Iowa State Representative Helena Hayes smiles for a photo with Bishop Dennis Walsh at the Legislative Breakfast in Des Moines.
By Tom Chapman and Barb Arland-Fye
The Catholic Messenger
Iowa’s bishops visited the State Capitol last week for the Iowa Catholic Conference (ICC) Legislative Breakfast and meetings with legislative leadership, an annual event in which the bishops express their interests and concerns.
“It was a great opportunity to meet our legislators in Iowa, with a good turnout of both Republicans and Democrats coming to the breakfast we sponsored,” said Bishop Dennis Walsh. This was his first Legislative Breakfast as Bishop of the Diocese of Davenport.
“We got to speak to people from both sides of the Iowa Legislature and after the breakfast we had the opportunity to meet with the majority leaders of the House and Senate and the House Speaker,” he said. The minority leaders were unable to meet with the bishops. “We had a meeting set with the House Democratic Leader but she had to cancel because she was ill,” said Tom Chapman, the ICC’s executive director. The bishops did not have the opportunity to meet with Gov. Kim Reynolds.
Bishop Walsh said the issues the bishops presented focused on migration, conscience protections for medical professionals, educational choice and preschool funding, and age verification for adult websites.
He and his fellow bishops support an amendment to a proposed anti-trafficking bill that would prevent the potential of overzealous authorities criminalizing the provision of basic charity to immigrants. “We are also appreciative of the work the state has done on ESAs (Education Savings Account program),” Bishop Walsh said, and the bishops endorse a proposal to provide funding to support collaboration between preschools and childcare programs. They also support a proposed bill to protect the conscience rights of medical professionals.
Here is a look at the status of proposed bills of interest to the ICC:
“Double Up Food Bucks.” SSB 1028 passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee unanimously. It would provide $1 million to the “Double Up Food Bucks” program, which provides matching funds for SNAP (food stamp) benefits spent on fruits and vegetables. The match would be up to $10 a day. Healthy food is more expensive, so this should help promote healthy eating habits. Since the bill contains an appropriation, it moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Adoption bill. House File 248 passed the State Government Committee by a unanimous vote. The legislation requires employers to treat employees who adopt a child under 6 years of age in the same manner as a biological parent. The ICC supports the bill because adoption helps to build and strengthen families, providing a loving and supportive environment for children to grow and thrive. Bonding with children is important, as there can be issues with identity with adoptive children, even as adults.
Bills introduced last week of interest to ICC
Reintegrate offenders. HSB 140 is identical to the bill the ICC has supported the last couple of years to shorten probation time for offenders who are employed or pursuing education. This bill would help reintegrate offenders into the community when it is safe. The 2023 bill passed the House but did not make it through the Senate.
Conscience protection. HSB 139 and SF 220. The “Med Act” would provide needed conscience protections for medical professionals. Federal law does not protect rights of conscience for healthcare workers in some contexts such as assisted suicide and prescribing unnecessary opiates to patients requesting them. The ICC believes the freedom to follow one’s conscience is foundational. A subcommittee was set to consider SF 220 earlier this week.
Adult websites. A subcommittee hearing took place earlier this week to consider SF 207, which is the Senate’s version of the proposal requiring age verification for adult websites. The ICC believes this policy would help protect children.
Federal assistance programs reviewed:
The federal refugee resettlement program is on pause pending a review. The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) was established when Congress passed the bipartisan Refugee Act of 1980. Through this formal process, people resettle legally in the United States as refugees.
This resettlement program is distinct from the U.S. asylum process. Any person resettled through USRAP goes through screening, vetting and approval by the U.S. government while outside of the United States. They also receive medical evaluations, a cultural orientation and other services that maximize their ability to integrate successfully into and contribute productively to American communities.
While funding has been halted, several agencies in Iowa, including Catholic Charities of Des Moines, remain responsible for 839 people in the so-called “service period,” that first 90 days after arrival. Under normal circumstances, those agencies would receive $2.25 million from the federal government to do this work. Ongoing contacts with legislators and the governor’s office are underway to see whether emergency assistance can be provided at the state level.
Senate File 223, introduced last week to provide $2.5 million in state funding for the agencies, seems unlikely to pass. The Trump Administration has stopped almost all U.S. foreign assistance programs pending a review. The Secretary of State has issued an exception for lifesaving humanitarian assistance but as of this writing, no funding has moved.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the bishops’ overseas development and humanitarian agency and an important provider of this assistance. While CRS can fill in with some money from Church and other private fundraising, the loss of the federal money affects millions of people around the world who need the help.
Go to support.crs.org/ act/foreign-aid-operations to urge your members of Congress to engage with the Administration to allow foreign assistance programs to operate during the review process. Iowa State Rep. Ashley Hinson serves on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee.
(Tom Chapman is executive director of the Iowa Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of Iowa’s bishops.)
