The Rozenboom Report – March 30, 2018

by Ken Rozenboom

In the Legislature

As the month of March comes to an end, history tells us thunderstorms will soon be rolling across our state. Therefore, Governor Kim Reynolds declared this week as Severe Weather Awareness week in Iowa. The tremendous power of strong winds, and the sovereignty of the One who sends them, demand our attention and respect. Take this is a gentle reminder to prepare your homes and farms for the storms that come from clashing warm and cold temperatures.

Yesterday Governor Reynolds signed House File 2456 into law. This is the “mental health bill”, and it is a big step towards improving our state’s mental health system and ensuring care for those who need it the most. One of the most significant features of this legislation is the creation of six “critical access centers” spread throughout the state. These centers will be staffed with professionals that can respond to mental health emergencies, and will be within a 90 minute drive for any citizen of the state. This means help is reasonably close, and our law enforcement officials have a place to bring individuals in need of immediate care. There are many other provisions of the bill, all designed to better deal with the increasing demand for mental health services.

We also passed Senate File 2389 this week. This bill allows the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to establish a new fee policy for camping and other rental facilities within state parks and recreational areas. Fees may be increased, reduced, or waived (dynamic pricing) under the jurisdiction of the department. This bill is a great update, and allows the DNR to adjust their fees to best utilize our state resources and to allow prices to be driven by customer demand. As chairman of the Natural Resources and Environment Committee I work closely with the DNR, and applaud their efforts to run our state parks as efficiently as possible while providing excellent facilities for all visitors to Iowa’s parks.

Focus Turns to Taxes and Spending

As the 2018 Iowa Legislative session nears the end, we still have the negotiations, debate, and passage of the state budget in front of us. In my mind, the key elements for discussing these emotionally charged topics include wisdom, responsibility, and respect for our taxpayers. I remain committed to the principle of managing the state budget like Iowans manage their family budgets. Saying “no” is usually the most difficult part.

In February Senate Republicans passed a significant tax relief plan. It is a bold change which provides tax relief for Iowans while simplifying our tax code. Negotiations with the governor and the House are underway and I anticipate significant progress on balancing taxes and appropriations in the next couple of weeks.

Health Care Options Sent to the Governor

The collapse of the individual health insurance market due to Obamacare continues to wreak havoc on consumers. With skyrocketing premiums and a lack of options, many Iowans are reaching out to their legislators asking for help. When it became obvious that Congress could not come to an agreement on how to resolve this problem, we went to work to minimize the hardships facing thousands of Iowans. Iowans now have two new options for affordable access to health care.

One avenue creates a health benefit plan for carriers to sell coverage that does not have to meet the ACA requirements since it does not fall into the federal definition of insurance. This is primarily designed to provide another option for the many farmers in Iowa who are paying up to $30,000 a year for insurance, while still having very high deductibles and copays.

The second solution Senate Republicans pursued was an option to allow small businesses and sole proprietors to join forces and work together to create Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements (MEWAs), a group health insurance plan, rather than rely on individual markets or small group markets.

It is rewarding to see this legislation pass and head to the governor, providing new options for many Iowans. I am fully aware that these new options don’t provide relief for all Iowans, and we’ll continue to work for improvements going forward. But this is a big step, and a step that we can continue to build on.

Posted by on Mar 30 2018. Filed under Local News, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Comments are closed

         

Search Archive

Search by Date
Search by Category
Search with Google
Log in | Copyright by Oskaloosa News