Rob Hogg

Email from Rob Hogg:

Last night, I appeared at an event with Senator Kevin Kinney (D-Oxford), who shared with the audience his disappointment about the deep cuts (26 percent or $1.7 million) to state services for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.

Kinney, a long-time deputy sheriff in Johnson County, said he had warned the Republican budget chairs that we could not use federal dollars instead, and that making state cuts would actually cost us federal dollars, but they refused to listen.

It was a strong reminder about the importance of the work we do, and prompted me to read an article that appeared last week in the Cedar Rapids Gazette, “Iowa domestic violence providers brace for deep funding cuts.”

It is disappointing and unnecessary. These cuts could have been avoided, especially if the Branstad-Reynolds Administration and Republican legislators had not gotten carried away with tax cuts for out-of-state corporations.

Over the coming months of the legislative interim, I plan to provide more information and resources about the real consequences of the Republican majority’s misguided legislative decisions this past session.

But I also want to help you get more involved as a citizen. The answer to our problems with state government in Des Moines and the federal government in Washington is more citizen participation, a renewed spirit of citizenship.

On the issue of support for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, you can get more involved by being more informed, by helping service providers directly, and by speaking up with legislators and the public in support of these services. In Linn County, service providers include:

Waypoint
Riverview
Cedar Valley Friends of the Family

I hope this information is helpful. As always, please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.

–Rob

Senator Rob Hogg
Senate Democratic Leader
Cedar Rapids