February 23, 2012

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Cancer Society exec urges politicians to consider human side of health care debate

February 23, 2012 By

Otis Brawley

The American Cancer Society’s chief medical officer met with Iowa’s governor Wednesday, warning that the political fight over the national health care reform law isn’t solving the core problem. Dr. Otis Brawley is also a professor at Emory University in Atlanta.

 ”I’m hearing a lot of talk amongst politicians that end up talking about lots of numbers and become devoice of the fact that we’re talking about human being here,” Brawley says, “human beings who have, I think, an inalienable right to health care who are not getting that health care that they deserve.”

Brawley says politicians have “forgotten” the human side of the debate over health care reform.

“This health care reform thing is an interesting political and philosophical discussion until you or your loved one is the person who is sick,” Brawley says, “and you or your loved one is trying to figure out how you’re going to pay for the $80,000 a year cancer drug.”

Brawley says politicians need to stop quarreling about health care “rationing” and start devising a “rational” approach to ensuring all Americans have access to quality health care services.

“We have a group of people who are not getting the services that every human being should get,” Brawley says, “And, ironically, we also have a group of people who over-consume health care and are actually harmed by their over-consumption of health care.”

Brawley says he’s “open” to better solutions than he’s seen so far, but the federal “Affordable Care Act” seems to be the only viable option today to address access issues. Brawley met with a small group of legislators and then had a private meeting with Governor Branstad on Wednesday.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, News, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , ,

Expanding “Bottle Bill” to cover 500 million more bottles fails

February 23, 2012 By

Tomorrow is the deadline for a host of bills to clear a House or Senate committee and a bill that would have expanded Iowa’s “Bottle Bill” to cover water bottles has failed to survive the deadline.

Environmentalists and other supporters argue Iowans would have been able to return half a billion more empty containers for water and sports drinks and claim a deposit fee if the bill had become law. Grocers, beverage bottlers and beer distributors opposed the expansion.

Lobbyist Bill Wimmer represents Hy-Vee, the Iowa Beverage Association and Iowa Wholesaler Distributors. ”Frankly, what we would like to look at is going to a different system altogether,” Wimmer says.

Grocers complain of the filth that comes into their stores with the empties and have long sought to get rid of the “Bottle Bill” in favor of curbside recycling for empty bottles and cans. 

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, News, Politics & Government

Senate panel endorses Internet poker play, run by Iowa casinos (audio)

February 22, 2012 By

A bill that would let Iowa casinos run on-line poker games easily cleared the Senate State Government Committee this evening.

AUDIO of committee debate, runs 4:50.

Senator Bill Dix, a Republican from Shell Rock who voted for the bill, pointed to provisions that would forbid companies found guilty of criminal activity elsewhere from being involved.

“We have a situation here in Iowa where Iowa citizens are not being protected and this bill will do that,” Dix said. “We have unscrupulous operators from off-shore accounts who are preying on the citizens of Iowa and this bill seeks to solve that problem.”

Senator Rick Bertrand, a Republican from Sioux City, said senators began considering this issue a year ago and took their time working through the details.

“I don’t see this as an expansion of gaming. I see this as an expansion of an existing freedom,” Bertrand said. “I think has great potential for Iowa for us to get out in front of this and be a leader nationwide.”

In 1989 Iowa was the first state in the country to legalize “riverboat gambling” and Sioux City is home to one of the casinos.

It took less than five minutes for the Senate State Government Committee to debate the bill and only four senators on the 15-member panel voted against it. Senators Jack Hatch, a Democrat from Des Moines; Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull; Mark Chelgren, a Republican from Ottumwa; and Roby Smith, a Republican from Davenport all voted no.

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Legislators seek assurances “tot mom” case can’t happen here

February 22, 2012 By

A bill to create tough new penalties for a parent who fails to report their child is missing has been tabled at the state capitol. However, a small group of Iowa legislators is asking the state attorney general’s office to issue a statement indicating a parent guilty of such conduct could and would be charged under current state law.

