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Thursday, January 22, 2015
www.IowaHouseRepublicans.com
House Republican Talking Points
2015-16 House Republican
Budget Principles
House Republicans are committed to
these principles to produce a balanced
and sustainable state budget:
 We will spend less than the state
collects;
 We will not use one-time money to
fund on-going needs;
 We will not balance the budget by
intentionally underfunding programs;
and
 We will return unused tax dollars to
Iowa’s taxpayers.
Governor Branstad’s Budget
Proposal
The Governor’s Budget spends $7.3410
billion in FY 2016, an increase of $346.7
million over FY 2015 or 4.95 percent.
Branstad’s FY 2016 proposal spends
more money than the Revenue Estimating Conference’s December ongoing
revenue estimate of $7.1946 billion. The
gap between ongoing revenue and the
Governor’s budget is approximately
$146.4 million.
For FY 2017, the Governor is proposing
a General Fund budget of $7.5252 billion. This would be an increase of
$184.2 million or 2.50 percent.
percent, and Medicaid grew by 11.7 percent.
55 percent of the Governor’s FY 2016
budget proposal is targeted to education.
Inside this issue:
Appropriations
2
Agriculture
3
Commerce
4
Economic Growth
5
Education
6
Environmental
Protection
10
Human Resources
10
Judiciary
11
Labor
11
Natural Resources
11
Public Safety
12
State Government
12
Transportation
13
Veterans Affairs
13
Ways and Means
14
School Funding
State Aid to Schools over the last four
years (FY 11-15) has increased $421
million or 16.6%. If Education Reform
dollars are included that number jumps
to $471 million or 18.6%. If the Governor’s plan for FY 16 is included that number jumps to $554 million or 21.9%.
That is a tremendous investment in our K
-12 schools over the last 4 years especially considering statewide enrollment
has been relatively flat.
According to the Department of Education’s Allocation Summary documents,
Iowa will spend $10,231 per student in
FY 15. That means in classroom of 20,
Iowa spends just over $200,000.
If we adopted the 6% increase in supplemental state aid for education pushed by
Democrats in FY 16, the state would
spend 104.4% of on-going revenue.
If the Legislature approved the 6% increase in supplemental state aid for education pushed by Democrats, revenue
growth in FY 16 would need to be about
Each of the past four years, the budget
8.63%. Add the FY 2016 funding for the
passed by the Legislature has spent less Education Reform package, and revenue
than what the Governor proposed. The
growth would need to be 9.54%. Over
FY 2016 budget will continue this trend.
the last 20 years, revenue growth has
averaged 3.27%.
90 percent of Iowa’s budget goes to
three areas - School aid ($2.9 billion),
Or, if 6% Supplemental State Aid is apwages and benefits for state employees proved, $316.7 million would need to be
($2.1 billion), and Medicaid ($1.6 billion). cut to balance spending with on-going
revenue. That’s like not funding both the
Over the past decade, state revenue has University of Iowa and the University of
grown by 4.1 percent annually, state
(Continued on page 2)
spending on K-12 education grew by 4.2
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House Republican Newsletter
(Continued from page 1)
Northern Iowa or shifting the cost of Iowa’s
mental health system to property taxpayers.
Statistics that show Iowa is in 35th place
nationally in regards to per-pupil spending
are questionable. Notably that ranking
comes from the NEA and its inherent union
biases. The US Dept. of Education’s National Center for Educational Statistics
shows Iowa in 28th place.
The result of increasing state spending to
unsustainable levels and spending onetime money for ongoing expenses mixed
with an economic collapse caused education funding in this state to take a $530
million loss in one single year (FY 2010).
The state is still recovering from that loss.
That recovery is only possible if we spend
less than we collect.
If you use the 35th in the nation ranking of
per-pupil spending and the dollars associated with it, Iowa taxpayers would need to
back over $767 million in additional spending this year to the national average. Iowans would face a 20.55% income tax increase to support this level of spending. If
Iowa wanted to be in the top 10 in per pupil
spending, Iowa taxpayers would need to
pony up over $2.8 BILLION in additional
spending. Iowans would face a 76.82%
income tax increase to support this level of
spending.
According to a Friedman Foundation for
Educational Choice study in 2013, 66% of
Iowans do not think per-pupil spending is
too low and 65% believe the public school
system is either good or excellent.
Governor Branstad increases Supplemental State Aid by 1.25% or $50 million
and provides the second installment of $50
million for the teacher leadership component of the 2013 Education reform law.
Appropriations
AEA funding is once again be reduced by
$15 million. This increase of $84.8 million
raises State school aid funding to $3.0086
billion.
Among the other K-12 education increases
provided by the Governor in FY 2016 are
$10 million for the High Need Schools program, a $1.5 million increase for the Reading Research Center, $1.0 for the Iowa
Reading Corps, and $200,000 for bullying
prevention.
priation for Medicaid in FY 2015.
Medicaid is the second biggest program in
state government, and without major reform it will continue take funding away from
other priorities like schools.
Medicaid was 9% of the state budget in FY
2000. Today it is over 20%. While many
are focused on targeting more money to
schools, Medicaid is a looming issue that
cannot be ignored. Over the past ten
years, state revenue has grown by an averFor community colleges, the Governor inage of 4.1%. School aid during this time
creases community college general aid
grew at 4.2% annually. While Medicaid
funding by 1.75 percent
had an annual growth rate of 11.7%. The
or $3.522 million. For Iowa’s private colleg- growth of Medicaid is crowding out other
es, the Governor increases funding for the areas of the budget within the debate for
Tuition Grant program by $4 million. This
additional resources.
is an 8.26% increase over the FY 2015
level. The tuition grant for students at forSOTU
profit colleges are increased by $200,000
or 10.1 percent.
Excerpts from the Wall Street Journal’s 1Depending on the calculations you are using Iowa is spending about $10,231 per
pupil. The continued emphasis on this
dollar amount further cements the focus on
inputs rather than outputs. The true evaluation of K-12 performance is outputs. Or in
other words, the academic performance of
our students. In the end, whether you
agree with a program’s purpose or not,
programs are supposed to help people, not
bureaucracies. The focus on inputs is a
focus on bureaucracies.
Medicaid
To address the continual growth in Medicaid, the Governor is proposing major reforms. He expands the use of managed
care in Medicaid and other cost containment initiatives, lowering state expenditures by $70.2 million in FY 2016. The
Governor funds the rebasing of Medicaid
rates for hospitals, nursing homes, and
home health agencies. The Governor is
not recommending a supplemental appro-
21-15 editorial on the SOTU.
“Mr. Obama’s income-redistribution themes
are familiar, though they are amusingly
detached from the reality of the largest
GOP majority in Congress since 1949.”
“The President has suddenly discovered
that middle-class incomes have plunged on
his watch, and he’s demanding that Congress address this with more of the same
policies that have done so much to reduce
middle-class incomes.”
“Mr. Obama has spent six years trying to
redistribute income, but all he’s done is
make the income gap between rich and
poor wider.”
“Imagine if George W. Bush had proposed
a $320 billion tax-rate cut in his 2007 State
of the Union, following his rout in the 2006
midterm. He would have been hooted out
of the chamber, followed by days of wondering if he’d wigged out.”
(Contact Brad Trow at 1-3471)
Appropriations Committee to Place Focus on Output, not Inputs during 2015
With the directive from the Speaker to find
ways for state government to do less but do
its core functions better, the House Appropriations Committee begins a new approach
to budgetary oversight this session.
tions all programs and agencies are exThe first steps in this new focus started with pected to answer prior to being funded in
the opening of budget subcommittee meet- FY 2016. These questions switch the focus
ings last week. Each of the House subcom- of the subcommittees to what these investmittees began submitting a series of ques(Continued on page 3)
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House Republican Newsletter
(Continued from page 2)

