Every Child Counts
     Legislative Alert      
Greetings!

budgetLegislators must be contacted now and told to adopt a balanced approach that includes revenues as well as spending cuts in resolving the current budget crises.
 
Spending cuts alone will not solve the problem.
 
Legislative leadership has released its budget targets for SFY 2011. There is a target for each appropriations subcommittee. These targets are significantly below the Governor's SFY 2011 budget recommendations, as well as below the net SFY 2010 budget after the across the board budget cuts ordered by the Governor last year. Health and Human Services faces the lion's share of the cuts under the leadership SFY 2011 budget targets.
 
General Fund expenditures for programs Iowans need have already been greatly reduced by the Governor's across the board cut and other budgetary decisions. The only part of the budget that has remained untouched is the revenue side of the budget, especially the over $500 million in business tax credits. Business tax credits need the same deliberate review that appropriations currently receive. After all, tax credits are spending just as appropriations are, but so far they have not been affected by budget cuts. In fact their cost continues to grow.
 
DHS director Charles Krogmeier told the Health and Human Services Appropriations subcommittee that the proposed SFY 2011 budget will have the following effects on DHS and the people served by the Department:
  • 516 full time equivalent employees in field operations will be lost. These are the staff that do child abuse investigations, manage children in foster care, arrange adoptions, and qualify people for DHS programs like Medicaid, food assistance, FIP, Hawk-I, child care etc.
  • Over 150 child abuse victims per month will remain at risk longer and have delays in receiving treatment services
  • An additional 190 children will wait longer than a year to be adopted
  • Over 4,000 individuals and families will not receive food assistance within thirty days, placing increased demands on food pantries and county general relief
  • Over 3,800 individuals will not receive their Medicaid card within 30 days, with resulting delays in their receiving medical treatment and increasing use of hospital emergency rooms and uncompensated care
  • Over $32 million in child support collections will not occur, leaving custodial families without that support
  • Over 100 beds in the mental health and juvenile services institutions being closed, exacerbating already limited service options for children and adults
The Des Moines Register reports the Des Moines School District has plans to eliminate 300 teachers and an additional other 150 employees next year. Other school districts are making similar plans.
 
If we do not resolve the current budget crisis using a balanced approach that includes revenues then we are placing the future of our state and especially the future of our children in jeopardy. It also means that when Iowa recovers from the current recession, and we will, Iowa will not be in a position to benefit from that recovery.
 
As part of addressing the revenue side of the budget we are urging you to contact your legislators to pass the Tax Credit Review Panel's recommendations. This is what the Governor called for in his condition of the state address. It is an important first step in providing accountability for business tax credits and ensuring they achieve a public purpose while at the same time looking to curtail their runaway cost. These tax credits need the same deliberate review that appropriations currently receive. After all tax credits are spending just as appropriations are.
 
The Tax Credit Advisory Panel recommendations were endorsed by the Governor and his budget including $52.5 million in additional revenue by reducing tax credits. We agree with the panel's recommendations and urge the legislature take the following actions regarding business tax credits this session:
  • Transparency ...All business tax credits should be transparent and easily accessible to the public through an up-to-date, searchable online database. It should disclose the name of each tax credit recipient, the amount of each tax credit they receive, and the amount of each credit refunded or transferred. The Revenue Estimating Conference should list the types and amounts of tax credit claims included in its tax receipts calculations for each meeting.
  • Transferability of tax credits ... Eliminate the ability to transfer all state tax credits
  • Return on investment ... develop and implement a publics return on investment for each business tax credit.
  • Sunset tax credits ... require a five year sunset for each business tax credit.
  • Cap tax credits ... place all business-related tax credits under the $185 million cap created last session.
  • Eliminate some credits ... eliminate 8 tax credits, most notably the film tax credits.
  • Eliminate Refundabililty of the Research Activities Credit ... eliminate Research Activities Credit refunds for companies with gross receipts in excess of $20 million per year. At the very least the legislature should limit the amount of "refund" checks to no more than $250,000, or less, per company.
Please contact your Senator and Representative now and ask them to pass the tax credit review panel recommendations!
 

 
baby We also need you to contact your Representative on another issue:

Ask them to support SF 2270!
  
24 other states, DC and Puerto Rico have laws requiring employer accommodation of 
expressing milk at work for employees who breastfeed. The Iowa Senate has 
passed the bill, and it is now eligible for debate in the House. However, 
without a show of support show of support it will likely not come to a vote in 
the House. Please let your Representative know your thoughts on the bill.
What the bill does:
1.       Requires that paid or unpaid break time be provided during which 
       employee is permitted to express milk
2.       Requires employer to make a reasonable effort to provide a place 
       other than a toilet stall, unless doing so creates an undue burden on 
       employer
3.       Requires IWD to post info about how to accommodate on its website
4.       Requires any employee to seek mediation with employer before she 
       might litigate over failure to comply
Some Benefits of Breastfeeding to Employees and their Families and the State of 
Iowa
·         Significant health benefits for infants, such as lower rates of diabetes, 
       leukemia, and ear and respiratory infections
·         Decreased risk of diabetes, breast and ovarian cancer for mothers 
·         Lower health care costs and improved public health
  
Public Health Authorities Recommend Breastfeeding
·         The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for the 
       first year of an infant's life
·         Iowa's 2006 rate of breastfeeding for infants at six months lags the 
       national rate by a full ten percent (33.2% IA; 43.4% US), according to 
       the CDC
·         Iowa ranks 37th nationally for rates of breastfeeding 
·         While 68% of new Iowa mothers initiate breastfeeding, fewer than half 
       are still doing so after six months
  
What are the benefits to employers for accommodating breastfeeding?
   ·    Lactation support saves money for employers through lower health care costs 
       and less absenteeism
   ·    Multiple studies have found specific employer benefits, including: 
o Health care costs were three times less for mothers in the company's lactation 
program than for those who were not, with an average annual savings 
of $2,146 per participant (Mutual of Omaha) 
o Aetna found $1,435 of savings per breastfed infant during the first 
year of life
o Lactation support results in a 77% reduction in lost work time due to 
infant illness, and even improves the attendance of fathers
o A 2006 study of 9 companies with lactation support found a 94.2% 
employee retention rate after maternity leave absence (59% national 
average)



 
Thank you for speaking out on these important issues!!!!
 
Sincerely,
 

Sheila Hansen
Every Child Counts