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House Democrats to focus on veterans bills next week

February 12, 2009 By

Democrats in the Iowa House plan to push a series of bills next week to support veterans and their families. Monticello Representative Ray Zirkelbach served nearly two years in Iraq with the Iowa Army National Guard. He says without proper mental health treatment, a new generation of veterans could end up homeless or dead. "Recent reports by the Department of Defense indicate that the suicide numbers are higher than actual active duty that are killed overseas in Iraq right now," Zirklebach said. "So, we need to be progressive on this issue. We need to take steps to ensure that the Iraqi and Afghanistan veterans get the care that they need – not to neglect veterans like what happened during the Vietnam War."

The proposed measures include a time off from work for military family members and mandatory insurance coverage for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Webster City Representative McKinley Bailey served in both Iraq and Afghanistan with the U.S. Army. He says active duty soldiers also deserve temporary protection from forclosure. "We just think if foreclosure is going to happen, it can wait until after they get home. We don’t want to be kicking families out of their houses while their father or mother is away serving in Iraq or Afghanistan," Bailey said.

Iowa has one of the highest numbers of national guard and reserve members in the nation who have been called to active duty. Zirklebach says those soldiers deserve more attention when they return home. He cited a newspaper report claiming there were around one-thousand homeless veterans in the state last year. "That is unacceptable," Zirklebach said. "We need to hit this at the beginning, be proactive about it and take preventative measures so we can ensure that 20 to 30 years down the road that our brothers and sisters aren’t in the same situation as those of the Vietnam veterans."

Many business organizations are opposed to any new insurance mandate for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Even if it only applies to veterans, they say it will increase premiums for companies already struggling with rising insurance costs.

Filed Under: Military Tagged With: ,

Changing age restrictions in balloting

February 12, 2009 By

On a party-line vote, a House committee has voted to let Iowans who would reach the age of 18 by Election Day in November to vote in the Primary Election in June. That means Iowans who are just over 17 and a half years old could vote in party primaries in June.

Representative Charles Isenhart, a Democrat from Dubuque, says it’s another way to get young people interested in politics. "Every other year we will have a generation of high school seniors who will actually still be in school at the time they are entering into an election season, an election that they’ll be able to vote at," Isenhart says. "I think it will be a tremendous opportunity for the civics teachers in some of our high schools to start educating our young people on benefits of voting and how to get involved in an election that’s impending."

All 12 Democrats on the House State Government Committee voted for the bill, but all nine Republicans voted against it. "There are certain things you can do when you’re 18. There are certain things you can do when you’re 21," Representative Doug Struyk, a Republican from Council Bluffs, said. "We don’t say, ‘Hey…I’m 20-and-a-half, can I go buy a case of beer and not drink it ’til I’m 21?’"

Struyk and other Republicans argued that in some districts which lean heavily in favor of one party, the June Primary decides who will represent the district, as a candidate from the opposing party often doesn’t even step forward to challenge the primary winner in the general election.  "We’re now giving a child, (an) un-emancipated minor, the ability to decide and cast a deciding vote in that election," Struyk says. "That is a serious, serious step."

Isenhart, the Democrat who was the bill’s chief backer in committee countered, saying that makes it even more important that those 17-and-a-half year olds get to vote in the primary. "Many of the elections we run in, the primary election is the general election for all intents and purposes, and the person elected at the next general election will be the representative of those people who will turn 18…and this will give those folks an opportunity to elect or vote on the person who will represent them as adults," Isenhart says.

The bill must next clear the full, 100-member House, then win approval in the senate before it heads to the governor for his approval.

"As Secretary of State and now Governor, Chet Culver has been a tireless advocate for increasing youth participation in voting.  As a result, the Governor will consider every piece of legislation that helps to achieve this goal," Troy Price, a spokesman for Culver, said in a prepared statement.  "This (bill) is still under review by the Governor and his staff, and he will make a decision in a timely manner."

