(Radio Iowa) – The governor’s bill that would reduce the maximum time Iowans can receive unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 16 has cleared its first hurdle in the Iowa House. People getting unemployment checks would have to accept a lower-paying job more quickly or lose their benefits if the bill becomes law. J.D. Davis, a lobbyist for the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, says the focus is on re-employment.

“Unemployment benefits are something that takes a person from work to work,” Davis says. “…Getting people back to work sooner that are in the workforce already is a goal worth pursuing.” Molly Severn, the governor’s legislative liaison, says the bill is a priority for Reynolds. “Our state cannot afford to have employable Iowans on the sidelines of our economy for an extended amount of time,” she says.

Labor unions oppose the bill. Felicia Hinton, the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, says it’s offensive for Governor Reynolds to suggest the safety net has become a hammock and propose a 40 percent reduction in unemployment benefits. “In no way is this a hammock that people are laying back, barely getting any of the money that they were making on a weekly basis,” Hinton says. The bill also calls for delaying payment of the first week of unemployment benefits.

Mike Gronstal, a lobbyist for the Iowa State Building and Construction Trades Union, says that’s a serious attack on the industry. “The vast majority of building trade workers are laid off once a year,” Gronstal says. “This bill reaches into the pockets of tens of thousands of Iowans and takes $300-$400 out of their pockets.”

Two issues unrelated to unemployment are attached to the bill, and would provide additional liability protection to doctors and trucking companies.

(Radio Iowa) – Two forums at the Iowa Capitol have given business groups and advocates for outdoor recreation the opportunity to lobby for their preferred tax changes, but the hearings also highlighted the differences in the three plans Governor Kim Reynolds and her fellow Republicans in the House and Senate have unveiled. Americans for Prosperity state director Drew Klein was among the first to address SENATORS at a public hearing late yesterday (Tuesday).

“No secret there are some competing interests. There are some competing bills,” Klein says. “We do know and have confidence that what you guys are going to come up with working across the rotunda and with the governor’s office is going to put us in a competitive position.” Lobbyists from several business groups cheered the corporate income tax break in the Senate G-O-P’s plan. House Republicans didn’t include that in their plan. Dustin Miller of the Iowa Chamber Alliance urged Republicans working on the HOUSE bill to keep an open mind.

“We’re one of the highest states from the top line rate on the corporate side. That impacts our attraction for investment,” Miller says. “When we’re trying to attract business and investment from other states, we’re not even on the playing field and we don’t know it with some site selectors.”Among the three plans, Senate Republicans are the only ones to propose a sales tax maneuver that will finally put money in the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund. Anna Gray of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation hailed the move.

“We believe that the trust is an immense opportunity to immediately invest in water quality, agricultural conservation, outdoor recreation, trails and the quality of life assets that make Iowa an attractive place to live and work.” Some people spoke at both hearings. Victoria Sinclair, a lobbyist for Iowans for Tax Relief, noted the House G-O-P’s plan largely mirrors the governor’s proposal.

“We applaud the governor’s leadership in rolling out a bold plan that significantly reduces income taxes for all Iowans,” Sinclair said. “And we commend House leadership for including her individual income tax reduction proposal within this legislation.” Sinclair told SENATE Republicans their plan was bold, yet thoughtful. “This bill proposes the largest tax cut in Iowa history and it doesn’t stop there,” Sinclair said. “…It also provides the first mechanism, to our knowledge, for eliminating the individual income tax in Iowa.”

A few speakers questioned the tax-cutting goals Republicans are advancing. Mike Owen, deputy director of Common Good Iowa, says public services will be slashed if the tax cuts go into effect. “These are the services that make Iowa a good place to live, work and run a business,” Owen said. “If we invest in things that restore opportunity and quality of life in this state, if we build on our strengths and stop tearing them down, we have a chance.” Tom Chapman of the Iowa Catholic Conference asked lawmakers to consider raising the earned income tax credit, to ease the tax burden for low income workers and he quoted remarks Pope Francis made Monday to Italian tax officials.

“The pope said taxation should always safeguard the dignity of the poor and the least who also risk being trodden underfoot by the powerful,” Chapman said. Peter Hird of the Iowa Federation of Labor says union members are concerned about tax fairness. “We want to make sure that working class Iowans are getting these tax breaks and not wealthy corporations and we just want to make sure that we’re helping people out along the way.”

(Radio Iowa) – Half of the Republicans in the Iowa House are co-sponsoring a bill that would prevent schools and child care centers from requiring children be vaccinated against COVID-19. The prohibition would end in 2029, but Representative Henry Stone of Forest City says the bill may be changed, so the policy would be permanent. “This is about parents’ choice of what they give their children,” Stone says, “and that no child should be subject to getting an education based on this immunization itself.”

Stone and Representative Skyler Wheeler of Orange City are members of the House subcommittee that advanced the bill today (Tuesday). “I believe we should empower parents to make the decision that they believe is best for their children,” Wheeler says, “and the decision should come ultimately from them, not anybody else.” During a House subcommittee hearing, members of Informed Choice Iowa raised questions about the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and suggested it was unethical to vaccine children to protect adults from contracting the virus.

Chaney Yeast, a lobbyist for Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, says 50 percent of kids admitted to the E-R last week tested positive for COVID. “This is no longer an issue of ‘kids don’t get it’ and ‘kids don’t get it as bad as others,'” she said. “They are sick. They are on ventilators.” Iowa’s largest hospital, the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, has admitted 66 pediatric patients with COVID so far this year.

Under current Iowa law, students must be immunized against nine contagious diseases, including polio and measles, before they can be enrolled in elementary school and older kids have to get a shot to prevent meningitis before they can start 7th grade.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill advancing in the Iowa Senate would get rid of the requirement that “no smoking” signs be prominently placed at the entrances of Iowa businesses. Senator Jason Schultz recently noticed a fresh, brand new “no smoking” sticker in Denison and it struck him as unnecessary.  “Everybody now understands that you cannot smoke in public buildings and the culture has moved,” Schultz says. Iowa’s Smokefree Air Act is nearly 14 years old. Schultz says the “no smoking” signs seem to be a burdensome and unnecessary regulation that can be eliminated.

“I understood why you would want to have signs and stickers in the beginning, even though I wasn’t really thrilled with the Smokefree Air Act, but I get that you need to have a consistent public notice system, ” Schultz says. “We are so far beyond that point now.” Schultz says this is not a back door way to chip away at the law that bans smoking in public areas and in vehicles, like semis, that are owned by an employer.

“Just would like to see the sticker mandate removed from Code,” Schultz says. “Nothing beyond this.” Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, and two other senators have signed off on the bill, making it eligible for debate in a Senate committee. The Iowa Department of Public Health provides “no smoking” signs and stickers to businesses, free of charge.

A spokesperson for the agency says the signs also list a website and phone number for people to lodge complaints about illegal smoking in public places.