Rep. Dave Heaton Calls on Branstad to Keep Mental Health Facilities Open
Representative Dave Heaton, of Mount Pleasant, lambasted Governor Branstad for going ahead with the closing of the Mental Health Institutes in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant in a speech on the floor of the House this week. He immediately received a standing ovation from both Democratic and Republican colleagues throughout the Chamber.
Legislators have been working to enhance community-based services for the mentally ill and it is too soon, before the capacity is built, to shift the burden to private providers – adding to the current crisis when we are already critically short of beds for mental health patients.
Heaton commented that the governor is making the problem worse by closing Mount Pleasant and Clarinda and that the recent layoff notices, sent to workers at the institutions, are a clear signal that the governor is moving ahead with the closures regardless of the situation and regardless of the wishes of the Iowa Legislature.
The Governor and the DHS director, Palmer, have contended that the services provided at Clarinda and Mount Pleasant could be provided more efficiently and effectively by private programs..” Rep. Heaton stated, “That could be the case, if the programs and services were already in place to meet these needs, but they’re not.”
Superintendent Has Alternative to Laying Off Teachers and Closing Schools
Davenport Schools Superintendent Dr. Art Tate has a plan to use cash reserves to make up for state funding disparities and keep the district from laying off teachers or closing schools. Problem is: it’s against the law.
Superintendent Tate’s response to the Legislature not setting the school supplemental aid (which, by the way, is required by law), “This can all be solved. All they (the Iowa Legislature) need to do is pass a law in the state saying every district can spend up to the highest amount of any district in the state and it’s done.”
Tate says Davenport gets $175 less per student than the 170 highest paid districts in the state. Because his plan is currently against Iowa law, it is getting state-wide attention. He commented, “The legislature doesn’t follow the law [not setting the supplemental aid] and if they can violate it because of whatever reason, I feel that I can in this very narrow case for a moral reason and that’s to support my students.”
Read Superintendents remarks here: Davenport Message
With Supplemental School Aid Still Not Set- A Letter to Share
Included here is a letter from Timothy F. Terry, with permission:
“An open letter to Governor Branstad and the Iowa Legislature,
“Let me ask you this very hard question: When did we decide that middle of the pack was good enough when it came to our children’s education?”
Governor, does that question sounds familiar? It should. These are your words. In 2012 you promoted creating World Class Schools. This was just empty rhetoric. A Harvard study confirms the 18 year downward trajectory of Iowa’s student achievement continues. This is no surprise. School districts are eliminating programs once considered essential to a complete education.
It is March. We have no plan. We are witness to partisan bickering while the future of Iowa’s children is negotiated away. It is the spectacle of impotent government unable to deliver education reform.
We hear about the money. This is nonsense. The long road of fiscal neglect is finally showing in the test scores and the crumbling infrastructure of our educational system. Unlike our long neglected roadways, there is no ten cent a gallon tax available to fix this problem.
Is it a surprise we are challenged attracting educators when we fail to provide resources?
Is it any wonder good administrators throw up their hands in frustration when you fail to meet your legal obligation to define funding by mid-February?
And since when do we defer to business interests on the best way to educate our children?
How bizarre to see the state tourism industry require educators to prove a later start date is harmful to students. Reasonable people would expect business interests to prove a later date is NOT harmful to students.
My Dad loved to tell the story of the farmer who, on discovering he could get by with less oats for his plow horse, reduced them each day. Eventually the horse dropped over dead. Is this where we are heading with Iowa’s education?
We hear the state cannot afford to meet the needs of the children. The defense is one of fiscal responsibility. We just do not have the money to fully fund education. This argument reminds me of Leo Rosten’s definition of chutzpah as: “that quality enshrined in a man who, having killed his mother and father, throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan”.
Last spring I discussed the funding issue with some legislators. After the “we did everything we could and this is better that it would have been” part of the conversation, one of them bragged about his child going to a prestigious east coast college. I was speechless. Regaining my voice I asked: “what about the other children?”
Nearly 4 out of 10 Iowa students qualify for free and reduced meals. This is an increase of 42% since 2001. Iowa schools are more in need of assistance than ever before. It is disingenuous to suggest you are doing all you can to address the education gap when you fail to properly fund education.
