FROM THE DESK OF REPRESENTATIVE DE BOEF

March 31, 2005

Every two years the state legislature takes time to honor our retired members who have passed away.  This year’s memorial service was held March 30^th in the House Chambers.  I am always in awe of the majesty of this service honoring former members.  Particularly touching to me were the tributes to the late Representative from my district, George Swearingen, who passed away in February.  Also very gripping was the sight of the young Tyler Davis, son of Galen Davis, from Ottumwa standing in honor of his young father, who was killed in a car accident in February.  One of my colleagues, Representative Linda Upmeyer was honored to read the tribute to her father, former speaker of the House Del Stromer. 

Upon conclusion of the memorial service, we gaveled back in to debate the Education appropriations bill.  The House Education Appropriations bill increases education funding by $40 million over the current (FY 05) fiscal year.

• $13.4 million increase for the Student Achievement and Teacher Quality program, for a total funding of $58.7 million. 
  • $8.9 million for teacher professional development.  This funds one contract day.
  • $4.5 million for maintaining the program and funding the built-in increases in beginning salaries, mentoring and induction, National Board Certification.
• $9.1 million increase for the House Republican’s Early Childhood proposal, for total Community Empowerment funding of $22.5 million.
  • $7 million to Community Empowerment. Of that amount, $3 million goes for preschool tuition for low income families.  The remaining $4 million is an increase for the School Ready Grants.
  • $1 million for professional development for both child care and preschool providers delivered in cooperation with the AEAs, community colleges.
  • $1 million for an ISU Extension child care assistance program.
  • $100,000 for a state administrator of Community Empowerment.
• $6.3 million increase in Community College state general aid.  ($700,000 above the Governor’s recommendation)  The total appropriation is now $146 million.
• $6.3 million increase to the Board of Regents for disbursement to the universities.  Also requires the Regents to generate internal funding reallocations in an amount equal to 50 percent of this amount.
• $2.5 million increase in the Iowa Tuition Grant program (private colleges) for a total of nearly $50 million.
• $900,000 increase for the National Guard Tuition program for a total of $3.8 million.

The early childhood portion of the bill represents the first of four bills that will make up the House Republican Plan on early childhood.  The plan will centralize 22 state-run programs that serve children ages 0-5.  Currently there are three different state departments that run early childhood programs in Iowa.  Centralizing these state programs into a convenient location will allow more cooperation and collaboration and prevent the state from duplicating efforts.  The goal of the House Republicans is to have 100% of Iowa’s children in quality settings, not 90% in one setting.  The Governor’s early childhood plan on the other hand, is essentially government-run childcare in a one-size fits all model.  Iowa parents know what is best for their children and deserve options that match their values instead of being forced into a government-run child care system.  The Governor’s plan doesn’t even mention parents or private providers.

As I write this, I observe that tomorrow is the first of April.  The session is usually ended by the first week in May.  With the balance of power in the Senate, it will be interesting to see whether we are able to adjourn this legislative session in that time frame this year.  So far, they have been unable to agree to move many bills, with nine of our bills laying untouched at the present time.  I am confident, however, that each Senator has the best interests of Iowa in mind – they just disagree on what those interests are.  Only time will tell if a compromise will be found among those differences.

Question of the Week…

Recently we have reevaluated aspects of the sex offender registry.  With that debate, the question of penalties for sex offenders, such as the one in the Cedar Rapids case, has come up.  Would you support increasing penalties for sexual offenders?