The Condition of the State
Governor Vilsack laid out his priorities for this session in his Condition of the State address yesterday. (Excerpts were published by the Des Moines Register today.)
Here are
the main topics Gov. Vilsack discussed (the full version of the speech,
which is rather unfriendly to cut-and-paste excerpts is here):
Education
We
should begin by helping parents so they can be their child's first and
best teacher. Several years ago this General Assembly had the foresight
to fund community empowerment areas. The concept was to integrate and
coordinate our early-child efforts. We should invest more in
empowerment. We can expand home visitation and parent education
programs. And we can increase the tools and knowledge available to
parents so they can create even more stimulating environments for their
children at home.
The
second step requires us to recognize that most of the parents of these
young children work. Many Iowa families struggle in finding and paying
for quality child care. We need to expand financial assistance so
parents can afford quality care and create a rating system that will
allow us to identify and define quality care. If we know what quality
is, if parents know where they can find it in their community and they
can afford it, they will make the right choice for their children.
The
third step in this process involves access to preschool. It forms the
foundation for a great start to learning once school begins. Let this
be the General Assembly that challenges schools, Head Start,
faith-based efforts, private providers to expand access to preschool so
we reach the day that every child in our state has access to quality
preschool.
Grow Iowa Values Fund
With
the investments made in the Values Fund we have supported thousands of
good-paying jobs in the life sciences, information solutions, and
advanced manufacturing. We have allowed our state to gain a national
reputation as a leader in biotechnology and insurance, and we also
enabled our state to be among the nation's leaders in per-capita income
growth – all by working together.
Property Tax Reform
Last
month I talked to you about a program to make Iowa more competitive,
that focused on our income tax structure. Today, I want to visit with
you about our property-tax structure. Everybody in this building knows
that property taxes are too high. Everybody in this building knows that
the current property-tax system unfairly penalizes commercial and
industrial interests that make it more difficult for us to develop and
expand our economy. Everyone knows that the current structure does not
reward efficiency.
Let's
deal with the current inequities in our system by adjusting the
rollback and creating a workable and reasonable limitation on future
property-tax increases. But let us not stop with that temporary fix.
Let us go to the next step. Let us complete the work that began
[decades ago]. Let us put in motion a process that allows us to
restructure government. A government at every level and at all levels
that is more autonomous, but also more efficient. A government that
provides better service, at less cost.
Health Care
For
several years, the lieutenant governor and I have urged the General
Assembly to expand health-care security to tens of thousands of Iowans
who suffer from mental Illness or substance abuse. Our health-care
system will never be transformed until such time as mental-health
parity and substance-abuse parity become part of our health-care
system. We have waited a long time. It is time to make parity the law
of this state.
But
we can not stop with that. We must recognize that affordability and
accessibility also threaten access to health-care security for many
Iowans. An underfunded Medicaid budget prevents us from providing vital
services to vulnerable Iowans: Children, people with disabilities and
seniors on fixed incomes. Unreasonably high and unpredictably high
increases in medical-malpractice Insurance make it difficult to provide
access to doctors in critical areas in high-risk specialties. The lack
of emphasis on efficiency and electronic medical recordkeeping makes it
more difficult for us to avoid costly medical errors that cost us in
lives and in money.
All in all, Gov. Vilsack's priority list seems fair, but there are several other things that were notably missing. Here's a quick top-of-my-head list:
Agricultural Zoning Policy
The
Legislature for years has let this topic sit on the back burner –
mostly because of the Republican majority barring discussions of
agriculture policy from even coming to the floor.
Land Use Policy and DNR Funding
In my
mind, these two things go hand-in-hand, but Iowa is not making the
effort to take a serious look at environmental issues – water quality
comes to mind.
What Does “Iowa Values” Mean?
Gov. Vilsack discussed two things in his speech that seemed to be “assumed”:
1) Expansion of gambling is inevitable – and the only way we can bolster economic growth.
2)
The current structure of the “Grow Iowa Values Fund” is
untouchable. Of considerable concern: that the Values Fund
(as it stands) is worth bonding – again, backed by expanding gambling
in the State.
Both
assumptions, truthfully – are wrong. Gambling should not be the
cornerstone of economic development plans in 2004, just as gambling
should not have been the “Silver Bullet” in the 1980s.
The Values Fund also needs to be re-worked to not simply be “corporate
welfare” to lure companies to build in West Des Moines – we need to
encourage local small businesses and projects right here in Iowa, in
city and small towns alike.
The State Budget
The Register pointed out an interesting comment:
“The
immediate concern,” said Senate Co-President Jeff Lamberti, a
Republican from Ankeny, “is when you start the session $200 million to
$300 million in the hole, how do you fund what is laid out” in the
governor's speech?
There is
something here to be pointed out – no matter what proposals are on
board, the biggest issue of this Legislature is likely going to be the
budget – and how to grow revenues by that $200 million to $300 million.
As it
stands, the budget is running as slim as tight as it can, given
the priorities of funding education, a Medicaid program that is facing
increased health care costs and more than likely a serious cut in
Federal aid, and public safety initiatives.
Advice To Democrats
Granted,
this is from a two-bit blog writer, but in this session, Democrats
cannot afford to lose sight of important priorities in the spirit of
“get-along-ism”. The activists and voters worked to give you a
modicum of power in the Legislature for a reason.
Iowa is
sliding. Important issues are being pandered to, underfunded, or
just plain ignored. We're looking especially to Senate Democrats
to turn their leadership role into a “can do” Legislature that engages
the electorate and speaks to their concerns. This state party
must become the voice of Iowa – of our hopes and a beacon to the
future.
Playing it safe will not lead to a full Democratic majority in 2006 – getting things done for all Iowans will.
Post your thoughts below – and what you would like to see out of this new legislative session.
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