Taylor optimistic about passage of his MHI bills by Iowa lawmakers

By BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

DES MOINES ? State Sen. Rich Taylor, D-Mt. Pleasant, is optimistic.

Taylor is not only optimistic about the chances of two bills he has filed over the closure of Mental Health Institutes in Mt. Pleasant and Clarinda but also that public opinion may be swaying Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad to reconsider his decision to close both facilities as of June 30.

Earlier this session, Taylor filed Senate File 140 which allocates funding to both facilities for the entire fiscal year and requires that both MHIs continue accepting patients until funding elapses.

In his fiscal budget presentation, Branstad did not include any funding for Mt. Pleasant or Clarinda in fiscal 2016, thereby shutting down the institutions at the end of fiscal 2015. Mt. Pleasant?s MHI, last month, quit accepting new patients and pink slips were distributed to workers this week with layoffs slated to begin at the end of this month.

Clarinda?s MHI employees are to get their termination notices in April.

Iowa currently has four mental health institutes. The two slated to remain open are in Cherokee and Independence. Mt. Pleasant?s MHI is the state?s oldest, having opened in 1861.

Taylor?s second bill, Senate File 308, was passed unanimously Monday by the Senate Human Resources subcommittee. The bill now goes to the full Senate Human Relations committee. The bill requires the Iowa Department of Human Services to keep the facilities open until it develops a ?suitable and appropriate? long-term care and treatment plan for its patients. The Legislature then would approve the plan. The bill also incorporates details that would require the facilities to accept patients at least until the end of July.

?The bill (SF-308) has good support on both sides of the aisle,? Taylor said Tuesday. ?I have been approached by senators from both parties who support this and support the laws that are already in place that the Legislature has the power to decide which institutes to shut down.?

He said that SF1-40 will go to the floor next week ?and has good support in both chambers.?

State Rep. Dave Heaton, R-Mt. Pleasant, said he has not seen SF-308 but undoubtedly would support it. ?I would support any bill to keep the MHIs open. I don?t think keeping them open until June 30 (SF-140) is good enough.

?I am looking for a strong bill,? Heaton continued. ?We need to have a plan in place before they are closed.?

Asked about support in the House for Taylor?s two bills, Heaton said he was ?not quite sure. We really haven?t had any conversation about the bills.?

Taylor noted a petition started by Iowa Wesleyan College nursing students to keep the MHIs open now has over 10,000 signatures and said that the governor may be softening his stand due to public pressure.

?The governor is getting plenty of outcry about what he is doing with the MHIs,? Taylor assessed. ?He knows you can?t ignore people and he might not just do it.?