ments are achieving in terms of results.

The questions break down into three different categories: Program performance, program efficiency, and program duplication.
The program performance questions focus
on performance outcomes. They are:



Do you have defined outcomes or
measurements for your program(s)?
What are they and are these measures
listed somewhere so the public can see
them?
What data is available to show Iowans
that your program(s) are an effective
investment of taxpayer dollars? Where
can Iowans find this data?
Can you provide the committee with
performance data for your programs
over the last 5 or 10 years?
These questions are intended to provide
lawmakers and taxpayers with real data on
performance, and to identify those areas in
government were measures are not illustrative of the work being performed or nonexistent.
The second group, focused on program
efficiency, is intended to find ways that programs and agencies can perform their assigned tasks in a more budget-conscious
manner. These questions are:





Have you examined what other states
are doing to improve performance and
reduce costs?
Can you share with the committee what
other states are doing?
Which of these ideas are you considering for implementation here in Iowa?
Are there websites or organizations we
could go to obtain more information on
what other states’ programs are doing
to provide more efficient services?
Do you have an email address or a
comment section on your website
where Iowans can suggest improvements to your program or agency?
The duplication category of questions is
intended to try and illuminate those areas
where multiple agencies or programs are
performing the same or similar function.
The questions in this category are:



Are there any other programs that are
providing the same or similar services?
Is there a reason why we need more
than one program providing the same
or similar service?
Have you had any discussions with the
other agencies or programs to find
ways to maximize the use of the taxpayer’s dollars?
Are there any laws or administrative
rules that would limit your ability to
work with the other programs or departments?
Are there any laws or administrative
rules that could be changed to make
your program or agency work better?
The questions allow the subcommittees to
make a thorough evaluation of each program to determine if it is achieving the goals
set for it with the investment of state money.
While many seem focused simply on the
input of state dollars, House Republicans
are intent to shine the light on what really
matters - the output of the investment of
state dollars.
The second phase of the new approach
began on Wednesday, as the House Appropriations Committee holding intensive sessions on the major issues driving growth in
the state budget. The Department of Human Services made a presentation to the
full committee concerning the Medicaid
program, its growth in recent years, and
what can be done to control the program.
Next Monday, the Committee will be questioning the Board of Regents about a variety
of issues related to higher education policy
in the state. A number of questions will
likely be asked of the Board and the university presidents concerning the Board’s proposal to change how state funding is allocated amongst Iowa, Iowa State, and UNI.
Another area of focus will be the Board’s
efficiency study, the proposed tuition freeze,
and other issues specific to the individual
schools.
Worker Initiative and specific issues identified by the budget subcommittees.
Why start with Medicaid?
Iowa’s Medicaid program has grown significantly over the past two decades. When
Representative Heaton became chair of the
House Human Services budget subcommittee in 1999, there were 205,000 Iowans on
Medicaid and 502,000 kids in Iowa’s public
schools. The Medicaid budget passed that
year - after two days of debate on the
House floor - spent $420 million and accounted for just 9 percent of the FY 2000
General Fund budget. The federal Medicaid
match rate was 63.06 percent.
Today 405,000 Iowans are on the Medicaid
program, while 479,000 kids attend Iowa
schools. The Medicaid budget for FY 2015
will spend nearly $1.6 billion dollars on Iowa’s share of the program, with a federal
match rate of just 56.14 percent. Medicaid
now takes over 20 percent of the state
budget.
According to the Legislative Services Agency, the drop in the federal match rate since
2010 has resulted in Iowa having to contribute 266 million more in state dollars to fund
Medicaid. And the federal share of Iowa’s
Medicaid program is expected to drop again
next year.
“Medicaid now takes
over 20 percent of the
state budget”
At a time when many are discussing how
the state can get more money to our
schools, a looming issue is being ignored.
Statistics from LSA show that over the past
ten years, state revenue grew by an annual
rate of 4.1 percent. School aid during this
Next Wednesday, the Department of Adtime grew 4.2 percent annually. And Mediministrative Services has been invited to
caid had annual growth of 11.7 percent. If
appear and discuss the significant growth in the state cannot find ways to slow the
cost of state employee health insurance. In growth, very soon Medicaid will be the first,
future weeks expected topics will include
and possibly only, program to get additional
reviewing the initial results of the Skilled
funding in future budgets.
Agriculture
(Contact Lew Olson at 1-3096)
Des Moines Waterworks Authorizes Legal Action Against Three Rural Counties
On January 8, 2015, the Des Moines Water Northwest Counties (Buena Vista, Calhoun
Works commissioners voted to authorize a and Sac) alleging that the counties have
legal suit against county boards in three
been negligent in controlling pollutants dis-
charges into the Raccoon River. The Raccoon provides the bulk of the water source
for the Des Moines Water works. The wa-
Page 4
House Republican Newsletter
Two Water Quality Focused Projects for New, Innovative Conservation Program
On Wednesday, January 14, 2015 the Iowa
Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) issued a press release
announcing that more than 100 high-impact
projects across all 50 states, including Iowa, will receive more than $370 million as
part of the new Regional Conservation
Partnership Program (RCPP). The
RCPP’s historic focus on public-private
partnership enables private companies,
local communities and other nongovernment partners a way to invest in
efforts to keep our land resilient and water
clean, and promote tremendous economic
growth in agriculture, construction, tourism
and outdoor recreation, and other industries.
The details of the Iowa Targeted Demonstration Watersheds Partnership Project
award were announced late Wednesday,
January 14, 2015. That event officially
unveiled that Iowa will receive $3.5 million
through RCPP. With the funding, IDALS
and its 20 project partners, will be able to
increase available resources through existing demonstration projects in key watersheds, conduct farmer-to-farmer outreach
and assist farmers in implementing conservation practices.
quality, water quantity and soil health in the
Cedar River Watershed.
Additionally aspects of the southern tier of
Iowa counties will be a part of the Regional
Grassland Bird and Grazing Land EnThis year’s RCPP projects will engage hun- hancement Initiative with the Lead Partner
dreds of partners with wide-ranging interof the Missouri Department of Conservation
ests, including communities, conservation
(MDC) with the goal of this project is to
districts, agribusiness, non-government
