The first two weeks of the 85th Legislative Session are behind us. Week one included mostly ceremonial activities as new legislators were sworn in and speeches delivered.   History was made as Senator Pam Jochum took the gavel as the first Democratic woman to serve as Iowa Senate president.  

Governor Branstad delivered his 18th Condition of the State Address on January 15th.  He also released his budget and proposes $6.5 billion for FY 14. This is about a 4.3% increase over last year with most of it going toward property tax reform, human services and education. An interesting tidbit - the Governor's budget spends only 88% of the projected revenue for 2014. Iowa law allows 99% to be spent. There is plenty of money to invest in those programs that experienced the 10% cuts several years ago but our Governor chose to fund many of the items at the same level as the previous year.  

The Governor highlighted education, wellness and property tax reform during his speech. We are disappointed that Governor Branstad never mentioned early childhood once during his speech. We don't know how you can address education reform and health without mentioning early intervention and prevention!    

Most of the Committees that met this week had the non-partisan Legislative Services Staff present relevant information pertaining to the Governor's budget. Here are some documents from those Committee meetings that you might find useful:

Health and Human Services Approps Overview

HHS Spreadsheet

Overview of Education budget

Education ppt presentation 

FYI - The Governor provided status quo funding for early childhood programs. 

On Jan 16th, the Governor's education reform plan was released in bill form - HSB 4.   Again, no mention of early childhood.  The first subcommittee meeting was held on Tuesday, January 22nd. The Dept. of Education went through the bill line by line and there was opportunity for public comment. The next subcommittee meeting is Monday, January 28th at 5:00.  The Companion bill in the Senate is SSB 1058. 

While we are on the topic of education. Jason Glass, Director of the IA Dept. of Education, gave a presentation on the State of Education in Iowa to the House Education Committee on January 23rd. There was one glaring omission from his presentation - preschool. When a legislator asked him about it, he stated he was avoiding the subject. He also stated that he supports a fee based  on income preschool system and has concerns about the "fade out effect" in preschool.  Feel free to email or call Director Glass about the real effects and advantages of preschool at jason.glass@iowa.gov or 515-281-3436.   

Committee assignments are now posted on the legislative website. Also, please note that all of the legislator's email addresses have changed to firstname.lastname@legis.iowa.gov.

Another change this year is in the Senate. You can now watch the Senate during debate on the floor. Last year the House started using cameras in addition to audio and the Senate joined them this year. You can watch the Senate here and the House here.

It appears this year will be a lot like last year with education reform, property tax reform and mental health reform dominating much of the debate. And with over a billion dollar surplus, this should be an interesting year!!

We will do our best to keep you up to date on what is happening during this legislative session. Feel free to contact us with any questions or suggestions you might have. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

And finally, don't forget to communicate with your legislatora and weigh in on important children and family issues!