Iowa Rep. Collins meets with constituents in Des Moines

[Editor’s note: This is an abridged version of the Collins Capital Connection]

Collins Capital Connection – Week 5 (February 5 - 9)

To the People of House District 95:

This week at the Capitol we welcomed the SE Iowa Delegation to Des Moines. With my district so far from Des Moines, it's nice to see familiar faces at the Capitol for once! I included quite a few of those pictures from the different groups that came to visit us below.

January Revenue Comes in Strong

State revenue rose in January, a surprising result after a full year of income tax reductions not to mention two blizzards keeping Iowans indoors for a good chunk of the month.

Through the first seven months of the fiscal year, net General Fund receipts are 2.1% higher than in Fiscal Year 2023 according to the monthly revenue analysis from the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency. This figure is ahead of the latest forecast from the Revenue Estimating Conference. Last December, the three-member panel projected state revenue would decline by 1.3% for the fiscal year.

Commerce Committee Advances PBM Legislation

This week, the House Commerce Committee unanimously passed House Study Bill 640 related to Pharmacy Benefit Managers. PBMs are the entity between health insurers and drug manufacturers, who process prescription medication claims on behalf of the insurer or employer.

This bill prohibits discrimination by PBMs against pharmacies, requires profits from spread-pricing to go back to the employer / insurer, and requires an appeals process for pharmacies that are unable to acquire drugs at the reimbursement rate from the PBM.

Education Committee Passes Bill to Protect Students and Teachers against Retaliation

On Tuesday, the House Education Committee passed House File 2139 which prohibits schools from taking disciplinary actions against employees, contractors, or students for the use of legal names, or the name on their school record, or for the failure to use personal pronouns in official communications. It’s unfortunate the Legislature must address bills like this to protect students and teachers from being compelled to say something that doesn’t align with their beliefs.

It has been long upheld that the government cannot compel speech. In Iowa students cannot be compelled to recite the Pledge of Allegiance if the student objects to it. Yet, some want to force some students and teachers to use pronouns that may object to using. Then if those individuals refuse to submit, to allow them to be punished and labeled as a bully or worse. Ironically, the real bullying seems to be occurring by individuals trying to compel certain speech on the part of someone else.

What, in fact, is compelled speech? Compelled speech occurs when the government forces you to “articulate, advocate, promote, communicate, or otherwise express messages or beliefs that you do not want to.” Another way of putting it, it happens when the government (or in this case a school) threatens or punishes you for not speaking.

DEI General Education Requirements at Regents Universities

Two of the recommendations of the Iowa Board of Regents study committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are:

• Initiate a review of DEI-related general education categories and update category names to accurately reflect the array of options students may select from to satisfy these requirements and ensure a breadth of offerings.

• Explore a proposal, including cost, to establish a widespread initiative that includes opportunities for education and research on free speech and civic education.

What are the DEI-related general education requirements?

Northern Iowa has a 12 hour Connect requirement as part of its general education requirements. The Connect requirement can be completed when pursuing a multidisciplinary certificate program. Two of those multidisciplinary certificate programs are:

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Certificate:

“The purpose of this certificate is for students to explore topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from a variety of different content areas. Students will get an opportunity to critique complex social issues from a variety of lenses; including mathematics/science, gender, religion, history, communication, and/or politics. Students will develop a deeper understanding of a variety of perspectives related to DEI, including critically analyzing social justice issues; debating and understanding the values and ethics related to diverse groups, perspectives, and/or societies; learning about and discussing their own and/or others’ identities; and delve into more global sociocultural issues related to different aspects of culture.”

House Environmental Panel Poised to Consider Raccoon Bounty Bill

On Wednesday, the House Environmental Protection Committee approved House Study Bill 636 which creates a state raccoon bounty program. The program encourages higher levels of trapping, harvesting of raccoons during the raccoon trapping season. As a result of low fur prices for long period of time in recent years, the number of raccoons harvest by trapping and hunting has plummeted. In combination with significantly improved environmental conditions, raccoon numbers have exploded and they are now becoming a nuisance to many Iowa homeowners and farmers. Raccoons are a significant reservoir for some hazardous diseases such distempers and toxoplasmosis which can be present in their scat.

Judiciary Committee Continues Fight Against Human Trafficking in Iowa

This fall, the House and Senate held a joint interim committee to discuss the continued fight against human trafficking. The committee consisted of legislators, law enforcement, county attorneys, criminal defense attorneys, the judicial branch, and others working to stop this abhorrent crime. Senate File 562 directed the committee to review initiatives, laws, policies, and other matters relating to human trafficking, including appropriate human trafficking-related training for law enforcement officers, county attorneys, and juvenile service officers and identification of funding needs.

House Study Bill 530- Human Trafficking- Parole and Victim Counselors

This bill allows the court to set a mandatory sentence that must be served before a person convicted of human trafficking would be eligible for parole. A person sentenced to a class "B" felony for human trafficking would be required to serve between 1/2 and 70% of their sentence before being considered for parole or work release.

House File 594- Restitution

Under current law, if a person is convicted of a felony that caused the death of another, the defendant is ordered to pay $150,000 to the victim’s estate. HF 594 amends that code provision to exempt individuals whose offense was directly related to being a victim of human trafficking. This bill was drafted after the case of Pieper Lewis.

Local Government Committee Sides With Property Owners on Two Bills

This week the Local Government Committee passed two bills to help restore true local control back to property owners across Iowa. As Iowans have seen increases in costs for everything, including home prices, cities have started passing ordinances limiting options for what building materials are allowed for residential buildings.

2024 Forum Schedule

Des Moines County:.

• Greater Burlington Partnership Friday Forum: Friday, March 8th from 8 - 9AM. (Was originally March 15th.)

(In person attendance for these forums are limited to chamber members only but a link to the live video of these forums and recordings of past Friday Forums can be found here. Questions can also be submitted through the chat live.)

Louisa County:

• Saturday, March 2nd from 11AM - 12PM at Wapello City Hall in the City Council Chambers.

Henry County:

• Mount Pleasant Area Chamber of Commerce Legislative Breakfast: Friday, February 16th from 8 - 9AM at Mount Pleasant City Hall.

• Mount Pleasant Area Chamber of Commerce Legislative Breakfast: Saturday, March 16th from 8 - 9AM - location is TBD.

Muscatine County:

Wilton Legislative Forum: Saturday, March 2nd from 9 - 10AM at Wilton City Hall in the Community Room.

Staying in Touch

As always, you also can shoot me an email with any questions or concerns at taylor.collins@legis.iowa.gov or you can call the Capitol Switchboard and leave me a message at (515) 281-7340.

Sincerely, Rep. Taylor Collins

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