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Branstad back from China to spend holidays with family in Iowa

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Former Governor Terry Branstad. (file photo)

Ambassador Terry Branstad is back home in Iowa for the first time since assuming his post in China. The former Iowa governor attended his brother’s funeral in Leland on Monday and plans to spend the holidays here.

On Wednesday, Branstad worked from a desk in the governor’s office, catching up on ambassador business. An aide stopped him from discussing embassy affairs, but Branstad did reveal that in recent weeks he has travelled to the Chinese border with North Korea.

“I’ve been to Tuman which is on the river that separates Jilin province of China with Korea,” Branstad said. “I was there three days after they had the nuclear test and I met with the party secretary who’s the top person up there and, you know, they felt it.”

Branstad indicated North Korea is one of the top issues he’s addressing as ambassador.

“I think we’re getting gotten more cooperation from China than we’ve ever gotten, but there’s still more that needs to be done to try to convince North Korea that this course they’re on, I mean, this is the most dangerous thing to humankind right now this nuclear and ballistic missile program they are embarked on,” Branstad said.

Branstad’s wife, Chris, his daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters who’ve been living in China since this summer accompanied him back to Iowa.

Branstad’s oldest son, Eric, has been working in Washington, D.C. in the U.S. Commerce Department since January, while his wife and kids remained in Des Moines. Branstad’s other son, Marcus, has remained with his family in central Iowa. The Branstads plan to attend Christmas Mass in Des Moines and celebrate Christmas together.

Ambassador Branstad plans to head back to China January 3.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Joyce Russell)

Forum focusing on fixes to Iowa’s mental health care system

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All the Democrats and one of the Republicans running for governor in 2018 will participate in a Tuesday evening forum, to discuss Iowa’s mental health system.

Democratic candidate Nate Boulton, a state senator from Des Moines, has been calling for reopening the two state-run Mental Health Institutes former Governor Branstad closed.

“When those facilities were shut down, the services were lost. They weren’t replaced with anything. There was nothing new that came in to take care of those residents,” Boulton said during an interview with Radio Iowa. “We all know our state needs to be doing more, not less, for mental health care.”

Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett is challenging Governor Kim Reynolds in the Republican Primary next June. According to Corbett, a fragmented system was made worse by the decision to close the Mental Health Institutes in southern Iowa.

“All that did was compress the system down,” Corbett said during a recent Radio Iowa interview. “The state may have saved some money, but the patients didn’t evaporate, they just got pushed down and, in many cases, on local property taxpayers.”

Corbett said some state-run facility needs to provide 25 to 50 more beds for patients with acute mental illnesses.

Corbett will attend Tuesday’s forum. Governor Kim Reynolds won’t, but she’s sending a short video that will be played for the crowd.

Democratic candidate Fred Hubbell, a Des Moines businessman, took a tour of hospitals and jails around the state last month. Emergency rooms and jails have become the “last resort” treatment option for mentally ill Iowans, according to Hubbell.

Andy McGuire, a medical doctor who’s also seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination, said last week that police have become “mental health providers.”

“They take patients to jail and to emergency rooms, two of the most expensive and worst places for someone in crisis rather than preventing crisis with more up-front counseling,” McGuire said. “…We need to prioritize and focus resources and we need to destigmatize mental health. We need to love more and ignore less.”

McGuire made her comments at a recent Democratic Party fundraiser. John Norris, another candidate who spoke at the same event, accused Governors Branstad and Reynolds of “turning the heartland into the land of the heartless.”

Tuesday’s discussion about the mental health system is sponsored by The Des Moines Register and Des Moines University and starts at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Concerns raised over latest wrinkle in Medicaid managed care

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Advocates for disabled patients are speaking out about upcoming changes in Iowa’s privately-managed Medicaid program.

One of the for-profit companies managing the program is ending its contract with the state on November 30. Critics say it will be a difficult for the 18,000 patients who need services including daily feeding and bathing to change case managers and providers by December 1.

“While it may seem like paperwork and like moving names and numbers from one computer program to another, it has real-life consequences for the people who have to change care providers,” said Lori Allen, a member of state Medical Assistance Advisory Committee.

Iowa Department of Human Services director Jerry Foxhoven said 215,000 Iowa Medicaid patients have had their care managed by the exiting company and all of them will be switched to United Health Care.

“Everybody has to scramble and it’s been a scramble for us as well,” Foxhoven said. “I think we’re going to make it work and I think United has really committed well.”

