Mary Lou Freeman STATE REPRESENTATIVE Fifty-Second District Statehouse:  (515) 281-3221 e-mail – mary.freeman@legis.state.ia.us   HOME ADDRESS 203 Villa Road Alta, IA 51002 Home: 712-732-3781

House of Representatives State of Iowa Eighty-First General Assembly STATEHOUSE Des Moines, Iowa 50319

COMMITTEES Natural Resources, Chair Commerce, Regulation & Labor Human Resources   APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE Economic Development

 

FREEMAN FOOTNOTES

January 20, 2005

 

Due to the Martin Luther King holiday on Monday, this is going to be a short week for the Iowa Legislature.  Despite the short week, we have gotten in the normal number of committee meetings.  I serve as chair of the Natural Resource Committee, and also am a member of the Commerce, Labor and Energy Committee, as well as the Human Resource Committee.   These committees have all started addressing the issues and are assigning bills for sub-committee work. 

            On Thursday morning, the Economic Development Budget Sub-Committee took a field trip to the Department of Economic Development to meet with Director Blouin and the commissioners who were ending their monthly meeting.  It was a great opportunity for those of us on the committee to get acquainted with the commission and hear their views for the future of economic development in Iowa.  Under the leadership of Michael Blouin, the group of people who serve on this commission are encouraged to be visionaries.  They come from all parts of the state, and I left with the belief that they sincerely want all of Iowa to share in the economic boom they envision for the state.

            The issue of lead poisoning was the topic of discussion in the Human Resources Committee.  Many counties in Iowa, including Sac, have active programs to test and identify lead poisoning in children.  Only by identifying the problem can anything be done to abate the situation found in many homes built before 1960.   For many years, the issue of lead poisoning was put on the back burner and ignored.  Only after it was shown that high levels of lead in children’s blood can cause lifetime developmental disabilities was the problem addressed.  The Federal Government has funded the lion’s share of the lead program with state and local governments contributing a minor share.  The problem they are facing today is that the federal money is coming with more and more restrictions.  Next year they will be required to target only the high population areas, which will leave the programs in the rural communities dependent on state or local funding.

            Deer continue to be the primary topic of discussion in the Natural Resource Committee.   Director Vonk appeared before the committee twice this week; once to address the deer-crash situation in Iowa and again to present the department’s legislative agenda for the year.    He fielded questions from the committee which ranged from boat enforcement to invasive species, and, of course, both deer and hunting issues.  

            It was a pleasure to have a visit from members of the Alta VFW as well as a couple of area school superintendents.  Please stop by if you are at the Capitol.   I can be reached via email at mfreema@legis.state.ia.us or mfreema@iw.net ; phone 515-281-7481 (weekdays) or 712-732-3781 (weekends)

 

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