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King again seeks ban on state regulations on farming practices in other states

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Congressman Steve King. (file photo)

Republicans on the U.S. House Ag Committee have approved their preferred version of the next Farm Bill. It includes a proposal from Iowa Congressman Steve King that attempts to stop state-level regulations on food grown or raised in another state.

“For example, California’s cage-size regulations (mean) we have inspectors from California that are now traveling around Iowa with their tape measurers and measuring the cage sizes of our laying hens in Iowa,” King said during House Ag Committee deliberations. “We have states that have prohibited gestation crates…They prohibit the importation of, into their state, of meat that is produced in a fashion that they disapprove.”

King said states have every right to impose regulations on how farmers within their borders may farm, but he said having officials in one state dictate farming regulations in another state is wrong.

“That goes on with stalls for veal calves and the prohibition to feeding ducks and geese for foie gras liver,” King said. “And it’s getting worse.”

King indicated the Farm Bill could help clarify that congress has the sole authority to regulate inter-state commerce, including agricultural commodities and food products.

“Pre-empt some really bad things that are coming down the pike,” King told his colleagues on the House Ag Committee. “…It’ll be worse if we don’t do this now.”

King, in a news release, said without action, Iowa’s farmers will be “held hostage to the demands of California’s vegan lobby” and regulations adopted by California’s state government. King authored a similar proposal for the last Farm Bill, but it was not included in the final version.

Critics of King’s proposal say it will “preempt states’ ability to enact laws that protect public health, the environment, and consumers.” Others argue laws in Arizona, California and Minnesota that prohibit the false advertising of foods as kosher could be jeopardized.

Golfers tout economic impact on Iowa

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A group of golfers joined Governor Kim Reynolds to highlight the economic impact of golfing on the Iowa economy. According to a 2015 study, more than 11-thousand people have jobs at Iowa golf courses and golfing has an 800-million dollar impact – either directly or indirectly — on the state’s economy.

“We have the most 9-hole courses of any state and then, per capita, we’re almost always in the top five.” said Chad Pitts, executive director of the Iowa Golf Association.

Pitts says the percentage of Iowans who golf may rise more — inspired by the professional women golfers from the U.S. and Europe who competed in last year’s Solheim Cup at the Des Moines Golf and Country Club.

“Where I would expect to see the change is women playing golf, for sure,” added Pitts . “I know they broke attendance records and TV viewership.”

Pitts and eight other leaders in Iowa’s golfing community posed for a photo with Governor Reynolds in her formal statehouse office Thursday morning.

Governor says framework in place, negotiators ‘very close’ to tax deal

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Republican lawmakers are negotiating the final budget details in the governor’s office.

Republican Governor Kim Reynolds and top Republicans in the House and Senate are continuing their private negotiations today, aiming for an agreement on how deeply to cut state taxes.

“We’re still talking. We’re still working. We’re going to get together again this afternoon,” Reynolds told reporters this morning. “And that’s how you get to consensus.”

Reynolds indicated they’ve been “very close” on the overall framework of the bill for weeks.

“It’s just how we get there, when we get there and what the details look like,” Reynolds said. “…It’s my goal to get a tax bill done this year.”

Reynolds cancelled an economic development trip to New York this week to stay at the capitol to be directly involved in negotiations. Representative Guy Vander Linden, a Republican from Oskaloosa who leads the tax-writing committee in the Iowa House, said the governor’s been a “driving force” in the negotiations, with a simple message to lawmakers.

“Get a tax bill out that I can sign and let’s get this thing going,” Vander Linden told reporters was the basic summary of Reynolds’ direction.

The main sticking point has been how big the tax cut package should be.

“I think the governor’s done a good job of laying out the path that she would like to have us to follow,” House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake, told reporters Wednesday afternoon. “…The biggest thing is that we would like to make sure it’s sustainable and responsible…Hopefully we’ll get there very soon.”

Senate Republicans hope to provide a significantly larger series of tax cuts and provide them sooner. The governor has publicly said she’s not going to draw any “lines in the sand” about what must be in or out of the final package. Senate President Charles Schneider, a Republican from West Des Moines, is equally reluctant to talk details in public. Schneider indicated this week that Reynolds is offering “insight” to the process.

“I think it’s good that people are keeping open minds and wanting to work together to find something that’s good for the taxpayers of Iowa,” Schneider told reporters.

