The scandal surrounding the Iowa's film-tax-credit program was a hot topic at a meeting this week of the legislature's Government Oversight Committee, with lawmakers and the media eager to get answers but leadership saying committee discussion now could impede the investigation.
"If the leadership was different, we'd be taking it up today," said Representative Ralph Watts (R-Adel).
Representative Vicki Lensing (D-Iowa City), co-chair of the Government Oversight Committee, said this isn't a political issue and agreed that the panel has a responsibility to taxpayers and the legislature to find out what happened.
Lawmakers said they were in the dark about problems with the Iowa Film Office until last week.
"We have questions, we have concerns like all of you do," Lensing said. "We need to keep the public informed. We need to be aware of what's happening to public dollars. We just can't get there today."
The program has awarded $32 million in tax credits to 22 film projects in the past two years. Allegations of wrongdoing include two filmmakers purchasing Mercedes and Land Rover vehicles that were not used directly on a film. The situation has led to resignations of Iowa Department of Economic Development Director Mike Tramontina and Deputy Director Vince Lintz, and the firing of Iowa Film Office Manager Thomas Wheeler.
Irregularities with the film-tax-credit program outlined in a memo from Tramontina included inadequate files and receipts on each film, receipts not being reviewed by accountants, amended contracts, vague ledger sheets, some filmmakers claiming payment for several roles, claimed services that weren't paid for, an unused custom database, and many out-of-state vendors.
Governor Chet Culver has said he was "outraged" by mismanagement in the program, asserted that "Iowans will not be taken for suckers," and vowed to make sure that any state money wrongfully spent is returned.
The scandal has led Culver, the Iowa Fiscal Partnership, and some lawmakers to call for a broader review of the state's $435 million in tax credits.
"That's not to say that there's anything wrong with having tax credits. I don't believe that there is," Watts said. "They provide some benefit and help in economic development. But I think they need to be reviewed and dealt with."
More than 150 film projects have been completed, have entered into contracts, or have been given initial approval under the state's film-tax-credit program, which has now been suspended, according to information from the Iowa Department of Economic Development.
But the state may be on the hook for film projects given initial approval by the state, even though they hadn't yet signed a contract, the Iowa attorney general's office said in a statement: "The state's obligations and liabilities may not be determined solely by whether a contract has been signed by the parties, and statements by state officials to that effect are mistaken."
Health-Care Forum Covers Prices, Patients, and Public Option
Iowa's former top-ranking public-health official advocated passionately for a patient-centered approach to health-care reform during a recent IowaPolitics.com forum.
Chris Atchison, former director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, said that the debate thus far has focused mostly on cost.
"I understand there's a finite amount of money, and I understand we have to organize the equity within the system, how we pay for all this stuff," he said. "But damn it, it ought to be about what the product is that we're buying, that we're arranging to be delivered."
Mary Earnhardt, policy director of Iowans for Tax Relief, disagreed, saying the $900-billion price tag for one health-care bill is a lot of money being sent to Washington, DC.
"No one's exactly sure where they [citizens] are going to benefit and how they're going to benefit, and it's certainly not by increasing taxes on the middle class," she said.
Charlie Bruner, director of the Iowa Child & Family Policy Center, emphasized that a public option could potentially create competition, and doesn't necessarily mean a public mandate.
"We are going to create an option for you that is determined to be affordable ... ," he said. "For some people, it may be their only option."
Diane Crookham-Johnson, part-owner of Musco Corporation and a member of the state's Health Care Coverage Commission, said the bottom line is making sure people can get health care, regardless of whether there is a public option or how much the legislation may cost.
"I'm afraid right now we can't afford to do this wrong, and it doesn't matter what number we attach to that," she said. "Until we know that the proposal set in front of us will provide more people with health care, every dollar spent is a dollar wasted."
Iowans to Receive Additional Unemployment Benefits
Iowa will provide up to 13 additional weeks of unemployment insurance to nearly 5,000 Iowans who qualify, and notifications will go to qualified individuals soon.
