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 News from Every Child Counts 
 










   5/24/13
 

The legislative session ended yesterday after an extended session. It was a whirlwind ending with bills bouncing back and forth between the two chambers. We are still reading through all the final bills/conference committee reports but would like to provide you with a very quick update. We will send out a more comprehensive update next week. Please remember that the Governor still needs to sign all the bills so none of this is really final until that happens.

Highlights:

SF 295 - Property Tax Reform
  • Increases the Earned Income Tax Credit from 7% to 14% in tax year 2013; 15% in tax year 2014. The credit is retroactive to January, 2013.
  • Each year, beginning July 1, 2014, the balance of the Taxpayers Trust Fund exceeds $30 million a tax credit will be issued to Iowa taxpayer

HF 215 - Education Reform (We are still analyzing this final Conf. Committee Report)

  • Increases allowable uses for preschool funding by
    community based providers, allowing them to cover
    their actual expenses related to the program.
  • Preschool Assessment language (p. 85).  (We feel
    some of this language is very problematic)
     
SF 446 - Health and Human Services Appropriations 
  • 4% increase in child care provider rates.
  • $75,000 for an evaluation of the QRS.
  • $25,000 to create a searchable internet based app as part of consumer information accessing child care.
  • $135,178 to implement mandatory fingerprinting of child care providers
  • $1,000,000 increase in 1st Five
  • Changes to ECI funding from TANF to General Fund. Funding formula remains the same. (p.47)
  • Creates Autism Support Program 
  • SF 446 also includes medicaid expansion language or what will be referred to as The Iowa Health and Wellness Plan. We are still analyzing this particular legislation and will come out with our comments and thoughts on this next week. (you can find the bill language on P. 190)

  

SF 452 - Standings Appropriations 

  • Supplemental weighting for Limited English Proficient Students.
  • Mandates hospitals perform the Newborn Critical Congenital Heart Disease Screening. This screening will now be included in Iowa's Newborn Screening Panel.
  • Mental health reform  - Children's Workgroup will reconvene (we are still analyzing this portion)
  • Farm to Food Tax Credit
  • School Employee Background Checks
  • Increase for Shared Visions  

 

HF 604 - Education Appropriations  

  • $400,000 - For Early Head Start expansion grants. Priority given to those who had previously received state funding for EHS expansion.
  • $1,331,000 - For Reading Research Center which was created in last year's ed reform bill.
  • $8,000,000- For Successful Readers Progression  
  • Early Childhood Iowa Local Board language (p. 21)
  • Codifies Home Visitation language  
We know we have not covered nearly everything all of you are interested in but we wanted to highlight some of the legislation passed related to our priority areas. Stay tuned for a more comprehensive update in the next week. Again, please remember, the Governor has yet to sign any of this legislation.

We appreciate all the work of the legislators, staff and advocates who worked extremely hard this session at passing a budget for children and families. We know this is just the beginning, we have much more to do.   
 

And finally, don't forget to thank your legislators for all the hard work put into this legislative session.  There are many to thank and we hope to highlight them and their hard work in our next updates. 

  

We hope you have a nice, restful holiday weekend!

 

  

Sincerely,

Sheila Hansen     &     Danielle Oswald-Thole
and all the other at the Child and Family Policy Center!

 




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  Sheila Hansen
Every Child Counts
 Director

Danielle Oswald-Thole
Every Child Counts
Outreach Coordinator and Policy Advocate

 

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"The credit belongs to those who are actually in the arena, who strive valiantly; who know the great enthusiasums, the great devotions, and spend themselves in a worthy cause; who at best know the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if they fail, fail while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
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Child and Family Policy Center 

505 5th Avenue, Suite 404

   Des Moines, Iowa 50309

   phone:  (515) 280-9027 

www.cfpciowa.org