 

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

UNI needs 3 wins with 4 MVC games to go

February 12, 2009 By

UNI’s magic number to clinch a first-ever Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship is down to three games following the Panthers’ lop-sided 81-55 victory over Southern Illinois in Cedar Falls Wednesday night.

UNI Coach Ben Jacobson says they wanted to be aggressive and maybe more so than usual. His team trailed only once in the game. Reserves Lucas O’Rear and Travis Brown combined for 21 points, igniting a bench that outscored the injury-depleted Salukis 32-4.

A total of nine different Panthers scored in the game. Jacobson says that versatility has been instrumental to UNI’s success, he says it’s been a big part of what they do, and it extends all the way through their bench.

 

With the win, UNI maintains a two-game lead in the Valley race with four remaining. None of the team’s players or coaches are talking about the possibility of winning the league crown. Instead, Brown says the Panthers are focused on finishing the season strong. Brown says they are on the right track, but haven’t finished the season yet. He says they are on the way to finish strong, and that’s what they want to do.

The 26-point win matched UNI’s largest victory margin over Southern Illinois in the 44-game series. The Panthers travel to Wichita State on Saturday. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Iowa women look for win in only game against OSU

February 12, 2009 By

If the Iowa women need to improve their NCAA Tournament resume then tonight’s game at home against Ohio State is an opportunity. The Buckeyes are 10-2 and lead the league race while the Hawkeyes are 7-5 after squandering a late lead in a loss at Minnesota over the weekend.

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder says the Buckeyes have a lot of great weapons, but can also rebound the ball well. She says they only play them once and are glad to have them on the home floor.

Bluder says one of the biggest things to overcome against the Buckeyes is their confidence, as they believe in themselves and have a great culture and tradition of winning. Iowa is 14-9 overall. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

New Jersey company charged with fraud involving high-tech jobs

February 12, 2009 By

U.S. Attorney Matt Whittaker A New Jersey-based company, which has an office in Coon Rapids, Iowa, is facing charges of visa and mail fraud. Eleven people were arrested Wednesday in connection with the case in six states.

U.S. Attorney Matt Whitaker, who represents Iowa’s Southern District, says Vision Systems Group Inc. brought foreign workers to the U.S. to fill temporary high-tech jobs.

The company filed documents claiming the workers were employed in Iowa, but Whitaker says they were actually located on the coasts. Whitaker says the move saved the company money as the foreign workers were paid lower wages in Iowa than they would have been paid in places like New Jersey and California.

In addition, prosecutors allege the tactic displaced American workers that were qualified to fill those positions in those coastal locations. Whitaker calls Vision Systems Group an I-T company and says the foreign workers were hired for advanced computer programming positions.

"These fraud schemes are not only very sophisticated in their use of Iowa as a location to drive down the prevailing wage that they can pay their workers – and then farm them out to more higher-wage, populated areas – but also how lucrative it is for the individuals that are behind these schemes," Whitaker said. The indictment claims the illegal maneuver may have saved the company more than seven-million dollars. Whitaker called the 18-month long investigation the "tip of the iceberg" and expects similar arrests in the future.

"I think we fully expect…there are other targets and other companies that are similarly situated," Whitaker said. Michael Aytes is the acting deputy director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. He calls Vision Systems a legitimate company, but claims its top officials took advantage of a "vulnerability" in the program, called H-1-B, that allows businesses to bring foreign workers to the U.S.

"Any program, public or private, as good as it may be, is vulnerable to fraud," Aytes said. "What we found here is that some folks have found some ways to make misrepresentations to the government – that disadvantaged American workers who did not have an opportunity to apply for the real jobs that existed. It illustrates a need for greater diligence in the process. That’s going to be our focus at C-I-S moving forward."

Whitaker’s announcement this morning coincided with the arrest of two men for immigration-related fraud charges in Clinton. The two cases are not related. "They’re similar…I would call it a sister-case," Whitaker said. "It’s a very similar enforcement effort and our office was involved, but we’re not alleging they’re related." According to court papers, the two men charged in eastern Iowa, both have lived in Fairfield and Clinton and worked at a Clinton-based computer software company called Sana Systems.