It is time to provide the necessary resources to put Iowa back in the front of the pack!”
Tim Terry founded the accounting firm of Terry Lockridge & Dunn in 1978. In 1991 he founded the investment firm World Trade Financial. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for UNESCO City of Literature. From 2003 to 2013 he was President of the Board of Willowwind School in Iowa City.
NOTE:
I voted several times, already this session, to provide a 6% Supplemental School Aid for our public schools, along with every Democrat in the Iowa House. I will continue to cast my vote for 6% and if we can reach compromise at 4% (as offered by the Democratic controlled Senate) I will vote YES for the 4%.
It is time for the Governor and the majority party in the House to move forward and show that they care about Iowa kids!
The Regional First Tech Challenge was held at Coralville Marriot Hotel last weekend, and I’ve gotta tell you – these students were pumped up! Robotics teams came from as far away as China to compete for the opportunity to participate in the next level on the way to the world championship. Kennedy’s CougarBots were keeping their fingers crossed, unsure if they’d be one of the lucky teams to advance. A new team from Cedar Rapids, the Trinity Lutheran School Tri-Hards, was a younger group of 7th and 8th graders, coached by Rockwell engineer, Mike Pownell. Mike explained it’s been a terrific experience for his team – tons of hard work and tons of fun as they discovered that “robotics-nerdy” is the new “cool”!
The 30th Annual State Tournament of the Iowa Academic Decathalon was also held last weekend at Mount Vernon High School. 256 students, grades 9-12 competed this year, including three CR High Schools – Washington, Jefferson and Kennedy. Constituent Deb Snook is coaching the Kennedy team, and I learned that the kids involved are not necessarily A+ students. In fact, each team is comprised A, B and C students. The Decathalon provides students of all learning levels the opportunity to excel academically through team competition. Ten challenges include speech, economics, interview, math, social studies and more. Jefferson coach, Kevin Darrow, is proud of his teams’ accomplishments throughout the years. Kevin explained how their team forms by working together after school and on weekends, teaching one another.
It was truly awesome to see how engaged and enthusiastic these students were While having fun performing, taking tests, and learning new skills and information!
St. Ambrose University Social Work students, Emily Claman-Huss, Ashley Fisher, Natalie Quinn, and constituent Kayla Fricke, spoke with me about SF 300. The bill allows victims of dating violence to charge their abuser with domestic abuse and domestic abuse assault. SF 300 will offer protection to victims of violence in intimate relationships by providing a no-contact order, immediate arrest of the abuser, a required batterer’s education program, and escalating penalties for repeat offenders.
Girls and young women between the ages of 16 and 24 experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence — almost triple the national average. Violent relationships in adolescence can have serious ramifications by putting the victims at higher risk for substance abuse, eating disorders, risky sexual behavior and further domestic violence.
At least 19 states have laws that urge or require school boards to develop curriculum on teen dating violence. SF 300 doesn’t address this aspect, but I’ll be writing an amendment to include it. Education, and thus prevention, are essential to stopping this increase in dating violence.
Great visit with former Cedar Rapidian, Derek Eadon, with Blueprint Strategies, at the America’s Renewable Future legislative reception! ARF is a coalition of companies, organizations and individuals who have formed a bipartisan campaign committed to encouraging presidential candidates to support the federal Renewable Fuel Standard. RFS supports 73,000 Iowa jobs and 5 billion dollars in annual wages paid to Iowans connected to the industry.
Iowa State Association of Counties is at the Capitol and it’s wonderful to visit with friends from home: Linn County Recorder, Joan A McCalmant, and Sheriff, Brian Gardner. Thank you, Joan and Brian, for your service to our community!
The Iowa Foster and Adoptive Parents Association (IFAPA) also held a legislative reception this week and it was great to reconnect with constituent, Janet Rorholm. I have a lot of respect for the 2,000+ licensed foster parents in Iowa. The IFAPA is the only statewide association that provides peer-to-peer support and training for foster, adoptive and kinship families. This helps families develop the skills and expertise needed to parent the children placed in their homes.
Some of these kids have mental health issues and navigating the complex system, to get the services the children need, can be extremely difficult and frustrating.
I appreciated learning more from Janet about some of the trials – and triumphs – foster and adoptive parents experience caring for their kids.