Representative Julian Garrett, a Republican from Indianola, says legislators want to reassure the public after a high-profile Florida case involving a young mother whose toddler was found dead inside a garbage bag.

“We don’t want to risk that kind of a case here in Iowa,” Garrett says.

The trial of Casey Anthony was televised nationally last summer. She’s the so-called “tot mom” who did not report that her nearly three-year-old daughter was missing and — after her own mother reported her grandchild had been missing for a month — claimed the toddler had been abducted by a nanny. A jury in Orlando acquitted Anthony of murder and Garrett suggests Iowans want some sort of reassurance that wouldn’t happen here.

“They saw what they thought was an injustice,” Garrett says. “There’s a big concern.”

Representative Jeff Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton, says Iowans from “across the political spectrum” have contacted him about the case.

“In eight years, never did I receive more emails and contacts than on this issue,” Kaufmann says. “This was number one.”

Kaufmann sponsored a bill which would have allowed prosecutors to charge a parent who “recklessly” failed within a 24-hour period to make contact with or “verify the whereabouts” of a child under the age of 12. He tabled the bill, but expects the state attorney general to draft a statement suggesting parents who’re like Florida “tot mom” Casey Anthony would be prosecuted. Kaufmann wants that statement by mid-March, before the Iowa Legislature adjourns for the year and Kaufmann suggests he’ll push to pass his bill if he doesn’t get the right answers.

“I don’t want that gavel to fall unless we know from the experts across the spectrum that you feel that kids are safe from this kind of situation,” Kaufmann says.

Marty Ryan, a lobbyist for the Justice Reform Consortium, suggests there’s no way the state can guarantee kids are always safe.

“Is this about prevention or vindication?” Ryan says. “And the answer I received was both, but I don’t think it’s going to prevent anything. I can’t see how it will prevent anything.”

Ryan says the state already has laws which allow parents to be charged with child endangerment, neglect, abandonment and even hiding a corpse.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, News, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Government efficiency plan would reduce legislators’ pension pay-outs

February 22, 2012 By

House Republicans have crafted a “government efficiency” package that includes a ban on using food stamps to buy junk food.

Craig Schoenfeld, a lobbyist for Hy-Vee, suggests that would turn grocers into the food police. “Watching things go through and dictating consumer choice,” Schoenfeld says.

Lana Ross represents the statewide network of Community Action Agencies and she says while they encourage folks to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, those are often the most expensive items per serving in the store.

“When it comes down to dollars and cents, it’s going to cost more for them to purchase healthier foods,” Ross says.

Representative Peter Cownie, a Republican from West Des Moines who is the bill’s manager, admits there are some controversial items in the bill that may be removed, including the ban on using food stamps to buy junk food.

“This is my fourth year down here,” Cownie says. “I have learned that it’s always easier to say no than yes.”

Another proposal in the government efficiency bill would reduce pensions for legislators themselves. Legislators currently get to count their daily expense money as income when they calculate the pensions they’ll get from the Iowa Public Employees Retirement System or IPERS. Cownie says people in the private sector don’t get to count reimbursement for travel, food and other business expenses as income.

“It just doesn’t really pass the sniff test to go to IPERS for a legislator,” Cownie says.

Another section of the bill calls on state officials to sell off state-owned land in order to raise money for environmental initiatives. Mike Heller of the Iowa Conservation Alliance objects to the idea.

“There isn’t enough public land right now and selling it would be counter-productive,” Heller says.

Ironically, some of the money generated by selling state-owned land would be used for programs that see the state buy private land for conservation.

Other parts of the government-efficiency bill call upon state workers to make it a practice to print on both sides of a sheet of paper and to use email rather than the U.S. Postal Service when possible. The bill got an initial hearing in a subcommittee Tuesday.

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

A cupcake experiment at the capitol

February 21, 2012 By

Iowa College Republicans were handing out free cupcakes at the statehouse today — under one condition.