create and implement management strateorganizations, for- and non-profit organiza- gies that integrate habitat needs of grasstions, state and federal agencies and Tribal land-dependent birds on grazing lands,
governments. In addition to USDA funds,
maintain the tall grass prairie ecosystem,
partners will contribute an estimated $400
and enroll high quality grasslands into conmillion, more than doubling USDA’s invest- tracts. The project will target at-risk bird
ment.
species habitat on pastures and agricultural
lands, enhance water and soil quality, and
USDA will also provide $2 million to Cedar improve plant productivity limited by undeRapids for an RCPP project. The Middle
sirable invasive plant species.
Cedar Partnership Project will focus on
NRCS is providing $5 million for this project
working with local conservation partners,
through RCPP and MDC and other partfarmers and landowners to install best
ners are providing $10 million. Parts of
management practices such as cover
Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa are also incrops, nutrient management, wetlands and cluded in this project.
saturated buffers to help improve water
Commerce
(Contact Dane Schumann at 1-3626)
Cities Working On Cab Rules
Last spring, the Iowa City Police Department spent hundreds of man hours finding
the drivers of one taxi company during a
sexual assault investigation involving one
of the company’s drivers. The city’s police
chief said no accurate directory existed for
the company owner to provide the police
with a list of its drivers.
The incident has forced Iowa City’s city
council to take a fresh look at its taxi regulations. City officials have been considering rules that would update current regulations for traditional cabs, but they would
also propose regulations on services like
Uber--a San Francisco-based startup that
uses a smartphone app for customers to
request a ride from a driver.
While Uber experiences mixed receptions
at city council meetings across the country,
Iowa City’s rewrite of its cab rules was perfectly timed with Uber’s entrance into the
market. The city council is working with
Uber as it considers its new rules.
The company also began operating in Des
Moines in September with little notice to
city officials, and it started in Cedar Rapids
last month. Its experience in Cedar Rapids
has been less confrontational than it has
been in Des Moines, where city council
members postponed action on a new ordinance that Uber officials called the most
restrictive in the country. It would have
required drivers to receive an Iowa chauffeur license, submit to quarterly vehicle
inspections and apply for a local certificate
to operate in the city. The proposal also
would have mandated the company prove
it undertook an extensive background
check, which Uber already does, and require drivers to carry a commercial insurance policy with coverage of at least
$750,000.
Many cities have long used a medallion
system to limit the number of operating
taxis, requiring drivers to own or rent a medallion to pick up haling passengers. Since
Uber picks up people haling them from
their smartphone app, they sidestep the
medallion requirement. But they have,
nevertheless, impacted their value in two
ways by luring passengers away from drivers with often-cheaper fares and attracting
drivers to switch company’s. Medallion
owners often lease their expensive right to
operate a taxi to drivers that often can’t
afford a medallion, but the same driver can
drive their own car for Uber and pay no
medallion lease fee.
These trends have decimated the medallion market in major cities, perhaps no
more so than in Philadelphia and Chicago.
Philadelphia’s taxi authority recently auctioned medallions at $475,000. It didn’t sell
any, but it’ll try again at $350,000. When
Chicago announced an auction of 50 medallions at $360,000 a piece in the fall of
2013, nobody showed up.
Page 5
House Republican Newsletter
Economic Growth
(Contact Dane Schumann at 1-3626)
IEDA Board Makes Awards
The Iowa Economic Development Authority
awarded tax benefits and financial awards
to four companies last week at its monthly
board meeting. The awards are structured
to spur job growth and business expansion:
Alter Trading Corporation, a Davenport
company that’s one of the largest metal
recycling companies in the U.S., won approval of tax incentives through the HighQuality Jobs Program to help the company
finance its $5.9 million expansion. The
expansion should create 13 jobs.
Federal-Mogul Ignition of Southfield, Michigan is an automotive component manufacturer. The company won $100,000 in direct
financial assistance to help its $925,000
Barilla, an Italian-based food company,
expansion project in Burlington.
won tax benefits through the High-Quality
Jobs Program to help the company add
production lines at its Ames facility.
Cambrex Charles City Inc., an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) manufacturer,
was awarded tax benefits through the HighQuality Jobs Program to create 32 jobs at
$14.93 per hour as it builds a facility with
45,000 square feet of warehousing space.
Education
Contact Jason Chapman at 1-3015)
Per Pupil Amount Breakdown
There are a number of per pupil spending
amounts being tossed around in various
talking points used by legislators, lobbyists
and the media. Below is a breakdown of
where those numbers come from and what
they mean.
the State Cost Per Pupil (SCPP), which for
FY15 (2014/2015 school year) is $6,366.
This number grows annually when the legThe backbone of school funding is the
islature sets the growth percentage, known
School Funding Formula which forms the
as Supplemental State Aid (SSA, previousbasis for state aid to districts. It’s based on ly Allowable Growth).
$6,366 State Cost Per Pupil
Fiscal Year (school year)
Percent Growth
State Cost Per Pupil
FY12 (11/12)
0%
$5883
FY13 (12/13)
2%
$6001
FY14 (13/14)
2% + 2% one-time
$6121
FY15 (14/15)
4%
$6366
This SCPP is a mixture of state aid and
property taxes. There’s a uniform levy of
$5.40 per / $1,000 property value in the
district, then the state aid fills the pot up to
87.5% of the SCPP. The remaining 12.5%,
called the Additional Levy, is entirely property taxes.
A new effort started in FY14 is called the
Property Tax Replacement Payment and it
involves the state paying for any increase
in the 12.5% portion of the funding formula
thus saving Iowans money due to higher
property taxes.
as the National Center for Education Statistics and the National Education Association, pick and choose what funds they use
to determine a per pupil amount is up to
those entities.
$10,000 Per Pupil Total Allocation
The Governor has been using $10,900 per
But the SCPP per pupil isn’t all a district
receives. Other numbers being used are
amounts over $10,000. How entities, such
(Continued on page 6)
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House Republican Newsletter
(Continued from page 5)
pupil in his comments early this session.
This is presumably a number that includes
some of his FY16 proposals, which include
an additional $85 million on school aid this
upcoming year.
A reliable measure to use in Iowa comes
from the Department of Education in the
the past 5 years.
form of Allocation Summary documents,
which are “comprehensive listings of state,
federal and local dollars for each school
“It has grown just shy of
district.” According to this document, the
FY15 (2014/2015 school year) per pupil
$1,000 per pupil over the
amount when taking into account all state,
local, and federal tax dollars is $10,231. It
past 5 years”
has grown just shy of $1,000 per pupil over
Statewide Per Pupil Amount
This $10,231 consists of 32 different fund:











