The Rozenboom Report – March 29, 2019
Thank you for the honor to represent you at the Capitol! As always, anyone is welcome to stop by the beautiful Iowa Capitol building and watch the legislative process in action. Or email your questions or concerns to ken.rozenboom@legis.iowa.gov. Also, you can watch live floor action online, or archived video of floor action at www.legis.iowa.gov.
The Rozenboom Report by Senator Ken Rozenboom
The 2019 legislative session is down to just over a month until the scheduled end of the legislative session. Floor debate on a number of bills has continued as we work on legislation to send to the House for their consideration. The second funnel is next Friday, April 5.
One of the 2019 legislative priorities for Governor Reynolds is for women, especially in rural areas, to have accessible contraception. Senate File 513 enables women to make a choice BEFORE conception occurs. Follow this link to read the bill in its entirety.
Under this proposal, a patient 18 years or older may receive an initial three-month supply of contraceptives, and then a subsequent one-year supply. The pharmacist is prohibited from providing contraception for more than two years unless the patient attests to have consulted with a medical practitioner sometime during that two-year period.
In order to participate in this program, pharmacists will have to complete a standardized training program and receive continuing education requirements related to dispensing the hormonal contraceptives. They will also have to obtain a completed self-screening risk assessment from each patient before dispensing the hormonal contraceptives, provide the patient with certain written information, provide the patient with a copy of the record of the pharmacist’s encounter with the patient, and provide patient counseling.
The Senate passed SF 513 on a 42-6 vote, and it now goes to the House for their consideration.
This Tuesday turned out to be a special day for me personally as I was deeply honored to be this year’s Senate recipient of the Herbert Hoover Uncommon Public Service Award. This award was created by the Hoover Presidential Foundation to honor those public servants who demonstrate uncommon service to the people of Iowa above and beyond their legislative responsibilities. The Hoover Presidential Foundation asks the public to nominate legislators who exemplify Herbert Hoover’s “ideals of honesty, integrity and uncommon public service”. The nominees are judged on their public service and humanitarian projects. The awards are presented during the last week of March to one member of the Iowa Senate and one member of the Iowa House. Additional recognition is given at the annual Foundation Celebration Banquet in October.