But State Senator Joe Bolkcom of Iowa City said vulnerable Iowans who depend on Medicaid for the basic functions of life deserve better. Bolkcom is a member of the advisory panel that met with Foxhoven Tuesday and the two has a tense exchange.

“You’re flippantly telling me it’s no big deal they’ve left the state. I have no confidence in your ability to manage anything at this point,” Bolkcom said.

Foxhoven replied: “Well, I want to tell you that I’m not flippant about this, senator. We’re doing everything that we can to make sure these people get their care.”

Iowa’s Medicaid program had been managed by state employees, but Governor Branstad oversaw the switch to having three private companies manage care for all Medicaid patients in Iowa. That switch happened on April 1, 2016. At 10 o’clock this morning, a 10-member legislative panel will convene to conduct its own review of the Medicaid switch.

Governor seeks third-party review of couple’s lobbying for Saudi Arabia

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Governor Kim Reynolds

Governor Kim Reynolds today said she’ll ask the legislature to “address a loophole” that apparently has allowed two state officials to work as agents of a foreign government.

Kim Schmett – a former Republican candidate for congress – and his wife, Connie, were paid more than $100,000 by Saudi Arabia to lobby against a federal law that allows 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia. Kim Schmett is chairman of the Iowa Employment Appeal Board and earns an $80,000 state salary. His wife serves on two other state boards, including one with veto power over hospital expansion plans.

The governor told reporters today that she lacks the authority to force the Schmetts to resign from the executive branch of state government.

“The Schmetts don’t serve at the pleasure of the governor. They serve a set term and that’s determined by statutue,” Reynolds said. “They were appointed by Governor Branstad and confirmed by the Iowa Senate and so what my staff has done is they have contacted the Ethics Board and have asked them to look into this matter.”

Reynolds said it’s unclear if the Schmetts violated any state laws by failing to disclose their lobbying contract with Saudi Arabia when they filled out financial disclosure forms required for their state roles.

“Legally, we don’t know if they’ve done anything wrong and that’s why we’ve asked a third party to review that and report back to us,” Reynolds said.

The couple co-hosted a fundraiser for Governor Reynolds several weeks ago. Reynolds said she had no idea at the time the two had been lobbying against 9/11 victims who were seeking the right to sue Saudi Arabia — and the governor told reporters she does “not agree” with the couple’s lobbying goal.

Reynolds said the Schmetts have donated $100 to her 2018 reelection campaign. She’ll decide whether to return the money after getting the Ethics Board report on whether the Schmetts broke any state laws or regulations by lobbying for Saudi Arabia. The Schmetts lobbying was first reported by www.28pages.org. The website’s mission statement says it’s aim is to “spotlight false pretenses, hypocrisy and misconduct in the war on terror.”

The Associated Press reported on the matter last week and Connie Schmett told the wire service she did the work not to gain money or fame, but to tell veterans the new federal law might expose the American military to foreign lawsuits.

Governor Reynolds made her comments this morning during her weekly news conference.

AUDIO of news conference

 

Turn-out more than 60 percent in first two days of recertification votes

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A state board reports more than 60 percent of eligible government employees have already cast ballots in “recertification” votes for their local bargaining unit.

A new state law requires a vote to recertify union representation for a bargaining unit before contracts talks with public employees may begin. Eighty-seven percent of the educators covered by 13 contracts negotiated by Iowa State Education Association members voted in September — and the recertification votes passed overwhelmingly.

Voting began this past Tuesday for 477 more bargaining units. Those units represent more than 33,000 employees who work for state and local governments. The Iowa Public Employment Relations Board reports more than 20,000 of those workers voted in just the first two days of voting.

The voting is being conducted online or over the phone. Votes may be cast through October 24.

Reynolds says 2017 legislature ‘most pro-jobs…in two decades’ (AUDIO)

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Governor Kim Reynolds. (file photo)

As Republican Kim Reynolds campaigns for a full, four-year term as governor, she is highlighting the work of the first Republican-led state legislature in 20 years. It’s all work that turned into the laws Terry Branstad approved before resigning and handing the governorship over to his lieutenant governor in late May.

“Promises made and promises delivered,” Reynolds said Saturday. “This past session we seized the opportunity to build on the success over the past six years, to build on the policies that we put in place to strengthen the economy, to improve our quality of life and to streamline and shrink our government.”

Today is the 118th day Reynolds has been governor. Branstad signed into law all the bills passed by the 2017 legislature before he resigned on May 23.

“Hardworking taxpayers, they found a place at the table,” Reynolds said. “We made it more affordable to own and operate a business. In fact, it was the most pro-jobs legislative session in two decades.”

