With session in full swing, Washington’s legislators attend briefing

WASHINGTON — Constituents had a chance to meet with their state lawmakers in Washington Feb. 20, for the second of three legislative briefings arranged by the Washington Chamber of Commerce this year.

A handful of those in attendance thanked Rep. Heather Hora and Sen. Dawn Driscoll, both Republicans, for agreeing to attend the event at 5:30 p.m. on a Thursday, rather than the usual forum time at noon on Fridays. Both lawmakers said they rushed to get back from Des Moines on time, and pulled up to the venue at Washington City Hall shortly before its start time at 5:30 p.m.

“It makes it easier to attend, as opposed to the noon-hour ones,” said one member of the crowd, who said he was from Washington. “I really appreciate you doing one of them in the evening.”

Driscoll debriefs on failed casino moratorium

Sen. Driscoll opened the event with remarks on a proposed casino moratorium that unexpectedly failed in the senate earlier this month. The result paved the way for a casino’s approval in Cedar Rapids which started construction the same week, a move others like the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort say will “cannibalize” local revenue and jobs.

Driscoll said the bill’s failure to get a vote was profoundly frustrating, and caught her off-guard after it was referred to the senate’s state government committee.

“When we went in to caucus, as a committee, it was explained to me that we weren’t going to move the bill forward,” the senator said. “I’ve taken this vote very, very hard. I feel terrible that I wasn’t able to come through for Washington County and for our entire area … The house did their job, they brought it to the floor, and the assistant leaders in the senate just didn’t feel like we needed to debate it.”

Rep. Hora said she shared Driscoll’s disappointment. She said she hoped to push for other restrictions on new casinos this legislative session, including a proposed bill that would block them from Tax Increment Financing which some local governments use to incentivize nearby business development.

The moratorium, however, would have been far more ideal for Washington County, according to Hora.

“In the house, we passed it twice in a year,” she said. “This year we passed it again, and four people in the senate basically decided that it wasn’t worthy of a vote. Sometimes that’s the way things work, but I am hopeful, we have other options, we are looking at other things.”

The competing casino’s impact will likely go beyond business trade-offs with Washington County. Many in the community worry it will tighten funds for the Washington County Riverboat Foundation, the Riverside casino’s designated nonprofit, which has paid millions of grant dollars to nearby governments, nonprofits and schools since the casino opened in 2006.

Washington Economic Development Group Director Mary Audia said she still hoped for progress on legislation that might hinder the casino’s development in Cedar Rapids.

“It just seemed so hopeful, and then all of a sudden it turned, by about 4 o’clock that afternoon,” Audia said. “My fingers are crossed that we can still figure something out, because it means so much to Washington County and all the surrounding areas.”

Farmers eye bird flu, grain indemnity fund

Ag industry professionals at last week’s forum seemed to have two matters on their minds.

One recurring subject was animal disease control. Farmers in the crowd asked lawmakers to uphold funding for the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Iowa State.

The legislators, both of whom are farmers, said they agreed that biosecurity research and disaster planning were top priorities, amid outbreaks of Avian influenza and concerns about African Swine Fever, a virus affecting pigs that has not yet been detected in the U.S. Washington County is the state’s number one pork producer, and has a considerable poultry industry as well.

“Foreign animal disease has been the top of everyone’s mind this year in all ag industries,” Driscoll said. “We’d like to see a plan. If an outbreak does occur, I think it would affect Washington County the most, it’d be absolutely devastating … for our pork producers.”

Another topic of interest was grain indemnity funds. Washington County Farm Bureau Board Member Ty Rinner said he hoped legislators would approve updates to the funds, which protects farmers from fallout if their corn and soy buyers go bankrupt. One bill currently on legislative dockets — HF 508 — would account for growers with credit sale contracts, but exclude deferred-payment contracts.

The bill would also raise the fund’s minimum balance from $3 million to $8 million, and its maximum balance $8 million to $16 million.

“We just need to update that thing,” Rinner said. “Just need it to be modernized for today, it’s not 1985 anymore.”

