By Tom Chapman
For The Catholic Messenger
The first session of Iowa’s 91st General Assembly wrapped up after pulling an all-nighter in the early morning hours of May 15. The Iowa Catholic Conference (ICC), the public policy voice of Iowa’s bishops, is grateful for your contacts with legislators on important issues this year.
The ICC worked on a couple of last-minute amendments for the “standings” appropriation bill, usually the last bill of the session. Here are the results of those efforts:
- Successfully advocated for a provision that requires state money “generated” by nonpublic school students for media and educational services to be sent to an Area Education Agency for services to those nonpublic schools. The status quo is that the money can be used by the public school district for any lawful purpose.
- Worked on a proposal to clarify that the state Department of Human Services would provide technical assistance to pregnancy support centers applying for funds from the More Options for Maternal Services (MOMS) program, but that didn’t happen.
Other developments as the session wrapped up:
- The “human smuggling” bill that the ICC has been fighting all year, HF 572, did not advance. The ICC opposed the bill because it “could be interpreted by overzealous law enforcement to criminalize providing basic charity to immigrants.”
- HF 189 passed both chambers and goes to the governor. It requires public schools to accept nonpublic students to participate in sports (except football) if the nonpublic school hasn’t offered the activity for two years. This bill came about because some public schools have been canceling long-term sharing agreements with nonpublic schools.
Some disappointments:
- SF 615, which the Senate passed and sent to the governor, sets an 80-hour a month work requirement for some Medicaid recipients. Between the governor’s waiver request asking for essentially the same thing, and legislation pending in Congress, more work requirements for some Medicaid recipients are on the way.
- The House did not debate the governor’s bill that would allow community providers of preschool, such as Catholic preschools, to apply directly to the Department of Education for funding. The ICC thinks the bill failed in part because of concerns it would hurt childcare centers by taking away some of their business.
- The Senate didn’t bring up HF 571, the “Med Act.” The bill aimed to protect medical professionals from retaliation due to exercising the right of conscience. The ICC believes the “Med Act” bill got caught in the fallout regarding legislation limiting private companies’ use of eminent domain, a bill that did pass.
- Although the House adopted it unanimously, the Senate did not take up the bill that would increase to $20,000 a state tax credit for parents who adopt.
- Two other priorities of the governor and many legislators, property tax reform and a revision of Iowa’s energy policies, will have to wait for next year.
‘Strangers and Guests’
In May 1980, Catholic bishops from 11 Midwestern and Plains states issued a regional statement on land issues called “Strangers and Guests: Toward Community in the Heartland.” The bishops who signed and issued the statement represented Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. The statement was difficult to find online, so for historical purposes the ICC scanned it and placed it on the ICC website (iowacatholicconference.org). The statement is still relevant today.
Action needed — on federal budget debate
According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), key congressional committees are deciding which policies will become part of a large tax and economic package called budget reconciliation. This package will affect everyone, including families and those who are most vulnerable. Deep cuts are proposed to Medicaid, SNAP and other important social safety net programs as Congress members debate how to pay for the package.
Please urge your Congress members to oppose cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, keeping in mind how budget and tax decisions will affect families, especially the most vulnerable families, and to use budget reconciliation to support the needs of children and families experiencing poverty. Go to (votervoice. net/USCCB/Campaigns/121512/Respond).
In other matters, a coalition of researchers found in their study that the abortion pill causes far greater harm to pregnant women than has been reported. Mifepristone, the first pill of the drug-inducing abortion process, works to starve the baby in the womb before the then-dead baby is expelled from the womb with the aid of another drug, misoprostol.
The ICC encourages you to contact your representatives in Congress (congress.gov), the Commissioner of the FDA, Martin A. Makary, M.D., and the Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and tell them to take action to stop harming women. For more information on the study, go to StopHarmingWomen.org. Unfortunately, the state legislature did not act on this issue this year.
(Tom Chapman is the executive director of the Iowa Catholic Conference.)