There have been some hints as to how large next year’s tax cuts may be. The budget plans released by Republicans in the House and Republicans in the Senate reflect a roughly 100-million dollar reduction in tax revenue.

Packing 40 years of memories, Iowan heads to Barbara Bush’s funeral

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Barbara Bush and Becky Beach.

An Iowan who was a personal assistant to Barbara Bush for 4½  years is making her way to Texas to pay her respects to the former first lady.

Sixty-two-year-old Becky Beach of Des Moines first met Mrs. Bush 40 years ago as a volunteer, in the Bush home in Houston, addressing invitations for campaign events.

Beach was soon hired as Mrs. Bush’s personal assistant as George Herbert Walker Bush launched his campaign for president.

“I did her scheduling, her press, traveled with her, took the dog to the vet — all those glorious things,” Beach told Radio Iowa. “Back in the late ’70s, early ’80s, we didn’t have a press corps. There weren’t advance teams…Secret Service. None of that happened until he became the nominee for vice president.”

In the lead up to the 1980 Iowa Caucuses, Mrs. Bush visited each of Iowa’s 99 counties and Beach was there for each stop. Beach says on one wintry day, the woman who drove the car did something that surprised Beach and Mrs. Bush.

“We came out of the motel and she was using her hairdryer to melt the ice that was in the lock, so we could get into the car,” Beach said.

Beach worked for Mrs. Bush throughout the 1980 campaign and for the first part of George H.W. Bush’s first term as vice president. Beach left her job as a personal assistant to the future first lady at the end of 1982, but has been recruited back into the Bush family orbit several times since to work on campaigns and coordinate events.

“After 40 years of working with them, I lived at their homes both in Houston and Maine and in D.C.,” Beach said. “She would frequent say: ‘I will have accomplished my goals if my family still comes home.’…I know that was extremely important to her. She just loved her family.”

Beach uses words like “regal” to describe the former first lady.

“Elegant, honest, funny, witty — but the main thing I really remember about her is her love of family and their love of her,” Beach said. “She always wanted people to feel important if they were in the same room with her. It didn’t matter if they were the people washing the dishes or a president or another a head of state.”

Beach last saw Mrs. Bush in person about 18 months ago.

“All of the gals that traveled with her — I was the first, and then the subsequent ones — we all had surprised her in Houston and had lunch with both President Bush and Mrs. Bush,” Beach said. “I sat next to her at lunch. She remembered all of the times and all the fun things we used to do. We were just doing a little reminiscing.”

Beach and the other women who traveled with Mrs. Bush plan to meet privately as a group this Friday night in Houston. Beach will be among the 1,500 invited guests at the first lady’s private funeral on Saturday.

Strings of pearls in Iowa statehouse, in tribute to Barbara Bush

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Governor Reynolds and other Republicans wear pearls to honor Barbara Bush.

Republican Governor Kim Reynolds and the nine Republican women who are members of the Iowa House are wearing pearls today in honor of former First Lady Barbara Bush.

Mrs. Bush, who died last night, made a string of imitation pearls a staple of her wardrobe. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake is wearing a long strand of pearls and confirmed to reporters that hers aren’t real either.

“Absolutely faux,” Upmeyer told reporters this afternoon. “No doubt about it. Faux!”

Upmeyer called Bush was an amazing woman.

“She was one of those ladies who could just speak her mind really well and you always knew she was being pretty candid,” Upmeyer said. “I liked that.”

In November of 1995 Upmeyer got to visit with Bush when the former first lady visited Mason City and delivered a speech at the community college.

“I had an opportunity to actually sit at the table and visit with her a little during dinner,” Upmeyer said, “so it was nice.”

Mrs. Bush told the audience in Mason City to remember that “what happens in your house is more important than what happens in White House.”

(Photo courtesy of Iowa House GOP Caucus Staff)

House Oversight panel hearing focused on prescription drug costs

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Kate Gainer of Iowa Pharmacy Association & Ottumwa pharmacist Mark Frahm.

Pharmacists and a Wapello County official are urging Iowa legislators to investigate what they call the “little known middle man” that’s reaping profits from prescription drug sales.

Meanwhile, a representative of one of the nation’s largest “pharmacy benefit managers” is telling lawmakers the businesses and governments that use his company agree to the “spread pricing.”

