance?s major legislative priorities follow. The priorities were developed through member forums in which input gathered was sent to the government affairs committee and then finalized by the Chamber board of directors.

Economic development

? Economic development programs that attract quality jobs, foster innovation and entrepreneurship.

? Local control over TIF districts for continued utilization of dollars for both horizontal and vertical infrastructure development.

? Funding the state economic development authority?s administrative fund, incentive fund and financial assistance tax credit pool.

? Increase funding in the State of Iowa?s tourism spending.

? Efforts to find long-term solutions to Iowa?s water-quality?s issues.

Workforce

? Funding for a job-training program that help workers develop the skill set necessary to become productive workers.

? Opportunities for students to enter vocational education.

? Collaborative efforts between the community colleges and Iowa Wesleyan University to enhance proper educational skills and abilities for preparation for both higher education and the workforce.

? A modest and gradual increase to the state?s minimum wage.

Transportation

? Completing Highway 34 into Illinois.

? Fully funding the Transportation Investment Moves the Economy in the 21st Century Fund (TIME-21). TIME-21 is a federal program.

? Funding the Iowa Development of Transportation for rail service into industrial parks and sites appropriate for rail projects.

? Continued reinvestment in city and county roads.

Education

? Placing an emphasis on literacy at the elementary level.

? Policies to aid rural areas faced with high transportation costs for busing children to and from school.

? Providing certainty to Iowa school districts to plan at least one year in advance for school funding.

? Support education reform in Iowa to ensure world-class standards for students, teachers and administrators.

? Continued incremental increases in funding for the Iowa Tuition Grant.

Health care

? Fewer federal mandates that are increasing health insurance (costs) for both businesses and their employees.

? Decreasing America?s dependence on the Medicaid system.

? Greater access to health care in rural America.

? Funding for preventative programs to address growing problems such as overeating, alcohol and substance abuse and mental health.

Tax policy

? Efforts to simplify and reduce corporate income taxes.

? Allowing states to collect sales tax from out-of-state establishments to reduce the inequity that now exists between online sellers and brick-and-mortar businesses.

? Flattening and streamlining the personal income tax.

? Preserving the federal deductibility for Iowa taxpayers.

? Ensuring state government?s commitment to provide additional funding to city and county governments to make up for the reduction in property taxes resulting from tax reform.

Housing

? Ongoing and increased investment in affordable housing programs.

? Funding for programs that support modifications of homes to help people age in place and people with disabilities.

? Preserving the Iowa Finance Authority and other programs that incentivize affordable housing.

The Chamber Alliance?s Government Affairs Committee will also host legislative forums the last Saturday of the month in the Chadwick Library?s International Room on the campus of Iowa Wesleyan University. The forums will run from 8:30-10 a.m.