This week the Iowa House unanimously passed a bill designed that may give rural Iowans who don’t have ready access to ambulance services another avenue to get it. Representative Zach Nunn of Bondurant says Myrna Hunt’s story about her husband’s heart attack in late 2013 helped spur the action. Hunt told legislators her husband died on their front steps in Runnells, just a couple of blocks away from the volunteer fire department. “She called 911 for the volunteers to come and after 20 minutes she called 911 again and more than an hour later, when the volunteers finally arrived and escorted her husband to a hospital here in Des Moines, he’d already passed away from cardiac arrest,” Nunn said. “This is just one of many tales that come from our volunteers across the state who are doing the best they can with limited resources.”

The bill would let residents in unincorporated areas — outside city limits — petition for a vote that would raise property taxes in the township to pay for emergency medical services. Representative Amy Nielsen, the former mayor of North Liberty, says the lack of access to ambulance services in rural areas is troubling. “I believe that this bill is a good first step in making EMS an essential service, just like fire protection,” Nielsen says. Representative Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton says legislators have been working on this bill for six years. “I think all of us enjoy going to our EMS ambulance service pancake breakfasts, but that’s ridiculous that they have to do that just to be able to fill the gaps in their budget,” Kaufmann says. “…This bill is just a start, but I think it’s a great start.”

The bill now goes to the Senate for review.

(Radio Iowa)

It’s an even-numbered year, so that means legislators who have decided to retire rather than seek re-election are given an “open mic” moment.  In the House, retiring representatives give floor speeches. Clel Baudler of Greenfield kicked the speech-a-thon off this week with a nearly 20-minute speech. “A man, in his lifetime, has good days and bad days and I hope this decision I’ve made to retire is a good one,” Baudler said. In the Iowa Senate, the public farewells last far longer, sometimes for hours. Colleagues start things off with compliments, shared humor and sometimes an outright roasting, then the retiree gets to speak. Mark Chelgren of Ottumwa spoke for nearly half an hour after his peers finished. Retiring Senator Rick Bertrand started his 20-minute speech by admitting to being a bit numb.

Bertrand used part of his speech to settle old scores with former Senate Republican Leader Bill Dix. Bertrand revealed he met his wife 23 years ago at the Waveland Tap in Des Moines. It’s the same bar where Dix was pictured kissing a lobbyist — images posted online that prompted Dix to resign last month. Bertrand called that karma. Senator Bob Dvorsky, of Coralville, is retiring after 32 years in the legislature and he offered a few “principles” about the legislative process. “You can probably get most things passed here as long as you don’t care who gets credit for it,” Dvorsky said. “…The second one is we deal in raging incrementalism.”

Dvorsky gave a relatively short, five-minute-long goodbye speech and, like many exiting lawmakers, he choked up at the end. “We’re here as public servants and we can be proud of that and I will miss all that dearly,” Dvorsky said. “And one other thing I will miss — I will miss all of you.” Once the reminiscing, advice, compliments and emotional goodbyes are over, SOME of the retiring senators get a piece of furniture. Lawmakers who’ve served at least 20 years in the state senate get to take the chair from their senate desk. Neither the House nor the Senate will be in session today (Friday). Next week, more farewell speeches are on tap. One retiring senator has yet to be recognized and 15 other retiring members of the House will have the option of giving farewell remarks.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa’s Joni Ernst is among a group of bipartisan U-S Senators who have introduced legislation to provide more federal money for mental health services to rural residents. Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, says a 2016 study by the C-D-C found ag workers have a higher suicide rate than any other occupation. She says the bill would establish helplines, provide suicide prevention training for farm advocates, create support groups, and reestablish the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network “We do require the Farm and Ranch Stress Committee to develop a long-term strategy to address the issues of farmer mental health. Because we do know in those rural areas we are lacking services that you might be able to find in the greater metro areas of our rural states,” Ernst says.

Ernst says they are hoping for a collaboration at all levels to give farmers more options for help. “What we would like to do of course is see those services develop –whether it’s through the extension services through additional mental health counselors — tapping into existing resources out there,” Ernst explained. She says the high rate of suicide within the agricultural community underscores the urgent need to act right away. She says the seed funding would help get some of the additional resources off the ground and they hope the legislation would be included in the farm bill and it would provide about 10 million dollars each year.

Ernst says existing services — such as hotlines — will be reviewed to be sure it is worthwhile to put federal money into them. “We have seen examples in the past where hotlines just certainly haven’t lived up to the expectations,” according to Ernst. “So, that’s one thing that we need to continue to provide oversight on to make sure if dollars are going to hotlines, whether they are existing or new structures, that they are providing the necessary supports.”

The bill is called the Facilitating Accessible Resources for Mental Health and Encouraging Rural Solutions For Immediate Response to Stressful Times or “FARMERS FIRST” Act.

(Radio Iowa)