The Capitol Report by Rep. Curt Hanson

Session report for week six.

It was wonderful to be back in Fairfield for the weekend. Diane and I enjoyed Fairfield area talent at the Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts where we enjoyed ?Love, Dance, Bad Romance? Feb. 11. We were impressed by the great performances, and of course, the children are always to be admired for their talent.

I arrived in Des Moines late Feb. 12 ahead of the snowstorm. The next morning started with an interview with a young graduate student. The natural resources committee that I serve as ranking member on was the center of our discussion. A discussion of environmental issues and concerns followed. A bill that would approve the farm sale of raw milk has been voted out of a judiciary subcommittee. This bill is supported by many people in Iowa. I have received calls from people in our four-county area in favor of being allowed to sell raw milk from their farm; however, the bill is opposed by number of powerful groups in Iowa. At this time its future is uncertain.

In floor action that afternoon, we passed a non-controversial bill dealing with nursing home inspections. We then debated the setting of allowable growth for schools. The House voted to delay the setting of allowable growth for schools. This will cause schools problems in adjusting their staff and class sizes because they are unable to plan their budgets. Schools essentially must plan for zero growth, and with increasing fixed costs such as utilities, health and transportation, they may find it necessary to plan for staff reductions and increased class sizes.

That evening I attended a presentation regarding the retention of third-graders in Florida who fail to meet reading standards. Florida has invested in a three-part program to reduce the number of students who have reading deficiencies. Intensive reading programs, along with specialized help, staff development and repeating third grade for those who fail to meet the standard, are all part of the Florida program.

The House Education Appropriations Committee passed a budget that is well below the governor?s proposal. This bill funds the Regents universities, community colleges, public television and Department of Education. This bill would likely raise the tuition costs of our universities and community colleges. This budget also reduces the public television budget by nearly 40 percent. I don?t think this bill will find favor with the Senate. I expect we will have many long discussions before we agree on a compromise.

The Rotunda was filled with Project Lead the Way students and displays over lunch. I was impressed with the Fairfield display. Corey Haynes, Huma Liptak and Brandi Rude displayed their advanced work and experiments. They explained the advanced placement courses they are enrolled in and their plans for their future. Industrial technology teacher Chris Lee certainly offers his students challenges.

The afternoon debate of HF2274, which concerns commercial property taxes, took up much of the afternoon. Providing commercial property tax relief without pushing those reductions onto residential property owners or tying the hands of local government elected officials is our goal. Unfortunately, I think the plan that was passed in the House will shift much of the burden to homeowners. I?m reasonably sure we will revisit this bill after the Senate reviews it and amends the bill.

Representatives from the Pathfinders Resource Conservation and Development of Davis, Jefferson and Van Buren counties arrived at the Capitol very early Wednesday to meet with legislators at a breakfast coffee. I met with John Schroeder of the Davis County Development Corporation, Van Buren County Supervisor Marvin Philips, Pathfinders Executive Director Detra Dettmann and Historic Hills Byway Coordinator Katy Anderson. We discussed issues important to the economic development of southeast Iowa, including recreational and tourism opportunities.

School transportation costs are of great concern to rural Iowans. Because of student location and the limited number of river crossings, Van Buren County school transportation costs are a significant cost of education in Van Buren County. There also are other rural school districts in our area that experience similar costs. In my opinion, the current method of funding education creates a disadvantage for rural school districts. If transportation costs in some rural districts are upwards of $900 per student, and transportation costs in nearby suburban districts are only $2.50 per student, that has to mean a difference in instruction and materials provided to educate students. I introduced a bill to provide relief to school districts with high transportation costs. The bill received considerable support from rural legislators. The bill passed out of subcommittee and will be debated by the entire committee.

The bill faces an uncertain future because costs to equalize unfairness in the instructional costs of K-12 are expensive. We encourage schools to consolidate, and then we penalize them for having transportation costs. I do not believe that is a good way to promote rural Iowa.

In a Joint Senate and House Agriculture Committee meeting, we listened to Trent Loos, a very talented farmer, rancher and advocate for agriculture, explain the advances agriculture has made in the past 50 years ? advances that are necessary to inexpensively feed a growing world population.

Wednesday evening, Iowa hosted China?s next president at a State Dinner at the Capitol. Attending a State Dinner was a new experience for even long-term senators and representatives. It was an extravagant event with much protocol and pomp and circumstance. Costs of the event were paid for by private donations. It is important that Iowans remember that much of our state economy rests on exports. China is the largest buyer of U.S farm products, and Iowa is a major supplier of those exports. Two people seated at my table were from the Chinese delegation. The language barrier was difficult to overcome and our conversation was very limited. On a personal note, I was surprised by the average height of members of the delegation; apparently the improved diet in China has resulted in much taller people.

Thursday was another busy day. After voting on several non-controversial bills, committee meetings continued as usual. I was able to take a few minutes to meet with Mark Aeilts and others from the Southern Iowa Electric Cooperative concerning two of their legislative priories: stray voltage and copper theft.

In natural resources, we passed two bills out of committee. The first establishes a pheasant stocking experiment in southern Iowa. This would be funded by private and public partners to determine the effectiveness of stocking pheasants in Iowa. About 1,000 birds would be stocked and about 100 birds would be tracked electronically. The study would be completed by 2018. In other action, a Department of Natural Resources bill was approved dealing with hunting and fishing license fees. In both cases, these bills will proceed for debate before the entire House.

As usual, I will be meeting with constituents over the weekend. I will plan to attend the regularly scheduled ?Coffee with Curt? listening post in Keosauqua Saturday. The meeting will be at 8 a.m. at Village Cup and Cakes.

(Curt Hanson represents House District 90. He writes a weekly column during the legislative session. He can be contacted on his cell phone at 919-2314. His email address is curt.hanson@legis.state.ia.us.)