Reynolds was among the speakers at this past weekend’s Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition fundraiser in Des Moines.

AUDIO of Reynolds speech, 14:23

AFSCME Council 61 — the union that represents the largest share of state workers — weighed in on twitter. A tweet advised the labor movement to “pay attention” to what Reynolds was saying and accused her of “bragging about what was done to Iowa workers” by the 2017 legislature.

Iowa GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann, another speaker at Saturday’s event (audio here), praised the Republican legislators who were in the crowd.

“That last session was nothing short of political courage public and simple on every front and, ‘Thank you!’ to those legislators and, ‘Thank you!’ to our governor,” Kaufmann said, drawing applause from the crowd.

About 600 Christian conservatives attended the event, which was held in Des Moines.

Governor says ‘no way’ to idea of seven percent tuition hikes

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Governor Kim Reynolds and Lt. Governor Adam Gregg.

Governor Kim Reynolds is giving a thumbs down to proposed tuition hikes at the three state universities in Ames, Cedar Falls and Iowa City.

“That is too much. There is no way that Iowa families could afford a seven percent increase over five years,” Reynolds said this morning. “And so I would encourage the Regents to, you know, let’s take a look at what’s manageable and keep in the forefront doing everything we can do to keep higher education costs, post-secondary costs down”

The presidents of the three public universities have unveiled five-year-long tuition recommendations. At Iowa and Iowa State, the presidents recommend seven percent tuition hikes in each of the next five years.

The University of Northern Iowa’s president recommends a nearly 7 percent increase in the first year, but it would decline in each of the following years to a hike of just 3 percent in year five. Reynolds pointed out it’ll be up to the nine-member Board of Regents to make the final call.

“Now the Regents will take a look at what’s possible and what’s the right amount moving forward,” Reynolds said during a news conference on the state fairgrounds, “so their work is just getting started and I’m going to let them work through the process.”

The university presidents say their recommendations are based on the assumption the governor and legislators will not recommend increased state support of the schools in the next five years. Reynolds isn’t revealing whether she’ll recommend increasing state taxpayer support of the three universities next year.

“The legislature is going to do what the legislature is going to do and we’ll work closely with them,” Reynolds said, “but we’ll put our budget together and they’ll put theirs together.”

Reynolds has ’til the end of January to submit her proposed state budget plan to legislators. The governor told reporters this morning that university leaders should look to renegotiate the pay and benefit packages for campus staff and professors as a way to save money.

Former Governor Terry Branstad in February approved a new law that limits contract talks to just salaries, allowing the universities to shift more health care costs to employees.

“That gives the universities some flexibility to manage the resources,” Reynolds said, “and so there’s also some potential savings.”

In making her argument that seven percent tuition hikes are too high, Reynolds repeated her praise of the previous two-and-a-half year period when tuition was frozen at the schools. Critics, including former Iowa State University president Steven Leath, have argued freezing tuition earlier in the decade pushed his school to a financial “tipping point.”

Challenger Corbett likens Governor Reynolds to ‘big debt Chet’

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Ron Corbett (file photo)

Cedar Rapids Mayor and Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron Corbett says Governor Kim Reynolds is “going in the wrong direction” when it comes to the state’s finances.

Corbett is comparing Reynolds to Democratic Governor Chet Culver. Corbett is reminding Iowans that former Governor Terry Branstad and Reynolds called Culver “big debt Chet” when they ran against him in 2010.

“Governor Reynolds, instead of learning from Governor Culver, she’s mirroring from Governor Culver,” Corbett said yesterday.

Last month, Corbett accused Reynolds of committing a “mortal sin” in Republican ideology by using money from the state’s cash reserve to cover on-going expenses. The state’s budget situation is a liability to Reynolds in the 2018 election, according to Corbett.

“Is the governor really vulnerable?” Corbett asked. “And the answer to that question is: ‘Yes, she is.””

Yesterday, Corbett spoke to a crowd in Cedar Rapids, emphasizing his plan to dramatically simplify Iowa’s income tax system with a so-called “flat tax” of three percent. Corbett is also calling for increasing the state sales tax by a penny, with three-eights of that increase to be used to address water quality issues. Corbett said there’s a need for “bold action” because Iowa’s economy and population aren’t growing fast enough.

A spokesman for Reynolds said the governor was in Washington, D.C. “fighting for Iowans” at a hearing on the Renewable Fuels Standard while Corbett was “playing political games” in Iowa.

