Iowa Statehouse News 1-12-06

[CornField]

***********************************************
VILSACK: MAKE COMMUNITIES STRONGER

Governor Tom Vilsack presented his Condition of the State address to a joint session of the Iowa Legislature on Tuesday. In his speech, Governor Vilsack noted that previous initiatives passed by the Legislature have helped Iowa's economy grow stronger. We now have the 8th fastest growing economy in the nation, and the fastest growing economy in the Midwest.

Governor Vilsack challenged Legislators to join him in building on that success by creating strong communities that will assure every child reaches their full potential; that we will continue to expand economic opportunity; and improve the quality, access and affordability of health care.

***********************************************
STATE OF THE JUDICIARY ADDRESS

In his State of the Judiciary Address, Chief Justice Louis A. Lavorato spoke of the need for Iowa's court system to be more accessible, more convenient and more accountable to the public. Lavorato recounted the difficulties the courts had faced due to four years of budget cuts, until the increases provided by the legislature last session.

He said the increases provided for the current year "were enough to return the courts to near normal operations."

***********************************************
MORATORIUM IN PLACE ON LOTTERY TOUCHPLAY MACHINES

Citing recent concerns expressed about the "proliferation of gambling", Governor Vilsack has named a task force to look at specific concerns related to lottery TouchPlay machines, and has asked the Iowa Lottery not to grant any new licenses for TouchPlay machines (also known as Monitor Vending Machines) until the task force makes its report.

Machines that are on order as of January 6, 2006, to already licensed premises, may be placed in those premises. This moratorium is in effect for 60 days.

***********************************************
TRIPLE FUNDING APPROVED FOR SENIOR ENDOWMENT

The House Appropriations Committee unanimously approved House File 2002 to almost triple the projected endowment to the Senior Living Trust Fund, from $118 million to $300 million. Current law calls for the trust fund to receive half of any state general fund balances remaining at the end of every fiscal year, until a cumulative total of $118 million are transferred to the trust fund. The intention is to reserve those funds as an endowment to pay solely for programs serving Iowa seniors.

The trust fund was created in 2000 as a mechanism for deposit of a one-time $400 million windfall from the federal government. The original intention was to spend some of the federal money on health care and services for seniors, but also to use a portion of the windfall to create a permanent endowment to finance senior programs.

***********************************************
PHASE OUT OF SALES TAX ON UTILITY BILLS COMPLETE

As of January 1st, Iowans no longer pay any state sales tax on residential utility bills. This applies to metered natural gas and electricity, propane, and heating fuel.

Due to large increases in energy prices during the winter of 2001, legislation passed which phased out sales taxes on residential utility bills over six years. The tax was cut from 5¢ to 4¢ in 2002; to 3¢ in 2003; to 2¢ in 2004, to 1¢ in 2005, with total repeal January 1, 2006.

***********************************************
GOVERNOR UNVEILS EDUCATION INITIATIVES

Although the Governor unveiled parts of his education plans prior to the start of the legislation, he completed the picture during his Condition of the State address. The Governor's focus is on helping schools to be innovative and to strengthen their programs. He considers having high quality teachers in the classroom as an integral part of improving schools.

The Governor is proposing to revamp the Student Achievement and Teacher Quality Program by expanding it to school administrators; creating regional teacher development academies, and creating a new "teacher trainers" career ladder category. The Governor recommends a $30 million increase in funding for the Student Achievement and Teacher Quality program, which would provide a total of $99.6 million for the 2006-2007 school year.

Governor Vilsack proposes that we create a stable and long-term funding mechanism, similar to the existing K-12 funding formula, to ensure access to quality preschool programs for all four year olds statewide. The Governor recommends spending $15 million to provide voluntary access to quality preschool programs. Other priorities include a grant program to encourage innovation in schools, class size reduction, anti-harassment and bullying.

***********************************************
GOVERNOR'S BUDGET EMPHASIZES PUBLIC SAFETY

Governor Vilsack's fiscal year 2007 budget requests lean strongly toward improving public safety. After the recent escape from Ft. Madison, the Governor ordered a review of staffing levels and procedures at all Iowa correction institutions, to ensure it does not happen again and the public is protected. The Governor is also asking for $229.8 million for prisons in the next budget year, an increase of $10 million.

The Governor wants $2.4 million for treatment and real-time monitoring of sex offenders through the Global Positioning System (GPS) for next year. He also wants $70.95 million, a $3.2 million increase, for parole and probation services. This includes $950,000 to increase levels of supervision and cut recidivism. The Governor's budget includes $1.64 million to continue funding special drug courts in all Iowa judicial districts. These courts have a record of cutting the rate of future drug offences through more intense supervision.

***********************************************
BIOTECHNOLOGY RECEIVES COMMITMENT FROM GOVERNOR

During his Condition of the State Address, the Governor reminded Legislators of the success of recently passed programs to create jobs, including the Grow Iowa Values Fund and venture capital. He said that these programs have increased incomes for Iowans.

Vilsack proposes investing $50 million over three years to improve biotechnology infrastructure in Iowa, and $5.1 million in the Bioscience Alliance. These are based on recommendations of the Battelle Report, which identified Iowa's economic strengths and weaknesses. The reports focused on the fields of bioscience, advanced manufacturing and information solutions.

***********************************************
INSTITUTE FOR TOMORROW'S WORKFORCE REPORTS

The Institute for Tomorrow's Workforce (ITW) met with Legislative leaders this week to release their first annual report providing recommendations on ways to improve education in the state. The workforce board emphasized to legislative leaders that they are recommending a substantial change in how we educate students. This will require development of performance indicators that will be the key to measuring student success. Some recommendations include:

* The ITW should work with stakeholders and external consultants (such as the Partnership for the 21st Century Skills) to establish the content-area knowledge and skills need to prepare Iowa learners for the demand of the 21st century. Estimated state appropriation needed is $300,000.
* Fund the 2001 Student Achievement/Teacher Quality Program to complete the state's commitment to the bold professional teacher performance/compensation model, which includes immediately raising the minimum teaching salaries to a range of $32,000-$40,000. Estimated state appropriation needed is $150,000,000 annually in each of the next two years.
* The legislature should establish an independent commission of education stakeholders with the authority to establish a new performance-based, learner-centered educational delivery system. Develop adequate financial support for a performance-based system.
* ITW recommends that Iowa target the national average for per-pupil funding, since Iowa is well below the national average.