Regular Program
Budget Adjustment
Instructional Support Income Surtax
Instructional Support Property Tax
Education Improvement
FY12
FY13
FY14
FY15
$9191
$9381
$9554
$9892
$10,231
 Modified Supplemental State Aid—
Dropout
 Management Levy

Supplemental Weighting

Special Education Instruction

Teacher Salary Supplement

Professional Development Supplement 
Early Intervention Supplement

Preschool
FY11
Regular PPEL
Voted PPEL—Income Surtax
Voted PPEL—Property Tax
PERL
FY 14 Modified Supplemental Amount
FY 13 Modified Supplemental Amount
for Special Ed Deficit
 Educator Mentoring & Induction
 Title I
 Title 1 Migrant







Title 1 Neglected
Title 1 Delinquent
Title II Part A
Title III English Language Acquisition
21st Century Learning Centers
Title VI
FY 14 Small Rural Schools Achievement Program (REAP)
 FY 14 Rural Low Income Schools
(RLIS) Program
 IDEA Part B
 Carl D. Perkins
(Italics are federal funds)
Page 7
House Republican Newsletter
Second Round of Schools Chosen for Teacher Leadership Program
The Teacher Leadership Compensation
(TLC) system entered the next phase of its
implementation in December when 126
districts were chosen to start implementing
the program, with 76 joining next school
year and 50 joining the following school
year. They will join the 39 districts already
implementing the program this current
school year.
There is still time for the remaining
districts to apply for year four.
vision and goals for what they plan to accomplish. They also had to address “musthaves,” such as setting a minimum teacher
The legislation created a four-year process salary of $33,500, improved entry into the
to develop a statewide teacher leadership
profession, including mentoring for new
and compensation system, with the goal of teachers, and a rigorous selection process
all school districts participating by the 2016- for leadership roles. The next step for
17 school year. The new system allows
school districts is selecting their teacher
teachers to work in greater collaboration
leaders.
with colleagues and learn from each other
The program has been popular since the
instead of operating largely in isolation in
Districts selected will receive about $309
legislature passed it in 2013:
their classrooms.
per pupil next school year to implement
their teacher leadership systems. The annu Passed the legislature in the Spring of
The
grantees
were
selected
based
on
the
al cost statewide is nearly $50 million in
2013 with overwhelming bipartisan
recommendations of the 19-member Com- fiscal year 2015, growing to about $150
support.
 Year 1 (2013/14): Every school district mission on Teacher Leadership and Com- million annually by the third year.
pensation, created in legislation as part of
in Iowa (all 346) applied for the planthe system. Each year of implementation
The last round of applications will open later
ning grants.
adds about 1/3 of Iowa’s PK-12 students,
this year, allowing all remaining districts to
 Year 2 (2014/15): 39 districts entered meaning next school year about 2/3’s of
apply to join in. While the program is opthe TLC program (146 applied)
Iowa’s kids will be benefiting from the protional, the hope is that all districts will be
 Year 3 (2015/16): 76 districts will enter gram.
participating by the 2016/17 school year.
the TLC program (170 applied)
 Year 4 (2016/17): 50 already chosen Districts that applied to start teacher leader- The selected districts are:
from the 170 applicants in year three.
ship systems next fall were required to set a
Page 8
House Republican Newsletter
2015-16
Albia
Alden (in collaboration with Iowa Falls)
Ames
Andrew
Ankeny
Atlantic
Audubon
Baxter
Boone
CAL
Cardinal
Carlisle
Carroll
Center Point-Urbana
Central Decatur
Central DeWitt (Clinton)
Central Lyon
Chariton
Clay Central-Everly
Clear Creek-Amana
Clinton
College
Collins-Maxwell
Dallas Center-Grimes
Davis County
Decorah
Des Moines
Eastern Allamakee
Emmetsburg
Fairfield
Fort Dodge
Glenwood
Hampton-Dumont
Hinton
Indianola
Iowa City
Iowa Falls (in collaboration with Alden)
Iowa Valley
Lewis Central
Maquoketa Valley
MFL MarMac
MOC-Floyd Valley
Monticello
Nevada
New London
Nodaway Valley
North Cedar
North Fayette
North Linn
North Scott
Northeast
Okoboji
Oskaloosa
Pleasant Valley
Red Oak
Solon
Spencer
Springville
Stratford
Tri-County
Union
United
Urbandale
Vinton-Shellsburg
Wapello
Waukee
Waverly-Shell Rock
Wayne
West Branch
West Delaware County
West Monona
Williamsburg
Wilton
Winfield-Mt. Union
2016-17
Adair-Casey (in collaboration with Guthrie
Center)
Adel-DeSoto-Minburn
Alburnett
Aplington-Parkersburg
Bennett
CAM
Camanche
Cedar Falls
Centerville
Central City
Charter Oak-Ute (in collaboration with Maple Valley-Anthon Oto and Schleswig)
Clarke
Clayton Ridge
Danville
Denver
Durant
East Sac County
Edgewood-Colesburg
George-Little Rock
Grinnell-Newburg
Guthrie Center (in collaboration with AdairCasey)
Highland
Independence
Keota
Knoxville
Lawton-Bronson
Lenox
Lisbon
Lone Tree
Maple Valley-Anthon Oto (in collaboration
with Charter Oak-Ute and Schleswig)
Marion
Mason City
Midland
Mid-Prairie
Moravia (in collaboration with Seymour)
North Mahaska
Ogden
Pekin
Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock
Schleswig (in collaboration with Charter
Oak-Ute and Maple Valley-Anthon Oto)
Seymour (in collaboration with Moravia)
Sheldon
Sumner-Fredericksburg
Tipton
Tripoli
Van Buren
Wapsie Valley
Washington
West Hancock
West Liberty
West Lyon
Stability and Growth in Education Funding
From 2002 to 2012, education funding in
Iowa was a tumultuous period. This is evidenced by numerous across the board cuts
– which affected education and every other
area of the budget – and moves by the
legislature to underfund the state’s responsibility in the school funding formula. Over
that decade it happened no less than 6
times with the capstone being the 2010
10% across-the-board cut.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then
this graph is worth $530 million dollars.
Page 9
House Republican Newsletter
The result of increasing state spending to
unsustainable levels and spending onetime money for ongoing expenses mixed
with an economic collapse caused education funding in this state to take a $530
million loss in one single year. The state is
still trying to recover from that loss. This is
an example that the House looks to as we
form our budgeting principles.
while at the same time providing unprecedented growth to school funding.
It was on this foundation that House Republicans and Governor Branstad begin
their work in 2011 of stabilizing not only
education funding but the entire budget,
Here’s the resulting picture of Republican
efforts over the past 5 years
Budget Year
School Year
Growth Percentage
State Aid Increase
FY 2012
11/12
0% Allowable Growth *
$178 million
FY 2013
12/13
2% Supplemental State Aid (SSA)
$30 million
FY 2014
13/14
2% SSA + 2% one-time payment
$65 million + $57 million
FY 2015
14/15
4% Supplemental State Aid
$148 million
Total
$421 million + $57 million
(* 0% growth was a $178 million increase in state funds because the school aid formula had been purposely underfunded by over $156
million the previous year by the legislature)
ver $450 million new state dollars have
been appropriated to Iowa’s schools since
Republicans gained control of the House
and the Governor’s office. Some of these
years have seen more growth than at any
point in Iowa’s history.