Wonderful visit with the new Superintendent for the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Kim Hermsen, and “superintendent students” – Heather Lightfoot of North English, Adam Kurth of Des Moines, and Sarah Hassebroek of Iowa City.
The students shared their legislative concerns about setting school funding at 6%, local control for school start dates, all-day preschool for 4-yr-olds, school reform, services provided by AEAs, Iowa Core standards increasing levels of student learning in Iowa schools, and school-based mental health services.
School Administrators of Iowa shared a quote from Noah Berger and Peter Fisher of the Economic Policy Institute that fits my philosophy to a T:
“States can build a strong foundation for economic success and shared prosperity by investing in education. Providing expanded access to high-quality education will not only expand economic opportunity for residents, but also likely do more to strengthen the overall state economy than anything else a state government can do.”
I am encouraged and excited about the prospects for our schools under the leadership of these future superintendents!
The Iowa Association of Regional Councils is the trade association for the 17 Councils of Governments (COGs) in Iowa. Since 1988, IARC has brought leaders and communities together to promote economic growth, improve public sector services, and and solve regional issues for the future of Iowa.
At the IARC legislative reception, I had a good discussion with East Central Iowa Council of Governments Executive Director, Doug Elliott, about their priorities. This includes continued state financial support of Councils of Government (COGs) and exploration of additional opportunities to help watersheds develop,
In the past five years, COGs have:
– created and/or retained more than 2,600 job through small business loans that provide gap financing
– rehabilitated 2,900 homes, both renter and owner-occupied
– financed more than 1,300 new homes
– secured and administered more than $226 million in funds for water and sewer infrastructure projects
Learn more about IARCs here: http://www.nado.org/wp-
Not an hour after witnessing the Iowa House vote to do away with Chapter 20 – Collective Bargaining rights- I attended an American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) legislative event.
Had a good discussion with three 6th Judicial Court District parole and probabation officers: Lynn Opp, Julie Schultz and Dawn Larson. Their department provides supervision for nearly 4,000 individuals with caseloads of 50-70 clients. The biggest challenge parole officers are facing is lack of resources – mental health and other wrap-around services that their clients need.
These hard-working parole officers have a huge impact on the safety of our community by monitoring and assisting clients, helping them find jobs and obtain the services they need to become good citizens. (also pictured: Senator Wally Horn and his wife/clerk, Phyllis Peterson)
Colleen Kinney and constituent Linda Armitage came to the Capitol on behalf of the American Association of University Women. We discussed juvenile sex trafficking. Approximately 300,000 children are at risk of being prostituted in the United States. Human trafficking is a low risk, high profit business that according to some estimates reaps $30,000,000 per year in tax-free profits. President Obama has called the fight against human trafficking one of the great human-rights causes of our time.
Although it’s difficult to hear these staggering statistics, it’s crucial our laws are tightened to prevent this horrendous crime from destroying lives.
The other critical priority for AAUW was setting allowable growth at 4% so that our schools have the necessary resources to do their job educating our children.
Thank you, Colleen and Linda for your advocacy on these important issues!
Cedar Rapids Washington High School teachers, Tyler Walker and John Gianforte, brought a group of iJAG students to the Capitol to talk about the success of their program. Initially created for high school seniors as a school-to-work program, iJAG has evolved into an organization serving more than 1,500 students per year in 35 programs (30 schools), reaching into multiple communities across the state of Iowa and Illinois. iJAG has mentored more than 11,000 students who were at the highest risk of disengaging from school or dropping out of school without the skills and motivation needed to succeed in higher education and the workforce.
Courtney Cummins and Kiara Harris, both freshmen, spoke to me about the practical and communications skills they’ve acquired since joining iJAG. They also asked for an extra $300,000 allocated to the program, to reach another 500 students statewide.
iJAG has a proven record with nearly 60% first-generation students attending post-secondary education. It’s terrific to see first-hand the positive results of a terrific program, helping students considered at-risk to succeed.
The University of Iowa Flood Center held a legislative reception where I spoke with Professor Larry Weber and Senator Joe Bolkcom about research being done at the Center. This fall, 50 new stream stage sensors will be installed across the state, bringing the ability for more communities to better watch waterways. Assistant Research Scientist, Jim Niemeier, demonstrated how the Iowa Hydrologic Network analyzes and forecasts floods and droughts by gathering data on soil moisture, groundwater, rainfall and other weather conditions. Cedar Rapids is in the process of purchasing three of these stations, which will help the city better predict local flooding.
