(Radio Iowa) – The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics received approval today (Wednesday) to lease a building in Sioux City as part of an effort to keep a program that produces doctors. David Kieft told the Board of Regents that the building houses the Siouxland Medical Education Foundation family medicine practice and its three-year residency program.”This is the only such search residency facility west of Des Moines,” Keift says. He says the program has been highly collaborative with the University of Iowa Family Medicine Residency.

“The program may be failing in its existing operations and so the University of Iowa has agreed to a 10-year lease agreement for the facility. It’s with Siouxland Medical Education Foundation,” he says. Keft says they hope the University of Iowa intervention will keep the Siouxland program from closing. Two other programs have closed in the past three years, resulting in 12 fewer family physicians in Iowa per year.

The U-I-H-C will pay all operating costs of the building and has the first option to buy it. The initial lease term would commence in June 2023 and end on June 30, 2033. There are two five-year renewal options.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Senate has confirmed former State Auditor Mary Mosiman as the state’s top tax official. Governor Kim Reynolds appointed her to be director of the Iowa Department of Revenue on March 29th. Mosiman, who is a C-P-A, has been the deputy director of the department for the past three years. Senator Pam Jochum, a Democrat from Dubuque, says as the chief deputy, Mosiman has had oversight of the agency’s tax division.

“That includes compliance, the call center and other important consumer related issues,” Jochum says, “and I can say that all of those things have seemed to improve immensely over the last couple of years.” Jochum and other Democrats in the Senate say they have concerns about staffing levels in the agency in its expanded role under the governor’s state government reorganization plan — but all Democrats and all Republicans in the Senate Wednesday, voted to confirm Mosiman as the Iowa Department of Reenue director.

Mosiman was a top administrator in the Iowa Secretary of State’s office when Governor Terry Branstad appointed her to be state auditor in 2013. Mosiman lost her bid for a second full term as state auditor in 2018. She was in charge of elections in Story County as that county’s auditor from 2001 through the end of 2010.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Senate and House have approved competing property tax relief plans. The Senate approach is focused on eliminating some property tax levies, consolidating others and converting property tax credits for veterans and seniors to more lucrative exemptions. Senate Republicans say it would amount to a roughly 100 million dollars reduction in property taxes. Senator Dan Dawson, a Republican from Council Bluffs, is chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee that drafts tax policy.

“Ultimately I think we’ve probably got the best dog that can hunt here in the Capitol than we’ve had in some time to start to tackle this system,” Dawson says. The House approach would provide 200 million dollars in state money each year to replace local property taxes that go to public schools. Republican Representative Bobby Kaufmann, of Wilton, is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. He says lawmakers are listening to Iowans. “Property taxes are easily the most unpopular tax that exists,” Kaufmann says. The House bill would also limit increases in property tax BILLS to three percent.

“We are delivering significant, real, substantial property tax relief to Iowans,” Kaufmann says. Dawson calls the Senate bill phrase one of a long term effort to reform an unchecked property tax system. “Our system is broken. Taxpayers are scared and that is why we are here today,” Dawson says. Both bills passed with nearly unanimous support from Republians and Democrats. Just one Republican in the House and one Democrat in the Senate voted no. Democrats like Senator Pam Jochum say so far it’s been a bipartisan effort to find ways to simplify and streamline property taxes.

“Every one of us cares about this tax system and want to make it work better,” Jochum says. Representative Dave Jacoby, a Democrat from Coralville, says injecting certainty into the system is a priority.  “This, I believe, helps everyday Iowans,” Jacoby said, “and Democrats are happy to see that our ideals are being met in this bill.”

Governor Reynolds has said her focus is on eventually eliminating the state INCOME tax and she’s leaving it up to legislators to craft a property tax reduction plan.