Legislators and anyone else in the capitol who wanted a cupcake had to show a valid photo I.D. to get it. The event was designed by the College Republicans to showcase a proposal from Republican Secretary of State Matt Schultz. He wants legislators to pass a bill requiring voters to show a photo I.D. before they can cast a ballot.  Iowa Federation of College Republicans chair Natalie Ginty, a student at the University of Iowa, says their cupcake experiment proved showing a photo I.D. to vote isn’t that onerous.

“I mean, yes, we’re in the Iowa capitol,” Ginty said. “But I guarantee going around the state of Iowa you can go around and do it at your local election place and it will not be a problem.”

A few people in the capitol who lined up for cupcakes tried to show the photo I.D. issued to those who have a security pass to enter the statehouse after hours, but Ginty says that wasn’t valid.

“A couple of state legislators had to go back to their desk and grab their wallet…because the state I.D. didn’t work…because it has no expiration date, but a driver’s license does work. A passport works,” Ginty says. “You have to show an I.D. to go on a plane. You have to show an I.D. to get Social Security benefits. You have to show an I.D. to get your food stamps. There’s really no reason…that you cannot show it to go vote.”

Critics say there’s no evidence voter fraud is a problem in Iowa and the bill could prevent some senior citizens, low-income Iowans and even nuns from voting because they don’t have cars and, therefore, don’t have a driver’s license as a photo I.D.

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Giving child sex abuse victims more time to sue abusers

February 21, 2012 By

Iowans who were sexually abused as children would have more time to file a lawsuit against their alleged abuser if a bill pending in the Iowa Senate becomes law.

Today, someone who was sexually abused as a child must file a lawsuit against their alleged abuser after they turn 18 — and before they turn 19. Bill LaHay of Des Moines says when he was a child, he was abused by a Catholic priest and he’s urging legislators to change the law.

“Anything that offers a person — a survivor, a victim — more time to come to terms with that is a good thing,” LaHay says.

Under the bill, victims of child sexual abuse would have nine more years to file a lawsuit against their abuser seeking damages — right up until the victim reaches the age of 29. LaHay says few 18-year-olds understand the consequences of the abuse they may have suffered as a child.

“The things that really show the damages don’t start happening until you see repetitive patterns in job or professional life, in relationships or marriage issues, or anything like that,” LaHay says. “So it takes a while for some of the damages to actually surface in a way that’s serious enough for a person to recognize this may be more than normal difficulties they may be experiencing.”

Paul Koeniguer of Des Moines says his daughter was sexually abused between the ages of four and 14, and she didn’t realize how the abuse had affected her until she was in her mid-20s — far beyond the current cut-off for filing a civil lawsuit against her alleged abuser.

“It is such a serious crime. The effects on her have been catastrophic,” Koeniguer says. “I mean, she’s still struggling with it and she’s in her 40s. The seriousness of the crime, I think, bears extending the statute of limitations significantly.”

The phrase “statute of limitations” is a reference to the limit or deadline for filing a lawsuit. Under current law someone has a year after they become an adult to file a civil lawsuit against someone who sexually abused them as a child. Many states give child sexual abuse victims longer periods of time to go to court and seek damages from an alleged abuser. Some critics have warned courts would be overwhelmed by such cases, but LaHay says that hasn’t happened in other states.

“It isn’t a blank check for any kind of casual action. Every person that I know of had to go through extensive affidavits, depositions, evaluations by forensic psychologists,” LaHay says. “You run a gauntlet, so the idea that there would be a risk of fraudulent or casual exploitation of this, I think, has never been proven.” 

The bill would also give those who “become aware” of abuse they suffered when they were under the age of 14 up to a decade to file a lawsuit after that moment of discovery. The bill also gives law enforcement a much longer period of time to build a criminal case against someone suspected of sexually abusing minors.

Three state senators have signed off on the bill and the legislation will be considered by a senate committee later this week.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, News, Politics & Government
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