The Rozenboom Report – March 22, 2019
Sen. Ken Rozenboom (R-District 40)
by Sen. Ken Rozenboom
In the Iowa Senate, floor debate has taken up most of our time in week ten of the 2019 legislative session. We are already over halfway through the session and while we’ve been busy, there is still much to accomplish in the next few weeks. As we continue to consider major issues like the budget and property tax reform, I urge you to contact me with your concerns, questions and comments.
One of our primary goals is to pass legislation that “levels the playing field” for all Iowans. This week we passed Senate File 583, to do exactly that for energy customers and consumers.
Many Iowans have chosen to install solar panels for private energy generation on their property. The concern is these consumers are currently not paying for upkeep and maintenance of the grid, because utilities historically have recovered their infrastructure costs through the customer’s energy usage (kWh charges).
Those who generate energy with solar panels during the day can offset their energy costs, and push out excess generation to the grid. At night, or when it is cloudy outside, they pull energy from the grid, just like every other customer. However, when a solar customer uses their generation to offset their kWh usage, they are avoiding grid infrastructure costs.
Senate File 583 creates a system to allow customers to pay a fair share of infrastructure costs. This proposal provides an equitable solution for all customers by providing solar users with options best suited for their solar use, establishes certainty for anyone who wants to install solar in the future, grandfathers those who have already made an investment based on the existing rates, and helps support reliable and affordable energy infrastructure for all Iowans.
The successful pro-growth policies of the last two years have pushed the Iowa unemployment rate to the lowest in the country. In nearly every sector of the economy, employers are struggling to find workers to fill those open jobs. In an effort to encourage the thousands of people on public assistance that are able to work into the workforce, the Iowa Senate has embarked on an initiative to reform these programs.
On Tuesday the Senate passed a limited work requirement for individuals receiving medical assistance through Medicaid. SF538 requires able-bodied individuals without dependents to devote at least twenty hours per week to work, to go to school, or to volunteer if they wish to continue to receive taxpayer-funded health care benefits. Eleven different exemptions to the work requirement are included in the bill so that those who are unable to work, or who are caring for dependents, can continue to receive the benefits they need.
This bill is the third welfare reform bill passed by the Iowa Senate this year. These bills are aimed at eliminating fraud, improving accountability, and incentivizing able-bodied people on public assistance to join the workforce. In addition to SF538, last week the Senate also passed two other bills with the same goals. Senate File 484 created a crime of fraudulent possession of EBT cards and Senate File 305 requires SNAP recipients to cooperate with Child Support Recovery in order to receive food assistance.
Please join Rep. Brink, Rep. Hite, and me at Eggs and Issues from 8:30 to 9:30 on Saturday, March 23 as we discuss the issues with our constituents. As always, the event will be at Smokey Row in Oskaloosa.
