The Rozenboom Report – February 24, 2017
Improved economic growth in Iowa is the goal of Senate Republicans this legislative session. One of the priorities we have championed since January is Senate File 1, which requires a job impact statement for administrative rules. While these statements are currently required under Executive Order 71, we want to codify this requirement so future governors cannot remove it with the stroke of a pen.
Jobs impact statements identify the purpose of a rule and the anticipated costs for state agencies, local governments, the public, regulated industries (including regulated businesses and self-employed individuals) to comply.
Importantly, this bill requires agencies to state whether a rule would have a positive or negative impact on private sector jobs and employment opportunities in Iowa, what type of jobs of will be impacted, how many, in what regions, and costs to employers due to the rule, guaranteeing agencies take steps to minimize the rule’s adverse impacts on jobs. This bill will help ensure businesses and jobs are not overburdened by excessive regulations from the state.
Also on Wednesday the Senate unanimously passed SF180, strengthening Iowa’s apprenticeship programs and helping to create an environment for job growth in our state. The bill clarifies that in order to qualify for an apprenticeship training grant under the Iowa Economic Development Authority the applicant must be an Iowa resident.
Programs like our apprenticeship program are important for our state to ensure we have the skilled workers we need. Previous Iowa taxpayer funded grant approvals have gone toward apprentice trainees that lived outside of Iowa. With this bill, non-resident employees can still be enrolled in the training programs, they just don’t qualify for the grants. Iowa training programs which improve the skills of Iowa workers, and are funded by Iowa taxpayers, should apply to Iowa residents only.
An issue I have often discussed in my Senate district regarding education funding is the challenge of school funding for rural schools. Rural schools cover a much larger geographic area than urban or suburban districts. Consequently, those districts have much higher costs per pupil to transport those students between school and home. All those dollars spent on transportation are then unavailable to spend in the classroom, creating more disparity in resources between rural schools and urban schools.
In recent years Senate Republicans have offered several proposals to address this inequity but those efforts have always been blocked. Now, having the majority in the Senate, we have filed Senate Study Bill 1124 which will start to bring equity to the funding levels between small and large geographic districts. Funds approved may only be spent on transportation costs.
This bill was approved in subcommittee this week and will be discussed in the Education Committee next week. Senate Republicans have long believed that educational opportunities should not be determined by a student’s zip code. This bill is important to many rural districts across the state as they seek to provide the best education for their students regardless of where they live in Iowa.
Safeguarding the integrity of the voting process is fundamental to our republic. Past efforts to strengthen our voting process have always been stymied by the former majority leader. A recent Iowa Poll indicates that this issue has significant support. In fact, 69 percent of Iowans favor having a government-issued ID to vote while 28 percent oppose. It has favorable support among Republicans (88 percent), Democrats (51 percent) and Independents (71 percent), according to the Iowa Poll.
We are working on legislation that would require all voters to provide an approved identification document at a polling site or when they vote absentee. We want to continue to increase voter registration and participation in Iowa so that every Iowan that wishes to vote can be confident their vote will count, and that vote will not be negated by an improper vote.