Mark Frahm, a pharmacist at Southside Drug in Ottumwa, told members of the House Government Oversight Committee his pharmacy was paid about a thousand dollars for the prescription drugs for inmates in the Wapello County Jail in January — but the county paid nearly $5000 to its prescription benefit manager.

“That’s why I’m here, to let you guys know there’s a big discrepancy between the two,” Frahm said.

Wapello County Supervisor Jerry Parker.

Wapello County Supervisor Jerry Parker said the county is saving money now by buying medications for county jail inmates directly from the local pharmacy, but Parker said they haven’t been able to end the contract with the prescription benefit manager for all county employees.

“There’s something wrong when there’s such a large discrepancy in pricing, but part of that is our fault because we signed the agreement,” Parker said. “Now, we don’t really have the expertise to check all the prescriptions to see where might be getting taken, where we could save money.”

Parker said there’s no reason to think many other Iowa counties, cities and school districts face a similar financial fate.

“The figures don’t lie. We’re losing taxpayer dollars,” Parker said. “If we’re losing, the city’s probably losing and the state’s probably losing, so this committee has a very important job to do. Help us, who can’t necessarily in these positions, help ourselves.”

Rich Ponesse, a senior director at CVS Caremark, told lawmakers there is no “magic formula” and it is the customers who sign the benefit contracts who decide what payments will be made to his company.

“As far as the ‘spread pricing’ is concerned, that is not a secret to our clients,” he said. “We are very transparent with our clients.”

CVS/Caremark’s Rich Ponesse.

A lobbyist for the Iowa Pharmacy Association told lawmakers pharmacy benefit managers are like a “black box” and other states are moving to establish regulations. A central Iowa legislator who is also a pharmacist got into a heated discussion with Ponesse about the pricing of drugs and how CVS Caremark handles appeals. Ponesse shot back.

“I don’t like being called a liar and not being able to defend myself,” Ponesse said. “…I know exactly what was dispensed and I know what the reimbursement was. I do.”

The legislator, standing and occasionally pacing beside the committee table, uttered a couple of curse words during the exchange. It’s unclear what the House committee may choose to do next. Ponesse offered this parting comment to legislators.

“I am a for-profit company and I’m not ashamed to say that,” Ponesse said. “I’m here to make money.”

Earlier this month, insurance regulators in the state of Ohio forbid insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers from enforcing contracts that prevented pharmacists from telling patients if a lower-cost option was available for a prescription.

Future of traffic cameras a negotiating tool at session’s end?

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The battle over traffic enforcement cameras remains unresolved in the state legislature.

Earlier this year, the Iowa Senate voted to ban the cameras which catch vehicles speeding and running red lights. Then, the House voted to establish new regulations for the cameras.

Senator Brad Zaun of Urbandale is still pushing for an outright ban. He suggests this issue could wind up being a bargaining chip to decide other issues that have to be resolved before the legislature may adjourn.

“It may be one of the negotiating tools to get out of here,” Zaun told reporters Tuesday.

Senator Tony Bisignano of Des Moines wants the cameras to stay. He said cities need the revenue from the tickets.

“Twelve million dollars, it’s going to cost local government, if this bill will go to the governor,” Bisignano said.

Zaun responded.

“All we’ve had conversations about with these traffic enforcement cameras is about money,” Zaun said.

Zaun is among those who say the cameras are more about revenue than safety. Those who argue the cameras should stay say it’s too dangerous for police to pull drivers amid speeding traffic on highways that pass through cities.

Iowa Senate has new personnel guidelines on harassment, retaliation

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Charles Schneider

The Iowa Senate has a new “harassment prevention” policy and an updated code of conduct. Republican Senator Charles Schneider indicated a month ago when he was elected president of the state senate that updating senate “personnel guidelines” were a priority.

“First, to make sure that all those who work in and around the Iowa Senate have a clear understanding of what constitutes harassment, sexual harassment and retaliation,” Schneider said today during the Senate Rules Committee meeting, “and second to make sure that everybody understand the process for addressing complaints when they arise.”

Last fall, the state paid $1.75 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a former Iowa Senate GOP staffer who was fired in 2013 after she complained of harassment. Last month, the senator who fired Kirsten Anderson resigned after online photos and video showed him kissing a lobbyist. Schneider was elected to his new leadership position after that senator’s exit.