Pediatricians Dr. Amy Shriver and Dr. Jennifer Groose are deeply concerned about parts of the “Omnibus Gun Bill” that would allow children to handle and use firearms. There is overwhelming empirical evidence that guns endanger children.
Firearm-related deaths continue as 1 of the top 3 causes of death in American youth.
And according to Dr. Brent Prather of the Prather Pediatric and Allergy Clinic in L.A., 40 percent of children younger than 16 who died by suicide did not have a clearly definable psychiatric disorder.
What they did have was a loaded gun in the home.
“If the kids are under 16, the availability of a gun is more important than psychiatric disorder,” Dr. Brent said. “They’re not suicidal one minute, then they are. Or they’re mad and they have a gun available.”
50% of all kids who are accidentally shot occur in their own homes and 38% in the homes of friends or relatives. A firearm in the home is 43 times more likely to kill friends or family than an intruder, according to the New England Journal of medicine.
Guns should be kept locked up and out of the hands of impulsive adolescents and curious children. They are not toys.
http://pediatrics.
http://www.bradycampaign.org/
http://smartgunlaws.org/child-
On a much lighter note, I enjoyed visiting with Iowa City’s Elder Services Inc. RSVP Director, Rosemary Schwartz, about older Iowan volunteers. This is a United Way of East Central Iowa 55+ initiative which resulted in providing over 53,000 volunteer hours last year from 479 RSVP volunteers! Senior Iowans are the fastest growing population and Iowa’s greatest natural resource. If you’re interested in using your skills to help your neighbors, you can sign up here: http://
For 150 years, Lutheran Services in Iowa has compassionately stood beside our most vulnerable citizens. Their mission is to partner with children, youth and families, people with disabilities, the elderly and people of refugee status – helping people in times of need, strengthening families and advocating dignity and social justice for our neighbors in the community.
This week, a large group from LSI were at the Capitol advocating for an increase in the Family Investment Program (FIP) grants to families. FIP provides temporary cash assistance to families with children with a goal of helping the family get out of poverty and become self-supporting. Since 1989, the maximum amount a family of four could receive is $495 a month. Another LSI focus is investing in people of refugee status, providing skills training and community-based ESL classes.
It was great to learn more about these initiatives from Cedar Rapidians: Daryl Julich, Rev. Linda Livingston (pastor at Ascension Lutheran Church in Marion), Tom Reuss and Pat Fish.
Award-winning filmmaker, Luis Argueta, showed a portion of his film, ABRAZOS, to legislators. The Iowa Catholic Conference and United Methodist Legislative Advocates hosted the filmmaker who is perhaps best known for his film, abUSed: The Postville Raid.
ABRAZOS tells the transformational journey of a group of US citizen children who travel from Minnesota to Guatemala to meet their grandparents for the first time. Currently, there are 4.5- 5 million US citizen children living with at least one undocumented parent. Even though the kids are entitled to the same rights and freedoms of all Americans, many of them live with the constant fear of separation from their parents.
What can state legislators do about this plight? While we have no impact over federal immigration laws, we can respect and protect the rights of all of our natural-born US citizens, including the children of immigrants.
I encourage you to watch this film: http://abrazosthefilm.com/
(pictured with Representative Chuck Isenhart)
March of Dimes – Iowa Chapter representative, Andrea Skow, discussed the agency’s legislative agenda. These priorities are focused on programs that impact Iowa’s babies, including: access to medical coverage, funding state registry which tracks birth defects and disorders, funding the evidence-based Medical Homes, supporting the Healthy Families Program and supporting alcohol warning signage for pregnant women.
The next March of Dimes March for Babies will be Sunday, April 26th. To contribute or sign up: https://www.marchforbabies.
Wonderful to show off our beautiful capitol building to relatives! Our brother-in-law, Victor Pawlak and his daughter, Leslie, drove all the way from Houston for a visit. We may not do things as BIG as Texas, but we sure do things. : )
Continue Reading the Statehouse News
To read the rest of my Statehouse News go to:http://iowahouse.org/
