State refinances to save money; Iowa Senate approved stillborn birth certificates

State refinances to save money

DES MOINES ? State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald announced today the refunding of Iowa?s school infrastructure bonds. Iowa issued school infrastructure bonds in 2001 to provide $50 million in grants to help fund the renovation and repair of existing school facilities and the construction of new additions.

The bonds will be paid off with proceeds of new bonds issued at a lower interest rate. The refunding transaction, which involved issuing $21 million in bonds at 1.94 percent, lowered the state?s interest rate by almost 2.5 percent.

?This transaction is a lot like refinancing your house. It will save the state $4.3 million over the next nine years,? stated Fitzgerald. ?Iowa?s strong financial position and historically low interest rates made the refunding a great success.?

As part of the process to sell the bonds, Iowa made credit presentations to the three largest rating agencies: Standard and Poor?s, Moody?s and Fitch. In addition to rating the bonds, Iowa?s overall AAA credit rating was affirmed.

Iowa is one of only eight states to be rated AAA by all three rating agencies.

Iowa Senate approves stillborn birth certificates

DES MOINES (AP) ? Parents of stillborn babies would be allowed to request a birth certificate under a measure that won unanimous approval Wednesday in the Iowa Senate, sending it on to Gov. Terry Branstad for his signature.

The House previously approved the measure, making Iowa the 33rd state to pass such a bill, said Mandy Ford, 34, a mother from Clarinda who lobbied lawmakers to pass it.

Ford's daughter Melody was stillborn last August. She has two daughters aged 8 and 6 and is expecting another baby in August.

After losing her daughter last year she was searching for grief resources she discovered the MISS Foundation, a Phoenix-based nonprofit that helps families heal from a child's death. Through the group she discovered that Iowa was one of several states that did not offer a birth certificate for stillborn babies.

For many mothers who go through the labor, delivery and birth it's important to have the document that recognizes that birth.

"The first thing parents are given is the certificate of fetal death to sign," Ford said. "The state acknowledges the child died but it refuses to acknowledge your child was ever born."

The measure makes it optional and retroactive. Only parents who request a birth certificate will get one. Even for those who may have had a stillbirth decades ago can now request a birth certificate, she said.

Since 1939 Iowa has issued only a certificate of fetal death.

Iowa has about 200 stillborn babies a year.