The Deyoe Dispatch
By State Representative Dave Deyoe
Revenue Down, More Budget Problems Ahead
On March 2, Fiscal Services released the general fund revenue numbers through the first eight months of the fiscal year. After being close to the REC estimate in January, actual year-to-date revenue took a nosedive in February, coming in a full percentage point below the estimate.
Actual year-to-date revenue for FY 2009 was down 1.5 percent, or -$60 million compared to FY 2008. The REC estimate for all of FY 2009 is a reduction of $28 million, or -0.5 percent compared to FY 08.
Sales tax revenue saw a slight increase of $19 million compared to first eight months of FY 08, once the $221 million of school infrastructure refunds is subtracted. However, personal income tax revenue was down in February by $4 million (-1.3 percent) and tax refunds were up by $63.6 million compared to the same time period last year. Also, corporate income tax was down $22.7 million, or 64 percent.
Also alarming is the fact that almost all of the smaller facets of general fund revenue were down compared to February, 2008. Inheritance, insurance, franchise and cigarette tax revenue were all down as were interest, fees, judicial revenue and miscellaneous receipts.
These numbers are cause for alarm. Not only does it mean that the state has not seen the bottom yet, it means that the bill approved last week to balance the FY 2009 budget is insufficient.
Holly Lyons, a member of the REC, said that if the numbers don’t improve in the next three weeks, the REC will be forced to dramatically lower the estimate for FY 2009, which in turn will lower the estimate for FY 2010. At that point, the Governor will be required to re-submit his budget .
Environmental Panel Okays City Residential Trash Burn Ban Measure
On Monday, March 2, 2009, the House Environmental Protection Committee passed House Study Bill 90 on a party-line 12-aye to 9-nay vote. HSB 90 is a complete ban of residential waste open burning in any municipality across the state. The bill directs DNR to devise and adopt administrative rules to implement a phased-in-ban of the burning of residential waste. The ban includes burning leaves despite the fact that cities already have the option to ban leaf burning.
Some exceptions include certain burning activities within
cities associated with: (1) agricultural farming activities, (2) natural
resources rejuvenative purposes such as proscribed prairies and woodland fires,
(3) natural disaster rubbish/debris resulting from a disaster which the Governor
has issued proclamation pursuant to Iowa Code section 29.C, and (4) tree and
tree trimming open burning by a city at a designated and supervised site
I have some concerns that this legislation will:
(1) impose significant new garbage collection fees on homeowners who live in some of our most income limited communities;
(2) increase hauling costs and inconvenience for homeowners who take their own residential waste to landfills that may serve their area which in many cases may be more than 20 to 30-miles one way trip.
(3) create perverse consequence of pushing some communities to considering disincorporation in order to avoid being subject to this law; and
(4) incur even more costly unintended consequence of creating more incentive for people to illegally dump in order avoid solid waste pick up charges, or result in residential debris accumulations in communities with limited means of effective enforcement.
Health Care Assistance Available to Unemployed Iowans
With a growing number of Iowans losing jobs, the federal government has provided some assistance to allow unemployed Iowans to maintain healthcare coverage. The federal stimulus bill provided assistance to help employees and employers pay for COBRA coverage.
To be eligible, just as has always been the case for COBRA continuation, an employee on a group health plan has to have been involuntarily terminated. If a person is eligible because of involuntary termination, the provisions of the stimulus bill require that the termination has to have occurred in the time period beginning on September 1, 2008 through December 31, 2009.
Since this is all new, many of the details have not been released by the federal government. Anyone having questions about extending COBRA coverage should give the Insurance Division a call at 1-877-955-1212.
Additional sources of information can be found at:
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204708,00.html – how businesses can utilize the credits from payroll tax to pay for the assistance; and
http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fsCOBRApremiumreduction.html - U.S. Department of Labor information sheet.
Major flu strain resistant to Tamiflu - Iowa’s flu vaccine
stockpile could now be worthless
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Monday that virtually all cases of the most common strain of flu circulating in the United States now resist the main drug used to treat it. CDC researchers said 98 percent of all flu samples from the H1N1 strain were resistant to Roche AG's Tamiflu, a pill that can both treat flu and prevent infection.
The ability of the flu vaccine to transform itself into a drug-resistant form is very troubling to researchers. Last flu season, only 19 percent of H1N1 viruses tested were Tamiflu-resistant.
The H1N1 strain is the most common strain of flu in the United States this year, although the flu season is a mild one so far and still below the levels considered an epidemic. This season, nine children have died from influenza, most apparently healthy before they died of flu, the CDC reports.
Four years ago, the federal government allowed states like Iowa to purchase vast stockpiles of Tamiflu to be used in the occurrence of a flu pandemic. The state’s Executive Council provided nearly $6 million to the Department of Public Health to purchase the drugs and maintain the stockpile. With this revelation, serious questions are being raised about the stockpile.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.
Home phone: 515-382-2352
E-mail: Dave.Deyoe@legis.state.ia.us