Freedom Watch A legislative update from Representative Steven Holt "If not now, when? If not us, who?" -President Ronald Reagan Challenge & Opportunity Week 10 of the 87th General Assembly was a busy one, with several bills of significance passing. The Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) met and once again revised down their estimates for revenue in FY17 and 18, providing both challenge and opportunity for Iowa. Legitimate questions regarding health insurance benefits for legislators also took notice as a result of a Des Moines Register article. Important Bills Passed: Visiting with members of the Town and Country Credit Union of Harlan Legislative Forums 3-18 10:00 AM Town and Country Credit Union, Harlan 3-25 10:00 AM Logan
HF296 Synthetic Drugs I have discussed many times the dangers of synthetic drugs. They are often deadly, and for several years we have passed legislation to more effectively deal with this danger, only to have our efforts diminished by Senate Democrats using the legislation to try & legalize marijuana. That will not be the case this year and this legislation, passed with a large bipartisan majority, will provide more tools to law enforcement in the fight against synthetic drugs. Community Center 4-8 10:00 AM Cronk's, Denison 4-15 10:00 AM Pitts Family and Sports Chiropractic Center, Harlan HJR 12 Convention of States Our Founders wisely saw the need for states to have a vehicle to reign in federal abuse of power. House Joint Resolution 12 calls for an Article V Convention of States in order to propose amendments to the Constitution that impose fiscal restraints and limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government. The national debt stands at over $20 trillion, over $154,000 per taxpayer in the United States, placing our republic on an unsustainable path that will lead to fiscal disaster in the years ahead. The out-of-control spending and regulatory frenzy is not the fault of one political party, and it must be dealt with in a bi-partisan way, with states coming together as the Founders envisioned, to reign in a federal government clearly incapable of controlling itself. A number of states are considering this action, and if such a convention is convened, numerous safeguards would be in place
to ensure the convention stays within the narrow scope of its mandate. Ultimately, any action to amend the Constitution and reign in the federal government would require ratification by ¾ of the states, ensuring that the American people make the final decision. HF564 & HF565 School District Spending Flexibility- Both of these bills passed unanimously, with all Republicans & Democrats in support. HF 564 provides new allowable uses for specific funding received by school districts, increasing flexibility for our local school boards in how they spend available funds. HF565 allows for the creation of a Flexibility Account in each school district, the purpose of which is to collect unexpended and unobligated funds from several different sources in categorical funding, allowing the district flexibility in the use of those funds. The intent of both of these bills is greater flexibility for our local school boards, a win for education in Iowa. HF518 Worker s Compensation Reform As I write this newsletter, we are set to begin debate on this legislation, designed to return the Worker s Compensation Program back to the original intent, before numerous court and panel rulings resulted in increased cost, fraud and abuse to businesses that must fund this program. This legislation has
undergone a number of amendments to strike the proper balance between protection of workers injured on the job and the businesses that must pay the bills. As a result of consultation with members of our community familiar with this system, I recommended a number of changes to this legislation. Many of those changes will be amended into the final bill, including increasing the benefit for a shoulder injury and establishment of a vocational rehabilitation program that did not previously exist in Iowa, removal of the 67 age restriction for compensation, and striking all references to predominant factor, thus reverting to current language. As a result of these meaningful changes, I believe this legislation will effectively protect workers while reducing abuse and I will vote of its passage. Revenue Estimating Conference: The Revenue Estimating Conference met for the final time this session and once again revised down the FY17 & 18 estimates. For our current fiscal year (FY17), the estimate was reduced by $105.9 million. This reduction, coupled with their previous revised estimate, reduced forecasted revenue for FY17 by $251.4 million from the estimate a year ago that was used to build the FY17 budget. With only a few months left in the current fiscal year, a $105.9 million reduction would
be highly disruptive to government services. We will likely consider using the reserve fund to meet this shortfall, replacing this money in FY18 as we build the budget. For FY18, the REC reduced the revenue estimate by $191.8 million. This will present challenges in the budget process, as we work to meet the priorities of Iowa. We will apply sound budgeting principles and balance the budget, just as we have done in the past. The current budget shortfall resulting from missed estimates by the REC is also an opportunity, as we will be compelled to do what I have long believed must be done: identify what our true priorities are and work to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in state government. With over $7 billion in available revenue, Iowa does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. With Republicans now in control of all houses of Iowa government, we have no excuses. It is time to make government smaller, smarter and more accountable for Iowa. A number of initiatives are moving to accomplish these goals. Legislative Branch Health Insurance: It was recently reported in the Des Moines Register that legislators, both Republicans & Democrats, have an exceptional health insurance plan for which they can pay as little as $20 per month. That is true and I did not take it. When I first reported to
work for you in the Iowa House in 2015, I noted that these plans were overly generous. I spoke to House leadership in my first few days on the job about this issue and was shown several bills that House Republicans had passed to fix this issue, all of which were killed by Senator Gronstal in the Senate. Even though the state plan is far more generous than my military health insurance, I did not sign up for this benefit. This should have been fixed long ago, but it must be noted for context that this plan is available not just to legislators, but to all in the Legislative Branch, including young staffers with families. With Republicans now in control of both chambers, I expect this to be fixed this year. I am honored to serve as your State Representative. You can contact me at steven.holt@legis.iowa.gov or by calling 515-242-6446, or 712-269-4042.