(Radio Iowa) – Democrats on a House committee joined Republicans in voting for the House G-O-P’s latest tax plan. It includes more than two dozen tax changes, but notably does NOT include using state tax dollars rather than county property taxes to support Iowa’s mental health system. SENATE Republicans and Governor Reynolds back that move, but House Republicans say it’s a big policy shift that needs more work. Representative Chuck Isenhart of Dubuque, a Democrat, agrees.

“I understand that the Senate bill proposes to make what many could consider potentially radical changes to how we deliver mental health in this state based on who pays for it,” Isenhart says, “and I agree with Speaker Grassley that we have not really considered all the ramifications.” House Ways and Means Committee chairman Lee Hein, a Republican from Monticello, acknowledges the debate among Republicans over tax policy isn’t resolved, however.

“I’m hoping we’re getting close to being at the end, but anything can happen and ‘stay tuned’ I guess would be my message,” Hein said. The HOUSE is planning to debate some state budget plans today (Thursday) and perhaps tomorrow (Friday), but there’s no universal agreement on state spending among Republicans in the House and Senate. Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls of Coralville says there is no end in sight for the 2021 legislative session.

“Here we are now, swinging into May, and Republicans are kind of squabbling with each other over the budget and taxes…and don’t really have a clear sense of how to get out of this mess that they’ve made for themselves.” Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver says Senate Republicans want to resolve the tax impasse before making final decisions on the state budget plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1st.

Officials with City Hall in Atlantic say at Wednesday night’s City Council meeting, a council member asked how citizens could report complaints since the city no longer had the old system for reporting online. City Clerk Barb Barrick says citizens can report issues here:  https://atlanticia.seamlessdocs.com/f/citizenreportingform

The link can also be found on the city’s website (at atlanticiowa.com) or the city’s Facebook page (City of Atlantic). Just a reminder:  Junk vehicles and barking dogs cannot be reported on this form.  For those issues, please contact the police station at 243-3512.

Atlantic, IA—Cass County Health System was recently named one of the country’s top 20 critical access hospitals as determined by the Chartis Center for Rural Health. This elite group of hospitals was selected from the Chartis Center for Rural Health’s 2021 Top 100 Critical Access Hospital list, which was released earlier this year. The determining factors for the top hospitals are based on the results of the Hospital Strength Index and its eight performance measures: inpatient market share, outpatient market share, quality, outcomes, patient perspective, cost, charge, and financial efficiency.

“To be named in the Top 20 out of 1,350 critical access hospitals in America is an amazing accomplishment and reflects the talent and hard work of our staff. Everyone on our team is contributing in every way they can to live our mission to provide a superior experience to our patients, families, and the communities that we are privileged to serve. Our vision is to be the best rural hospital in the country—and we are clearly headed in the right direction. This is one of the highest honors we could receive, and we hope that the community feels as proud as we do,” said CCHS CEO Brett Altman.

The rankings were recently announced by the National Rural Health Association (NRHA), and an awards ceremony will be held during NRHA’s Critical Access Hospital Conference in September in Kansas City, Missouri.