ed. note: This is an edited version of the Courtney newsletter. For the whole newsletter, please go here.
SENATE: GOVERNOR’S PLAN MAY ENDANGER VULNERABLE IOWANS
In January, Governor Branstad surprised Iowans by proposing to privatize almost all of Iowa’s Medicaid system.
Medicaid provides free or low-cost health coverage to just over a half million Iowans. They are some of the most vulnerable people in our state, including families and children, pregnant women, seniors and people living with disabilities. More than 71 percent of Medicaid dollars are spent on services for the disabled and seniors.
Iowa’s Governor once again decided—on his own—to make big changes at break-neck speed to the health care of other people. And once again, those affected don’t have much political power. The Branstad Administration is ignoring painful lessons learned by other states that have adopted the managed care approach.
The responsible way to address the issue would be to bring together stakeholders and take a systematic approach. Iowa Medicaid is, after all, Iowa’s second largest insurance company.
Right now, only two things are certain:
1. There will be major changes to the health care of at-risk Iowans and to essential services for seniors and the disabled. This includes the social safety net that families depend on in times of need. All of us are just one terrible accident away from needing care for the rest of our lives.
2. With a cost of $4.2 billion, this will be the largest single purchase in state history. The winners most likely will be for-profit, out-of-state companies that will take home as much as $630 million a year.
Under existing state law, the Governor has a great deal of freedom to make this transition with little or no legislative direction. That’s why the Iowa Senate unanimously approved SF 452. The bill:
• Creates a process to closely monitor the transition, ensure that tax dollars are used wisely, and give vulnerable Iowans access to critical healthcare services.
• Outlines consumer protections to ensure continued access to high-quality care, emphasizing consumer choice, self-direction, nearby access and more.
• Ensures fair reimbursement for healthcare providers, the Iowa-based organizations that will actually do the work, while taking part in coordinated care to improve health outcomes.
• Establishes a legislative oversight commission to monitor implementation and recommend corrections should problems arise.
SCHOOL FUNDING DELAY THREATENS STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
State funding for our local schools remains undecided, even after a fourth meeting this week of the special legislative committee charged with finding a compromise between the House and the Senate.
At the most recent meeting, House Speaker Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha insisted on setting state aid for the 2015-16 school year at 1.25 percent, but his motion failed on a tie vote. All the Republican members of the committee supported the Speaker’s meager proposal; all Democrats voted against it.
We’ve got to get past the gridlock. Students, parents, teachers, administrators and other concerned Iowans are counting on us. They say that local school boards are making critical budget decisions now. Schools will have to cut staff and teachers, stuff more students into classrooms, and reduce educational and extracurricular offerings if they don’t get more than a 1.25 percent increase in state funding.
Woodbury Central Community School officials said their local schools need more.
Superintendent Doug Glackin told a Sioux City TV station: “When we started cutting, we were cutting the fat, and then we got a 0% allowable growth in fiscal year 2011-2012 and then we started cutting the bacon. If we get to 1.25%, we’ll be cutting into the rib meat and into the loin pretty soon, and that’s never good.”
Clear Lake Superintendent Anita Micich has told the local newspaper: “You cannot starve the schools in Iowa and expect to have world-class (education) continue.”
It’s not just smaller, rural school districts. Ankeny is among the largest school districts in the state. Their school board president said that “1.25 percent is irresponsible. We’re at the point where we are cutting programming and looking at class sizes.”
If your local schools are making these same tough budget decisions, please contact me so that I can share your concerns with conference committee members as they hammer out a final decision.
I’m working to stop the slide in Iowa’s support for local students compared to other states. A 4 percent increase in funding for our K-12 schools would help when it comes to per-student investment. That’s one of the many topics I discussed with Joe Crozier of the Grant Wood AEA when he visited the Statehouse with other Iowa Areas Education Agencies.
FEDERAL INVESTIGATION CONFIRMS BIAS AT WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Last year, Senator Bill Dotzler of Waterloo sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) expressing concerns about Iowa Workforce Development and its director, Teresa Wahlert.
The letter was based on testimony Senator Dotzler had received from Unemployment Administrative Law Judges indicating there was undue pressure on them, concern about the fairness of the appeals system, and problems with a political appointee directly supervising the appeal judges.
This month, DOL informed the new Iowa Workforce Development director, Beth Townsend, that her predecessor had created perceived pressure on Iowa’s Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) to be biased in favor of employers or face retaliation. The DOL also recommended that the new IWD director:
• Immediately fill the Chief ALJ position on a merit staffing basis.
• Ensure that the Unemployment Compensation appeals process is insulated from outside pressures that might compromise the process’s fairness and impartiality, or appearance of fairness and impartiality.
• Ensure that ALJs are free from actual or perceived intimidation.
• Review any negative personnel actions received by ALJs during the period they were supervised by Teresa Wahlert to determine if the action was appropriately taken, and take any necessary remedial action to reverse the action if not appropriately taken.
• Not take any personnel action against individual ALJs related to their possible participation in the review of this matter moving forward.
To learn more about U.S. Department of Labor findings and recommendations for Iowa Workforce Development, go to www.senate.iowa.gov/democrats/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/150305_combined-US-DOL-files-on-workforce.pdf.
TAKING STEPS TO STRENGTHEN MIDDLE CLASS
Iowa is doing the right thing to strengthen our middle class after the devastation of the national recession.
One of the reasons Iowa has weathered the economic downturn better than other states is that we’ve kept our fiscal house in order. Each year, we balance the state budget and set aside money for a rainy day. According to 24/7 Wall St., Iowa is one of the best-run states in the nation, with low debt, a strong credit rating and a well-managed budget.
That’s important because it allows us to invest in initiatives to strengthen our middle class, create jobs and grow our economy. And the latest financial projections by Iowa’s non-partisan Revenue Estimating Conference confirm that Iowa can afford new investments.
We must do all we can to continue strengthening our middle class. The percentage of middle-class households shrunk between 2000 and 2013 in all 50 states, Iowa included. In 2013, 51 percent of Iowa households were middle class, down from 54.1 percent in 2000, and the median income for Iowa households has dropped, according to new research from Pew.
What can we do to continue our bipartisan efforts to expand Iowa’s middle class in all 99 counties?
A good start would be renewing Iowa’s traditional, bipartisan support for public schools, freezing tuition at our public universities for a third year in a row, and investing more in community college opportunities for Iowans preparing for 21st Century jobs.
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