Filed Under: Business, Crime & Courts Tagged With:

Rookie legislator charged with drunken driving

February 12, 2009 By

A state legislator from Waterloo was arrested for drunken driving early Wednesday morning in a Des Moines suburb. Representative Kerry Burt, a 44-year-old Democrat from Waterloo, was pulled over at about 2:30 in the morning by Ankeny police.

Burt has issued a statement, apologizing to his family, constitutents and colleagues. Burt is a new member of the Iowa House, elected last November. In the statement, Burt said he will comply with the terms of the court. In addition, Burt said he would "work to assure that I never have a similar incident."

The entire text of his statement is below:

"I was involved in an incident Wednesday morning with the Ankeny Police Department that resulted in my being arrested for OWI 1st Offense.

"I apologize to my constituents, House colleagues and all of my friends and family.

"I will let the process run its normal course and I will comply with the terms of the court. With the help and support of my friends and family, I will work to assure that I never have a similar incident."

 

 

 

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Iowa’s banks "safe & sound" according to banking superintendent

February 12, 2009 By

The state banking superintendent says Iowa banks are "safe and sound," but Iowans appear to be "hunkering down" and shying away from taking out new loans.

Iowa Banking Superintendent Thomas Gronstal testified this morning before the Legislative Oversight Committee at the statehouse. "Right now there are very few businesses trying to expand and most people are pretty concerned about the future," Gronstal says. "Iowans are generally financially responsible, so in times like these they are reluctant to contract for a lot more debt."

There are 319 state-chartered banks in Iowa and, according to Gronstal, just 15 of them are considered slightly troubled and are being monitored by state and federal regulators."At this point, it appears to me that they’ll all be able to work through their problems," Gronstal said.

Gronstal joked about his ability to predict the future, but he did offer this sober assessment. "I think we’re in for…a pretty long slog through this thing and I don’t know if it’s going to be a year or two years or three years," Gronstal said. "I do think that as you compare Iowa to the states around us and the rest of the states in the nation is probably as well positioned to deal with it as anyone, but if layoffs continue to increase, if crop prices decline, if people jsut hunker down and remain in a fearful state that they don’t want to do anything, it’s going to take us a long time to turn this thing around."

Fifty-one Iowa-based banks have applied for federal bailout bucks, including West Des Moines-based West Bank, which received $36 million. Tom Stanberry, West Bank’s chairman and C.E.O., is also chair of the Iowa Bankers Association. "I believe there are several elements that are going to be involved in our recovery from the economic recession that the country’s in right now., Government assistance is clearly going to be clearly needed and the primary source of that government assistance is going to have to come from the federal government and that’s going to be used to jump-start the economy," Stanberry said. "The ultimate recovery is going to come from the private sector and it’s going to come from private banks and private businesses that will generate employment and generate property taxes and get the economy back on its feet."

Stanberry talked in detail about the way his bank will be repaying the $36 million to the federal government with, essentially, five percent interest. "It was designed to be injected only into healthy banks," Stanberry said. "The scrutiny process that we had to go through to receive the money was a process that involved all of our state and federal regulators, very much like an examination."

In addition, Stanberry cited a National Federation of Independent Business survey which found just seven percent of small businesses had been turned down for loans last year, an indication credit is available, but no one’s taking out new loans. "We have to restore consumer confidence and get people to believe in the economy of the United States and believe that we do have a robust economy once it gets back up and running," Stanberry said.

Legislators had invited the leaders of two other Iowa banks which have received federal bailout money to testify, but neither showed up at the statehouse this morning. Stanberry suggested to legislators that he was speaking for a "collection" of banks in his role as chairman of the Iowa Bankers Association.

AUDIO: Banking execs testify. 43:00 MP3

Filed Under: Business, Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,
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