The Funding is just part of the picture
215, was where the real change happened.
In addition to providing unprecedented
growth in the school funding formula, the
legislature also passed a bipartisan education reform package two years in a row.
2013’s education reform bill, House File
On top of the $450 million new dollars provided to schools over the past 4 years, HF
215 appropriated an additional $150 million
($50 million incrementally over 3 years)
and created a new teacher leadership and
Page 10
House Republican Newsletter
States around the country will be watching
Iowa and following our lead into a new sup- House Republicans made a campaign
compensation system that will fundamenport system for teachers that will do much
promise that they would get the budget
tally change how teachers cooperate and
for student success in the future.
under control and end bad budgeting pracgrow in their profession.
tices and out of control spending. They
vowed to not spend more than the state
The big picture
This isn’t just money into the system for the
takes in. They vowed to not spend onesake of more money. It’s potentially revolu- House Republicans are the products of this time money on on-going expenses. And
tionary change in a system that doesn’t
state’s education system, through Iowa’s
they are adhering to those principles year
change often. The new TLC program went public elementary schools, private schools, after year, providing stability while at the
live this year in 39 school districts with the home school families, community colleges, same time providing unprecedented growth
goal of being statewide in 2 more years,
private colleges, and the state universities. in education.
making Iowa the first state in the nation to
The state spends nearly 60% of its dollars
provide a state-wide teacher leadership
on education in this state proving that edusystem and adequately fund it for success. cation is our top priority.
(Continued from page 9)
Environmental Protection
(Contact Lew Olson at 1-3096)
Derelict Building Grant Applications Due
On Thursday, January 15, 2015, the Iowa
Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
published it weekly electronic newsletter
‘EcoNewsWire” which contained an article
in which the state agency noted that small
rural communities looking for assistance to
help renovate or deconstruct abandoned
commercial and public structures can apply
for funding through the Derelict Building
Grant Program. Applications for the next
round of funding are due at 4 p.m. central
time on February 27, 2015.
and alleviates the environmental concern
these buildings can pose. Financial assistance includes asbestos removal, building
deconstruction and renovation, and other
inspections and environmental site assessments.
Glidden, Hedrick, Imogene, Osceola, Protivin, and the East Greene Consolidated
School District were 2014 grantees that
completed their projects. The projects
combined diverted an average of 83 percent of waste from the landfill. In total,
more than 5,664 tons of construction and
Funding is awarded annually on a competi- demolition materials (wood, brick, concrete,
tive basis. A committee from the Iowa
metal, etc.) were diverted from area landDNR, Iowa Society of Solid Waste Operafills, providing a savings exceeding
tions, Iowa Recycling Association, Iowa
$150,000 for the projects completed in
Economic Development Authority and
2014. One grant recipient, the City of GlidKeep Iowa Beautiful selects the projects for den, promotes healthy activities through its
This program was instigated by legislative
funding. More information about the grant Live Healthy teams, but unfortunately resiaction by the Iowa General Assembly in its program, application forms, and resources dents had to travel out of town to find placcurrent form in 2011 and seeks to help
are available at www.iowadnr.gov/
es for exercise and recreation. Based on
rural communities with populations of 5,000 Environment/LandStewardship/
local input, the city renovated an abanor less to deconstruct or renovate abanWasteManagement/
doned building in its downtown corridor
doned commercial and public structures
DerelictBuildingProgram.aspx.
with funding assistance from the Derelict
and annually allocates $400,000 of state
Building Grant Program into a health and
solid waste tonnage fees revenues for this Last year (2014), 13 deconstruction/
wellness center that features an indoor
purpose. The Derelict Building Grant Pro- renovation projects were completed. The
walking track, weight rooms, shower faciligram emphasizes reuse and recycling of
cities of Buffalo, Early, Marcus, Slater and ties, and an exercise classroom.
building items, helps improve street apZearing carried over from the previous
pearance and commercial development,
grant round, while the cities of Bridgewater,
Human Resources
(Contact Carrie Malone at 5-2063)
Federal Able Act will Aid Individuals with Disabilities
The Achieving a Better Life Experience Act,
or ABLE Act, was signed into law in December. This law will allow people with
disabilities to save money without losing
government benefits.
bilities couldn’t save money they made at
work if they made more than $700 a month. To be eligible, people must have a condition that occurred before they turned 26.
Now, people with disabilities can open an
Individuals can only have one ABLE acaccount where they save up to 100,000
count. There is a $14,000 annual deposit
without jeopardizing their eligibility for Socap. Backers of the ABLE Act hope that
Before this law was in place, to qualify for
cial Security and Medicaid. This account
the program will support people with disaservices people could only save $2,000 in
will let them put money aside for long-term bilities living independently in their commuassets and earn $700 per month. Advoexpenses that Medicaid and SSI do not
nity. Individual states will now be tasked
cates argued that this was a huge disincen- cover, like housing, education, and transwith addressing the regulation of these
tive to being employed. People with disaportation.
accounts before they can be utilized.
Page 11
House Republican Newsletter
Judiciary
(Contact Amanda Freel at 1-5230)
Iowans Face IRS Scams
With tax season approaching, scam artists
are trying to take advantage of hardworking, honest Iowans, by posing as Government Officials. The Iowa Attorney General’s
Office is reporting an increase in the number of complaints their office is receiving.
It is important to remember that the IRS will
never make calls demanding immediate
payment over the phone. However, if a
person wants to ensure they don’t have an
outstanding payment due, they are advised
to call the IRS directly at 1-800-829-1040.
Many Iowans have reported calls from sup- Additionally, if you receive a phone call
posed IRS agents or local authorities defrom a person claiming to be with a Govmanding payment for some outstanding
ernment agency and you doubt their affiliadebt. These scam artists will use threats to tion, call the government agency back at
convince the victim to either provide a cred- the number listed on their website to enit or debit card number, or a pre-paid debit sure you are talking with an official.
card number. Often times the person answering the phone will be threatened with
The Attorney General offers the following
arrest if they don’t pay the debt immediate- advice for Iowans:
ly.