Governor Reynolds on threat North Korea nukes may have on trade

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Governor Kim Reynolds and Ag Secretary Bill Northey with Chinese students.

Governor Kim Reynolds predicts there’ll be expanded ag trade to China in the years ahead, but Reynolds said this morning that Iowa exporters need to monitor how North Korea’s nuclear ambitions could impact trade with China.

“They are walking a fine line in China,” Reynolds said during an interview with Radio Iowa and The Cedar Rapids Gazette. “They’re sending troops to the border. They don’t want North Korea to have nuclear capability either, so they’re monitoring that.”

China also worries that if North Korea’s dictatorship topples, there would be a unified Korea under a democratic system of government. Reynolds returned to Iowa this past Friday after a trade mission to China that was solely focused on expanding shipments of Iowa agricultural products to China. Former Governor Terry Branstad hosted an event for the Iowa trade delegation at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Reynolds was able to meet privately with Ambassador Branstad, too.

“I have complete confidence in him,” Reynolds said. “It’s a tough assignment. He recognizes that. It started with sending arms to Taiwan and some of the legislation that’s coming out of Washington, D.C., so he is continuing to balance the needs of the United States and working with China.”

This weekend President Trump tweeted that China had done “nothing” but talk about dealing with North Korea’s nuclear threat. Trump made the U.S. trade imbalance with China a major 2016 campaign issue and the president said in his Saturday tweet that “foolish past leaders” of the U.S. have allowed the Chinese “to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade.”

Governor Reynolds said she saw signs of progress on trade during her trip, including the Chinese decision to allow four new varieties of genetically-modified corn and soybeans into China.

“But we said we need to complete the other four. It was really important that we have some consistency, predictability, timeliness in the approval process and we said both on our part as well as their part because that’s what’s going to allow us to feed a growing world population,” Reynolds said. “They’re estimating that by 2020 they’ll have another 300-400 million Chinese that will move into the middle class.”

Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey was also part of the Iowa delegation that went to China this month. He said there’s “no way” to predict how the North Korean situation will “play out.”
“We’re hopeful that the North Korea tensions can get worked out and trade continues to improve with China,” Northey said during an interview after a meeting with the governor and the rest of the State Executive Council.

A group of Chinese students who’re in Iowa and plan to attend high schools and colleges here posed for pictures with Reynolds and Northey this morning in the governor’s office.

Governor and commodity groups discuss several trade issues while in China

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Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (in red) along with Ambassador Branstad and commodity representatives.

Governor Kim Reynolds spoke with reporters this morning from China where she hosted an Iowa reception along with representatives of most of the state’s commodities groups who are on the trade trip with her.

“We had about 150 people join us. It was a great opportunity for our commodity groups to meet with industry partners. We were blessed to have Ambassador (Terry) Branstad and his family join us for the reception tonight,”Reynolds says. Reynolds says they have also been visiting various agricultural operations in China.

“We had the opportunity to meet with the mayor of Shanghai and to continue to talk about partnerships and visit an aquaculture farm where the Iowa Soybean Association actually invested in technology to help with the production of the aquaculture at decreased cost and increased output,” according to Reynolds.

The governor says they talked about the reopening of the Chinese market to U.S. beef and how they want to continue to expand in that area. She says they also talked about export issues involving soybeans, corn and poultry.

“I think the group would share the sentiment that they felt that again progress had been made but that they needed to continue the dialogue to continue the resolution to continue moving opportunities forward,” Reynolds says.

Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey is also on the trade trip. Northey says having former Governor Terry Branstad take over as Ambassador to China makes a big difference in this trade mission. “And then to be able to see him absolutely totally engaged in his role as ambassador. He looks as natural as can be in that ambassador role. You realize how important it is for him to be in the position of this very important trading relationship and political relationship between the two biggest countries in the world — and then to have this great Iowa connection,” Northey says.

Northey says Branstad’s position and then having all the commodity groups together on the trip along with the governor has been a good thing. He says it has created many opportunities for conversations that they would probably not been able to have if they were traveling alone. Northey characterized the talks as “high level.”

He says the conversations have spanned many agricultural areas and that shows the importance being placed on agricultural trade from the federal level. “I also do believe that some of this that has been happening — whether its the biotech events, the beef trade, the rice opportunities that there are — rice isn’t going to impact a lot of Iowa farmers, but it certainly was movement toward better trade with China. Some of that is because the administration has pushed so hard to move some things that have been stuck for awhile,” Northey explains.

The conference call this morning happened at what was roughly 10 o’clock in the evening in China.

(Photo courtesy of the Iowa Soybean Association)