Hora said she agreed, but couldn’t say for sure whether the bill had strong odds of passing. She said she heard some pushback over the proposed new maximum for the fund, which is financed via fees on transactions involving grain dealers and warehouses.

“We’re moving to a $16 million top, but why are we letting $16 million of farmer money just sit?” she said. “There’s some discussions that need to be had. Credit sale decisions are a marketing decision. If we’re going to insure marketing decisions for grain farmers, are we going to insure marketing decisions for livestock farmers? Where does that end? Those conversations are being had in the house.”

Talks underway on education funding, curriculum, regulation

Discussions on education surfaced a few times at last week’s briefing, with a handful of local school employees asking legislators about a smorgasbord of issues.

For State Supplemental Aid funding to schools, the house and senate are currently deadlocked between proposed growth rates of 2.25% and 2%, respectively, according to Driscoll and Hora. The two said they weren’t sure which would be the final number, with both chambers appearing unwilling to compromise on the matter.

“Thank you to the house for voting more than 2%, and making a difference,” said Washington Superintendent Willie Stone, who also thanked Driscoll for voting against the senate’s lower proposal. “I greatly appreciate that, knowing that (2%) isn’t enough, we need more.”

On another matter, Stone addressed House Study Bill 156, which would require schools to post digital versions of every “book, article, audio or visual clip, internet site, digital material, or instructional handout that is assigned, distributed, or otherwise presented to students” in class.

“Our teachers have a lot to do already, I’m not sure when the teachers would have time to do that, also,” he said. “Our staff members are maxed out already. I really worry about, how are they supposed to put every item that they show to kids online. I don’t know the feasibility of that, I don’t see how that can be done.”

Hora, a member of the House Education Committee which recommended the bill’s passage Feb. 20, said she hoped to strike a balance on that front, possibly by removing requirements for other educational records.

"We want parents to know exactly what’s happening in the classrooms,“ she said. ”But we also don’t want to put all that data stuff onto the teachers. We have so much of a requirement now, they have to input so much information that isn’t necessary. So we are taking a look at that, saying, ‘OK, what do we need them to be focused on?’“

Lawmakers also discussed their support for legislation that would reform certain curriculum in the state, including a bill Hora said would require schools to teach “traditional math,” and another that would prohibit “standards-based grading” in grades 6-12.

One audience member, Bob Winkleblack, asked legislators to think twice before passing recently proposed legislation that would loosen guidelines on home schooling.

Specifically, House File 88 would allow home schooling instructors to take on more than four unrelated students at a time, and charge tuition for their education.

“You’re starting a private school without oversight,” said Winkleblack. “I was a school board member of a private school, by the way, we had pretty strict oversight … it was an accreditation program.”

Hora said she was “not fully versed on it,” but believed the bill was meant to functionally allow paid substitutes for home schooling parents who fall ill.

Some constituents ask state to fill anticipated federal funding gaps

While both lawmakers in attendance were state-level, a handful of public comments Thursday night touched on federal issues like graduate school research funding, and grants for programs to students with disabilities.

The questions came a month into President Donald Trump’s second term, characterized by a blitz of staff and spending cuts from the executive branch.

“Is there anything being done at the state level to really pick up the slack?” asked Anna Banowsky, a Washington resident who ran against Hora in the 2025 election campaign. “We have people who rely on Medicare and Medicaid, people who rely on federal funding for their farms. We have students and faculty who rely on federal funding for their research at the university, and I think that’s one of those things where we’re going to see fewer and fewer people coming to this state.”

Lawmakers said they weren’t aware of any state spending initiatives to that effect, though Driscoll noted that state appropriations debates were weeks away.

Hora added that state officials may take more of a “wait and see” approach with the flurry of federal changes.

“We don’t know exactly what’s going to shake out with this new administration,” she said. “They’re moving at light speed, right, so we’ll just have to see what that looks like. We fully expect that the Department of Education will turn into a block grant that the state’s going to get that we will administer ourselves. Whether that looks that way with Medicaid, with other things, we just aren’t sure.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com