Collins Capitol Connection

We are now more than three months into the legislative session and the second funnel deadline has officially passed. What that means is if a bill hasn't made it out of a committee in both chambers, it can no longer be considered this legislative session. The only exception to that being bills that are referred to the Appropriations or Ways & Means Committees.

House Republicans Release Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2024

House Republicans released spending parameters for the Fiscal Year 2024 state budget, once again proposing a responsible, conservative funding plan for the state. House Republicans are moving forward with a state budget of $8.5791 billion for the next fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023. The plans calls for an increase of $364.3 million over the current year spending level of $8.2148 billion.

The largest increase goes to the state’s local school districts, who receive an additional $127 million through the 3 percent increase in the state foundation formula plus the results of the adjustment in property tax valuations passed in Senate File 181. The budget also contains the funding already passed for the implementation of the Educational Savings Account program.

Funding increases are provided to the various budget subcommittees to address a number of critical issues facing Iowa. The budget will include new funds that will be used to provide increases to the Department of Corrections and state public safety programs. Provider rate increases for nursing homes, mental health providers, and substance abuse treatment will be funded in the Medicaid program. Additional funds will also be used to address workforce shortage issues facing a number of professions.

Budget subcommittees have already begun work on the individual line items contained in their individual budgets. As that work is completed, those numbers will become public. Senate Republicans have yet to release any individual budget parameters. It is not known if there is a plan to do so.

Governor Signs State Government Realignment into Law

This week Governor Reynolds signed into law Senate File 514 / House File 662 which streamlines and realigns the state government departments and agencies. It has been nearly 40 years since the organization of the state government has been evaluated and restructured in order to better serve Iowans. In that time, the number of cabinet level departments and agencies has grown to 37 agencies. Within these agencies are many duplicative and redundant services which impacted efficiency.

By aligning functions and services that are similar, taxpayers have a more straightforward process for interacting with the government and receiving the proper services without unnecessarily going to several agencies. One of the biggest changes is bringing in all licensing and regulatory services into the newly named Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licenses. Currently, the licensing and management of 136 professional licenses is overseen by 11 state agencies. Now when contractors work on a project they will only have to coordinate with one agency in order to complete various inspection aspects of the project.

With such an important task as moving boards, authorities, and departments into their new locations the State Government Committee assigned a seven-member subcommittee to review the legislation and to speak with departments to ensure smooth transitions and that these policy changes would work. The subcommittee then held 6 public meetings to hear from the public and the department directors to flesh out concerns. The State Government Committee then considered the bill and adopted a 40-page amendment addressing concerns and issues that were raised.

While there was lots of hyperbolic rhetoric about the size of the bill, 1,513 pages, the first 880 pages largely dealt with the merger of the Department of Human Services and the Department of Health which has been in the works for over a year. The remaining changes made in the bill are not changes to services provided to Iowans, but moving boards and oversight to more appropriate departments in a way to make efficient use of staffing and resources. Above all the legislation aims to provide more streamlined access to government services for Iowans.

This legislation was an overdue measure to ensure that government is working for the taxpayers. Consolidating existing services from 37 agencies to 16 will better pool resources and provide stronger oversight to ensure the best service possible for Iowans.

Severe Weather Hits SE Iowa

Last Friday severe weather hit SE Iowa and Des Moines County suffered some severe storm damage - especially to the City of Mediapolis. Within 15 minutes of the storm passing volunteers had already filled the streets to help with cleanup, and by the end of the weekend, most of the cleanup had already been completed.

On Saturday after the storm hit I along with other county Des Moines County Officials asked the Governor's Office to add Des Moines County to the Disaster Emergency Proclamation. Within hours, the proclamation had been signed by the Governor, and the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program had been activated.

The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants of up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food, and temporary housing expenses. Original receipts are required for those seeking reimbursement for actual expenses related to storm recovery. The grant application and instructions are available on the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services website at https://dhs.iowa.gov/disaster-assistance-programs. Potential applicants have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to submit a claim.

Navigating the Closure of Iowa Wesleyan

ast Friday the Mount Pleasant Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a legislative roundtable to discuss current bills before the legislature and of course the elephant that was in the room - the closure of Iowa Wesleyan University. I want to thank everyone who came out the forum and shared their thoughts on the situation which will be of great impact to the SE Iowa area. As I've said before and will continue urge other leaders in the community to do is to keep pressure on the USDA (which will soon own the campus) to work with the community on what to do with the University's remaining assets. Yesterday, Thursday, April 6th, I talked with the USDA's State Director for Rural Development Theresa Greenfield and relayed that same message. It still remains to be seen how this process will work as the USDA assumes ownership but community leaders are in the right frame of mind as we navigate how to move forward. This week representatives from Iowa Workforce Development were on campus and next week the Director of the State's Economic Development Authority, Debi Durham, will be in town.