Schneider told said the new policy requires annual training for every senator and for all employees of the senate as well as interns. There will be a yearly review of the anti-harassment policy to ensure it’s keeping up with “best practices” in the public and private sectors.

“We wanted to make sure that we created an environment that people feel safe in to come to work and that people feel safe to send their kids to and we just knew we had to get it done,” Schneider said after the meeting.

Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen said it took nearly five years after the firing of an employee who was harassed to get to this moment.

“I’m hopeful that this will be a first step in the right direction to changing the culture and making the Iowa Senate a more welcome and opening place for people to work,” Petersen told reporters.

Senators unanimously voted this afternoon to update the Senate Code of Ethics as well. The update makes it clear the Senate Ethics Committee has the authority to receive and investigate complaints of harassment or retaliation. A senator’s clerk was just fired April 3 after a “credible complaint of harassment” was made. That clerk, who functioned as a secretary to Republican Senator Waylon Brown of St. Ansgar, was a paid employee of the senate and had recently completed anti-harassment training.

Senator Petersen said it appears the same male clerk had previously been fired from a similar job in the Iowa House.

“Even with the training that everyone who serves on the senate floor went through, to see misbehavior like that shows that we’ve got work to do,” Petersen said.

Senate Republican leaders say the new human resources director for the legislative branch will help keep personnel policies updated and avoid similar situations in the future.

Governor approves new Iowa law on ‘food shaming’ and unpaid school lunch debt

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Herman Quirmbach

The governor has signed a bill into law that seeks to address lunch money problems in Iowa schools. The policy is a response to reports of high levels of lunch debt and the so-called “food shaming” of some students.

Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames said it’s been a problem in his community and “many others.”

“Children whose parents are either unable or perhaps unwilling to pay for their lunches have been subjected to embarrassment and even…humiliation because they’re denied a meal or given an inferior meal or otherwise exposed to public ridicule,” Quirmbach said during debate of the bill in the Senate.

Some schools have hung lists in public areas with the names of students with outstanding lunch debt or even forced the students to sit in a separate area or wear wristbands.

Some Iowa school districts have tens of thousands of dollars worth of unpaid lunch bills. Ottumwa, for example, had nearly $68,000 in school meal debt in February. The new law will let schools claim lottery winnings or state tax refunds from parents who have school lunch debt. Schools may also accept private donations to cover those meals.

Senator Ken Rozenboom of Oskaloosa said schools will be able to use those donations to write-off debt at the end of every year.

“School districts know and understand the situations in their districts better than we do,” Rozenboom said during Senate debate. “A $500 debt is different to a family of five, for instance, than it is to a family with one child.”

The bill cleared the House and Senate unanimously. The handful of legislators who publicly remarked on the bill made the common point that it’s not the fault of the child if their parent fails to pay for their school lunch.

Governor calls for awarding Pell Grants for short-term certificate programs

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Governor Reynolds and Andy Van Kleunen.

Governor Kim Reynolds is urging congress to expand the federal Pell Grant program for college students.

Reynolds says the financial aid should be available to low-income students in programs offering a professional certificate for high-demand jobs like welders, computer technicians or certified nursing assistants.

“Right now, students can only receive a Pell Grant if they enroll in a for-credit program over at least 15 weeks or one semester, so the shorter for-credit and non-credit programs are not included in those options,” Reynolds says.

National Skills Coalition CEO Andy Van Kleunen says Pell Grants are the “primary” financial help that’s available to low-income students, however all but five percent of Pell Grants go to full-time students seeking a four-year degree.

“Not only is this federal approach outdated, it’s just plainly unfair to working students who don’t have time to take a long-term degree program, but who still need some financial assistance to help them keep their jobs or advance their careers,” Van Kleunen says.

Chris Duree

Iowa Valley Community College chancellor Chris Duree says his college has short-term certificate programs that help students qualify for a job in a manufacturing plant or a health care facility, but students enrolled in those programs don’t qualify for Pell Grants.

“The time has come to update federal financial aid policies to be better aligned with the needs of today’s students and employers,” Wynes says. “This can start with making the Pell funding available for the short-term programs that all of our community colleages have available and already in place.”

Governor Reynolds used her weekly news conference to highlight the issue. A bipartisan bill in the U.S. Senate would “modernize” how the Pell Grant is used, according to Reynolds.