If you have received one of these calls,
hang up.
If you have been taken advantage of
by one of these scams, report this to
law enforcement immediately.
Those who haven’t lost money, but received any of these phone calls, are urged
to report the call to the U.S. Federal Trade
Commission (FTC)
www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov. Iowans can
also report imposter IRS agents to the U.S.
Treasury Inspector General for Taxpayer
Administration http://www.treasury.gov/
tigta
Labor
(Contact Colin Tadlock at 1-3440)
Iowa Metro Area Unemployment Rates Below National Average
All but one of Iowa’s metro regions falls
spectively. Coming in with the highest rate
below the national unemployment rate,
is the Quad City metro area (6.0%), which
according to the latest Department of Labor shares cities in Illinois.
report. While the national unemployment
rate sits at 5.6%, most of Iowa’s metros are
currently under 5%, with several hovering
“most of Iowa’s metros
between 2.5-3.5%. The average unemare currently under 5%”
ployment rate for all of Iowa’s metro areas
is tied for the 7th lowest nationally.
The Ames metro area currently boasts the
lowest unemployment with a rate of just
2.5%. Following Ames is the Iowa City
(2.6%) and Dubuque metros (3.5%) re-
Iowa’s overall unemployment rate currently
stands at 4.3%, which is tied for 10th best
in the country.
Below are where the metro rates currently
stand:

Iowa Average – 3.9

Ames – 2.5

Cedar Rapids – 3.9

Des Moines – 3.8

Dubuque – 3.5

Iowa City – 2.6

Sioux City – 4.2

Waterloo – 4.5
Iowa metros that share borders with other
states:
Natural Resources
(Contact Carrie Malone at 5-2063)
Sustainable Urban Forestry Training and Assistance Grants Help Iowa
Communities
10 Iowa communities were awarded grants
through a U.S. Forest Service grant called
Sustainable Urban Forestry Training and
Assistance (SUFTA).
This grant will help train interested citizens
so that communities can complete a public
tree inventory and prepare for possible
invasive species, such as the emerald ash
borer. The training is eight sessions long
and it is administered by the DNR. The
program includes training on technology,
tree planting, data collection, and pest
identification.

The Iowa communities chosen to participate along with the first training dates and
the contact information for the local coordinator are listed below:






Atlantic, Feb 24; John Lund at 712-243 
-4810
Fairfield, March 11; Scott Timm at 515- 
291-2560
Grinnell, March 24; David Popp at 641- 
236-2632
Marion, March 26; Mike Carolan at 641
-236-2632
Marshalltown, March 31; Terry Gray at
641-754-5715
Mason City, April 7; Bob Berggren at
641-421-3675
Muscatine, Feb 18; Richard Klimes at
563-263-0241
Oskaloosa, March 23; Dylan Mulfinger
at 641-673-9431
Pleasant Hill, March 12; Heath Ellis at
515-208-5212
Storm Lake, Feb 27; Jim Patrick at 712
-732-8000
Page 12
House Republican Newsletter
Public Safety
(Contact Amanda Freel at 1-5230)
Inquiry into Fort Madison Prison Construction Continues
In his opening remarks to members of the
House Speaker Kraig Paulsen tasked the
Oversight Committee with investigating
why the new prison in Fort Madison was
still not open. This week Representatives
will start their investigation into the problems that have plagued Fort Madison for
the past year.
line to move the inmates to the new prison.
floor of the prison. Unlike other buildings, a
window can’t be opened to help clear
Multiple issues have kept the prison closed. smoke, so the ventilation system must be
In late 2013, prison officials found major
strong enough to remove smoke from the
problems with the geothermal unit that was upper floor. Engineers, DOC officials and
supposed to heat the cells. As constructed, the Fire Marshall are currently working to
the geothermal system could not properly
solve this problem, but as of now, there is
heat the building. Contractors were called
no timeline for a fix.
back to the prison and retrofitting was done
In 2005, two prisoners escaped the Iowa
to ensure the pumps could spread heat
House Republicans are looking in to these
State Penitentiary (ISP) at Fort Madison.
through the buildings. Currently, the heatmajor issues. On Thursday, the Justice
After the escape, Department of Correcing and cooling systems are working.
Systems Budget Subcommittee will meet
tions (DOC) Officials and others met to
with Director of Corrections, John Baldwin,
evaluate the safety and security at prisons
to discuss the prison construction and dethroughout the state. Many recommendalays. Members from both the House and
“Multiple issues have
tions were made, and in 2008 the General
Senate plan to travel to Fort Madison on
Assembly appropriated $130.7 million, from kept the prison closed”
Friday to tour both the old and new prison.
the Prison Bond Fund, to build a new prisMore meetings are expected to be schedon in Fort Madison.
uled as the session continues.
A ground breaking ceremony was held in
the late summer of 2010 and the prison
was expected to be completed in late 2012
or early 2013. As of today, the prison is
unoccupied and there is no definite time
The largest issue now facing the prison is
the inability to clear smoke in case of a fire.
As of now the Fire Marshall will not issue
an occupancy permit because the ventilation system cannot clear smoke on the 2nd
State Government
The original Fort Madison Prison was built
in 1839. The Iowa State Penitentiary holds
approximately 934 inmates and employs
510 staff.
(Contact Brittany Telk at 1-3452)
Small, Independent and Traditional: The Explosion of Craft Breweries
In Iowa, "Beer" means any liquid capable of
being used for beverage purposes made by
the fermentation of an infusion in potable
water of barley, malt, and hops, with or
without unmalted grains or decorticated
and degerminated grains or made by the
fermentation of or by distillation of the fermented products of fruit, fruit extracts, or
other agricultural products, containing more
than one-half of one percent of alcohol by
volume but not more than five percent of
alcohol by weight but not including mixed
drinks or cocktails mixed on the premises
(Iowa Code 123.3). While the term used to
be a regular piece of the public’s vernacular, there is now another familiar term
known as craft beer. The definition of this
term stemming from the idea that the beer
produced and consumed is not really manufactured, but crafted in smaller batches
giving drinkers the ability to enjoy their alcoholic beverage in a personalized setting.
The Brewer’s Association defines a craft
brewer (or brewery) as someone who is
small, independent and traditional –and
these craft breweries have grown massively in popularity in the last couple of years.
So where exactly did it come from? The
evolution of these types of craft beer really
starts in the BC years, but was revolutionized in the 1970’s. Some accredit this to
the fact that the immigrant styles were losing their relevance as the typical lightcolored, low-caloried American lagers were
the most popular in the country which essentially forced homebrewers to get creative should they desire something that tasted a little different. These homebreweries
turned into bigger, yet still small by comparison to industry standards, breweries which
improved in quality over the years. In the
1980’s, microbreweries took root and even
without any industry support, managed to
keep their foothold and grow it moving forward throughout the years, and by the mid90’s, the practice had increased its volume
growth by 20%. Moving into the 2000’s up
through today, the craft breweries have
continued to push the popularity of such
beverages through the use different and
arguably higher quality brewing techniques,
creative ingredients and craft beer enthusiasts. In fact, the number of craft brewers
has gone from 8 back in the 1980s to over
2,800 as of 2013 –with that number growing still.
“21st in the nation for
craft beer”
In Iowa, there are 40 craft breweries (plus
those in the process of starting their own
breweries), ranking it 21st in the nation for
craft beer, with a $329.4 million economic
impact. Iowa craft breweries produced
29,417 barrels of craft beer in 2013. As for
the rest of the country this same year, while
overall beer sales were down 1.9%, craft
beer sales had increased by 17.2% contrib(Continued on page 13)
Page 13
House Republican Newsletter
Light. Additionally, the brewers are more
creative with their ingredients and are conuting $14.3 billion and an increase of 20% stantly looking for new ways and flavors to
dollar in sales growth. And in 2012, the
add to their existing stock which gives a
craft brewing industry contributed $33.9
good change of pace to the domestic
billion to the economy, with more than
brands that are mass-produced. The fact
360,000 jobs either as brewers, servers
that it is now being bottled more widely,
and other staff at brewpubs.
also helps in its growth and recognition.
Finally, the craft beer community through
So why are these craft breweries and beers social media has been instrumental in the
growing so fast? To start, there is an immarketing process of this new beer type;
possible amount of styles; from lagers to
however, it is impossible to just pinpoint
ales, with all of the subcategories of these one specific source to credit all of the popusame styles, there are far more craft beers larity.
than the typical domestic beers like Bud
(Continued from page 12)
Transportation
And craft breweries are only proving to be
the beginning, with artisan and craft distilleries fastly emerging as a way to make
craft liquor (i.e. vodka, gin, rum) as well as
meaderies which specialize in producing
different types of mead and honey wines.
All of these alcoholic endeavors seemingly
fueled by the desire to produce new and
interesting flavors in a local setting.
(Sources: The Brewer’s Association and
CraftBeer.com)
(Contact Brittany Telk at 1-3452)
I-380 Commuter Study
Last session, the Iowa Department of
Transportation was charged with conducting a study to analyze the needs, costs and
demand for a public transit service for the
commute in the Interstate 380 corridor,
between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. The
Office of Public Transit managed the study,
and began the process with appointing an
advisory group who consulted major employers in the area as well as public input
surveys to assess a public need, which
was clearly evident; over 90% felt improvements to the corridor were needed, while
another 70% indicated they would use public transportation –either a public bus or
ridesharing program, in the corridor. In
order to address these needs, the Office of
Public Transit discovered several options
that could be used, in conjunction with existing programs such as: park and ride facilities, regional commuter travel information; transit priority measures; and,
guaranteed ride home. Some of the options include:




Public Interregional Express Bus Service: a bus service that would commute between downtown Cedar Rapids and downtown Iowa City, with few
stops to ensure a shorter travel time
Subscription Public Bus Service: a bus
service that is more logical for specific
locale or employer, and would look
more like a vanpool with flexible operation to and from the workplace in the
morning and evening.
Public Vanpool Program: a vanpool
program to cater to rural areas not
directly on the corridor. This program
would work with conjunction and expand existing vanpool services offered
by the University of Iowa program.
Public Carpool Program: the cheapest
of all of the suggested program in the
Veterans Affairs
suggested package, which would consist of a formal carpool program that
has been highly encouraged by employers and stakeholders.
As for the next steps in this study, the Office of Public Transit must: find a lead
agency to implement the program as well
as a study implementation committee, find
funding and financing option, create a plan
for implementation and construct a phasing
plan.
The entire study and its findings can be
read here. The document further details all
of the proposed plans in addition to numerical supporting data, maps and other figures
to outline of what the study consisted and
where it plans to go.
(Contact Kristi Kielhorn at 2-5290)
Streamlined Licensing for Veteran’s Spouses
There is little doubt that last year’s Home
Base Iowa package provided incentives for
veterans to come to Iowa and make it their
home. These incentives were mostly
geared toward veterans—but also included
were some provisions for the spouses of
veterans.
One division of Home Base Iowa required
Iowa’s licensing boards to grant expedited
licenses to veterans and their spouses who
already held professional licenses in other
states. The boards were instructed to
streamline the process and make it easier
for veterans and their spouses coming into
the state to get to work in their chosen
field—often times in professions they had
been doing for years. Because military families move often, licensing requirements in
the various jurisdictions can prove cumbersome and time consuming.
The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners
is offering a three year “military exchange
license” to veterans and their spouses. The
license is offered at a reduced cost. This
temporary license lets the veteran and their
spouse continue teaching in Iowa for three
years without having to do additional
coursework or testing. A new report from
the Board of Education Examiners indicates
that five veterans and 19 spouses were
issued these licenses last year.
Data on the Home Base Iowa licensing provisions will keep coming in throughout the
year as all boards were required by the bill
to report to the legislature. More information
on Home Base Iowa can be found at: http://
www.homebaseiowa.org/.
Page 14
House Republican Newsletter
Ways & Means
(Contact Kristi Kielhorn at 2-5290)
Tax on Social Security—Completely Phased Out
Legislation passed in 2006 to phase out the
state income tax on social security benefits
has finally fully been fully implemented.
Senate File 2408 (2006) phased out the tax
over eight years and started out by exempting 32 percent of taxable social security
benefits from state income tax for the first
two years. That number than ratcheted up
every year until reaching 100 percent in tax That is more than $240 million in taxpayer
year 2014.
savings in the last two years.
According to the latest estimate by the Iowa Department of Revenue the impact of
the phase out of income tax on social security impact was $106 million for fiscal year
2014 and $128 million for fiscal year 2015.
“$240 million in taxpayer
savings in the last two
years”