News from the State House

by State Representative Patti Ruff

I am back home and ready for the slow pace of summer enjoying the river and spending much needed time with family. A month’s worth of overtime included a graduation, a graduation party, an eight-year-old’s birthday party, a father-in-law who turned 90 and trips back and forth to Des Moines. It is a juggling act for sure!
On Friday, June 5th, the 2015 session finally came to a close with the state’s budget balanced and our reserve accounts full at more than $700 million. When combined with a projected $260 million dollar ending balance for FY16, Iowa will have nearly $1 billion surplus. Fiscally healthy, indeed.
The 2015 session opened with a plan to strengthen Iowa’s working families, build a vibrant economy, and revitalize rural Iowa.  Key legislation approved this year maintains Iowa’s balanced budget, invests in Iowa’s economy, and keeps vulnerable Iowans safe.
In an effort to build a strong economy, the Legislature worked together to approve bills that will cut red tape and encourage more investment in small businesses, entrepreneurs, and start-up companies. A bi-partisan group of legislators also worked to revitalize rural Iowa by expanding broadband to un-served areas, encourage new development in rural communities, add more value to the crops of Iowa farmers, and create renewable energy jobs.
A new Safe at Home program was created by lawmakers to protect the confidentiality of victims of sexual or domestic abuse and another bill to protect Iowans makes it easier to locate cell phones in life-threatening situations.
This session saw a fix put in place on last year’s disabled veterans homestead property tax exemption for 100% rated disabled veterans. This year the eligibility criteria for the credit has been expanded to include a veteran that has a permanent and total disability rating based on individual un-employability, which is compensated at the 100% disability rate, as certified by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.  Veterans that applied last year, but were denied for this reason, may be eligible now for the services.
Since I was elected in 2012, I have heard from many of you about the struggles of finding an open bed in a facility to transfer voluntary and involuntary civil commitment patients while they wait in an emergency room or with law enforcement.
This year, we created a psychiatric bed tracking system so medical providers do not have to call psychiatric facilities to find an open bed at a facility. The bed tracking system will include beds at psychiatric facilities that provide an acute level of care and a sub-acute level of care.  Once a reservation is made, the bed will be held for at least twelve hours.
In addition, the Legislature approved Iowa to enter into interstate contracts for transferring voluntary and involuntary civil commitment patients to facilities outside of and into Iowa for substance abuse or mental health treatment. This is particularly useful for this district, being border counties to two states.
The main disappointment coming out of the 2015 session would be uncertainty of school funding. The funding should have been set last year and yet was one of the last things that were passed in the final day of session.
It was my goal to get FY16 supplemental state aid out the door quickly back in January, however the majority party refused to compromise, leaving schools in complete limbo until after schools were dismissed for the year. This was very frustrating to be blocked at every effort for compromise. We did pass funding before we sine die and it did not revert to zero.
This is a quick snapshot of session. If you would like to see a more comprehensive breakdown, check out my Facebook page Representative Patti Ruff District 56.
Bring on the Summer!