Guth and Baxter Summaries

The View From Here by Senator Dennis Guth

A few months ago Iowa’s economy was rated as the nation’s most COVID-19 resilient.  This week US News & World Report ranked Iowa number one for opportunity.  This rating is based on affordability, economic opportunity and equality.  Expanding opportunities for all Iowans has been a priority for the last four years and I am proud to see our efforts recognized nationally.

Week nine of the legislative session saw the Senate shift its emphasis from lots of sub-committee work on new bills to floor debate involving the whole chamber.  Here is a quick rundown of a few bills that might interest you.

In the arena of opening up job opportunities, we passed SF 424, which introduces apprenticeships to all occupational licenses that don’t already have them.  An apprenticeship emphasizes on-the-job training and allows a worker to earn a paycheck while seeking to acquire a license.  This will make obtaining a license more achievable for some while helping to address the state’s need for skilled workforce in the trades and vocational industries.

The purpose of government is to protect the people’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Law enforcement is a major part of delivering on that goal.  Recently, there have been many attacks on law enforcement, to the point of leaving them feeling unappreciated.  When I held a Back the Blue town hall late last year, I was saddened to hear that none of the over twenty law officers in attendance said they would encourage a son or daughter to pursue a career in law enforcement. This week we passed three bills that will show our public servants they are appreciated.

SF 479 would deny state funding to cities that defund their police without justification.  Justification includes a decrease in population or finishing a one-time project. SF 476 puts qualified immunity into state code.  This concept was initially established by the US Supreme Court and recognizes that law officers need some legal protection as they work in uncontrolled and dangerous environments and must react very quickly.  It does not give complete immunity allowing a disregard for the law or punitive behavior.  This bill also expands the Peace Officer Bill of Rights and protects personal information that might endanger the families or property of an officer.

SF 534 deals with some of the problems encountered during last year’s riots in Iowa and around the country.  One specific issue is criminalizing the intentional shining of a laser pointer into an officer’s eyes, potentially damaging their eyesight.  This bill would not impede anyone’s First Amendment right to protest, but it does protect innocent Iowans and their property from harm. Protection of life and property is the foundation of societal stability and economic growth.  People are hesitant to work or invest in communities where they do not feel safe.  When we support law enforcement our communities thrive.

SF 555 would prohibit an employer from mandating the Covid-19 vaccine for their employees.  This week I received a very encouraging email from a Mayo Clinic trained doctor regarding this bill I introduced.  This doctor, who is also a past president of the Iowa Medical Society, called this a very reasonable position until we have much more data and experience with this experimental vaccine.  He stated, “We must prove the vaccine works and is safe before implementing regulations that will obviously be coercive, at the least, if not frankly punitive. [This puts]… serious pressure on employees to choose between an experimental vaccine that has no long term safety data and continuing to work.  With appropriate PPE still required, the addition of the vaccine will provide little additional protection of vulnerable patients, but puts the employee at an unknown risk.  This is not appropriate.”  I look forward to seeing SF 555 come to the floor for debate in the coming weeks.

House Happenings by Terry Baxter

A Case For Freedom

I am a conservative and I make no apologies.  I stand on the foundation of my faith in God and my political views which are grounded in the Constitution of the United States and the State of Iowa.  I do not vote on bills based on emotional appeal or knee jerk response to social trends or current events.  I sincerely try to go back to a solid philosophical foundation. Knee jerk legislation is seldom good.

Having said that, I am concerned that five foundational cornerstones of our Constitutional Republic are under vicious attack by the cancel culture movement.  These freedoms are 1) the right of free speech, 2) the right to free assembly, 3) the right to keep and bear arms, 4) the freedom of religion, and 5) the value, dignity and respect for all human life including the unborn and elderly.  I furthermore value moral decency and respect for our law enforcement and military.                                                                                                  

Each of these have been under assault from segments of our government, our universities, big technology and special interest groups with deliberate and mounting intensity in recent years.  I am very concerned about these trends.

We cannot give away our rights no matter how small or for what reason, and long retain our freedom.  If you wonder why I support or vote on legislation the way I do in the Iowa legislature, whenever possible, the answer is grounded in the above core values which I hold as self-evident. These are values which I believe my constituents put me in office to uphold and protect.  I will do this to the best of my ability.

Now let me transition into some floor action from this week and a quick update on the Ames School District.

Child Care

This week, Iowa House Republicans took additional action on child care by passing our 7th and 8th bills of the session to address the child care crisis.

HF 606 creates additional tax incentives for employers to invest in an onsite daycare option for employees.

HF 712 creates a child care incentive for developers to construct more child care centers.

This session, House Republicans have been aggressive in tackling the child care crisis facing Iowans. Iowa continues to face a shortage of child care providers while having one of the highest rates of both parents in the workforce.

Congratulations to:  Belmond Colts Corner Daycare Project, Belmond.

DHS Award (total):  $303,870

The City of Belmond recently received a $500,000 CDBG grant for Build a Better Belmond to renovate the existing Ramsay school building for a new childcare facility and provide 155 additional childcare spaces in the community and adding 24 to 32 new full and part-time jobs in the community.

 Mental Health

Another issue we heard about often on the campaign trail was the need to expand access to mental health in Iowa. This week, the House took action with two bills on the matter.

HF 294 requires health insurers to reimburse for mental health services provided through telehealth at the same rate as services provided in-person. This will be a huge help to all Iowans, especially those in our rural communities.

HF 773 is a bill to create a statewide study of Iowa's mental health services. This information will help identify opportunities to better serve Iowans suffering from mental illness. This is also the first step in requesting an 1115 Waiver from the federal government which would provide additional funds for services to treat mental illness.

Sexual Assault

This week, the House passed two pieces of legislation to support victims of sexual assault.

House File 426 creates a tracking system for sexual abuse evidence kits in Iowa. Any kit preserving evidence of sexual abuse after a reported victim undergoes a forensic medical exam will be entered into the system the moment of its manufacture and tracked until it is no longer needed. The bill also requires the victim be notified if a DNA match is found for a potential assailant.

House File 603 creates the Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner Program. This program trains, certifies, and provides technical assistance to certain medical professionals on how to provide medical forensic services, including the sexual assault abuse kits.

Ames School District

This week, officials from the Ames Community School District met with Government Oversight after parents had expressed concerns with the controversial curriculum used in their Black Lives Matter at School Week in early February.  It’s entirely possible to have conversations surrounding race, and gender without resorting to politics like the Ames school district did. The materials uploaded to their website and distributed in their schools contained divisive language, one-sided political arguments and topics that were simply not age appropriate. Ames School District used public resources for political purposes and may have even violated the civil rights laws. During the meeting, it became increasingly clear that the officials were careless in their approach to this curriculum. They had not properly vetted the material they uploaded to their website for biased information, and even were unaware of some of the most concerning documents that were distributed in their schools. The role of our public schools is not to indoctrinated students into certain political ideologies but to educate our students.