Kapucian’s Corner by State Senator Tim Kapucian: Session Wrap-up
Iowa State Senator Tim Kapucian
Greetings from back home on the farm. Planting is proving to be as challenging as a legislative session – rain, rain, rain. Now that the dust on the 2013 Iowa Legislative Session has had a chance to settle, I would like to provide you with some highlights.
Iowa will see the largest tax cut in state history following the passage of the property tax reform bill this session. The maximum assessment increase for residential and agricultural properties will go down from 4% to 3%, saving taxpayers money. This limits the amount of increase in any one year. Commercial rates will be going down from 100% of assessed valuation to 90% by 5% a year over the next two years, with the state backfilling the lost tax revenue for cities. The bill also includes tax relief for apartments and retirement homes. The bottom line is that while your property taxes may still rise, this bill will cap the amount of any increase.
Iowa schools will receive 2% allowable growth plus a 2% bonus for 2014 and 4% allowable growth for 2015, following the passage of the education reform bill. The package offers schools the option to implement a teacher mentoring plan and raises teacher starting salaries to $33,500. It allows private schools to be accredited by an independent accreditation agency if their standards are as high as or higher than those of the state of Iowa. The bill also allows parents who home school to teach driver’s education; they must be homeschooling other subjects as well, not just driver’s ed. In another education related bill, the cap was raised on the amount the state will allow for tax credits to Student Tuition Organizations (STO’s). The cap will be raised from 8.7 million to 12 million, effective January 1st, 2014. The credit will also now be available to LLC’s and corporations.
The Iowa Health and Wellness Plan passed both houses, but the plan will need to be approved by the federal government. Currently, all indications point to approval. The federal government will fully fund the expanded Medicaid coverage for the first three years. At that time the feds will ratchet back to 90% with the state picking up the remaining 10%. If for some reason the federal government does not fulfill their commitment, Iowa will be allowed to drop the expansion. People whose income is 0-100% over the federal poverty level, or about $11,500 for a single person, would receive the same insurance plan as state employees. 0-50% would pay a minimal premium, 100-138% of the poverty level would get premium assistance and be placed on the state/federal health care exchange. The federal poverty level for a family of 4 is $23,500 so 50% would be just under $35,000. This plan also includes mental health coverage and will save property tax payers 48 million dollars in the first year.
Another issue of significant importance was addressed when we appropriated $20 million into new soil and water quality initiatives. Many of these dollars will go into the new Nutrient Reduction Strategy proposal by DNR Director Chuck Gipp and Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey.
Finally, after fighting for it all session, we passed legislation to affirm liability protection for land owners allowing access to their property for recreational purposes as well as education purposes, like farm tours.
I believe we had a productive session after what could have been grid-lock. My legislative e-mail will be closed for the interim, but please contact me via my home email: tkgrainandlvstk@hotmail.com or my cell phone is 515-250-7769.
It is an honor to serve as your representative in the Iowa State Senate. Thank you for all your input this past year! See you out and about the District.
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SENATOR TIM KAPUCIAN DISTRICT 38