A person without dependents is eligible for a maximum of $357 a week, so it will cost the federal government an estimated $22.75 million for the 13-week extension, said Kerry Koonce, spokesperson for Iowa Workforce Development.
Iowa's unemployment rate was 6.8 percent in August and has remained at an elevated level over the past 13 weeks. That triggered Tier 2 federal extended benefits for the second time in 2009. Coupled with the previous extensions, Iowans are potentially eligible for 33 weeks of federal extended benefits.
The additional unemployment insurance was authorized by Congress last November, said Pete McRoberts, the governor's deputy press secretary.
Earlier in the week, three of Iowa's five U.S. representatives voted against a bill that would exclude Iowans from receiving a later 13-week extension of unemployment benefits. U.S. Representatives Leonard Boswell (D-Des Moines), Bruce Braley (D-Waterloo), and Steve King (R-Kiron) voted against the bill. Representative Tom Latham (R-Ames) voted for it. Representative Dave Loebsack (D-Mount Vernon) did not vote.
Braley explained that he broke with his party because the bill extends unemployment benefits to unemployed workers by 13 weeks, but only in states with unemployment rates of 8.5 percent or higher. "When you're unemployed, it doesn't matter to you what your state's unemployment rate is," he said. "What matters is that you need to support your family. Extending unemployment benefits is important to help people in this recession, but rural Iowans suffer from much higher unemployment than the Iowa average. I opposed this bill because it's unfair to deny assistance to people just because they happen to live in rural areas."
Boswell said the entire country has felt the impact of the recession. "It is for this reason that I cannot support a bill that does not view unemployment as a shared hurt," he said. "Iowa has an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent, but four counties in my district have an unemployment rate of more than 9 percent and climbing. Any legislation that extends unemployment benefits must be applied equally."
Inspection of Puppy Mills Again on Lawmakers' Agenda
An issue that held up adjournment of the 2009 legislative session is up for debate again, as lawmakers will consider the regulation and care of animals in breeding establishments.
An interim study committee composed of 10 legislators from both the House and Senate will hear presentations from groups such as the Animal Rescue League, the Iowa Pet Breeders Association, and Iowa Voters for Companion Animals.
At the crux of the issue is whether the Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship should be given authority to inspect U.S. Department of Agriculture-licensed commercial-breeding enterprises.
Senator Joe Seng (D-Davenport) is a veterinarian and will co-chair the committee. He said that while current regulations might be adequate, the federal government isn't as stringent with its enforcement as the state, and doesn't do as many inspections as it should.
"That's the complaint from the people ... ," Seng said, "that federal inspectors aren't doing their jobs as well as they should. Maybe they're more lenient on that."
Representative Jim Lykam, also a Davenport Democrat, is the other committee co-chair. Lykam said that after hearing testimony, the committee will deliberate and decide whether to make a recommendation to the full legislative body.
But Senator Merlin Bartz, a Republican from Grafton on the committee, said a recommendation would mean very little unless a bipartisan consensus is reached.
Tom Colvin, executive director of the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, said he hopes lawmakers use the study committee do something meaningful for the state.
"It seems to me an opportunity for the state and the state's leaders to take a role in this and ensure that dogs in commercial-breeding establishments are being properly cared for," Colvin said. "It shouldn't be considered that because it falls under a federal inspection program ... we shouldn't have to worry about it, because there's too much evidence to the contrary."
Nancy Carlson with the Iowa Pet Breeders Association said pet breeders would have no problem with state inspectors coming into their kennels under specific circumstances - and as long as they inspect under federal rules.
"If the state does want to come in and inspect, as long as there is a valid complaint, that is fine," Carlson said. "That would be someone who has been to the facility, has seen a problem, not from harassment of many, many complaints. Not from out of state or from a call list of USDA-licensed kennels."
Carlson said commercial breeders have been unfairly portrayed as having horrific conditions for animals and breeding only for profit. "Yes, we are for-profit enterprises,"she said. "However, the care of our animals is all we care about."
Interest Wanes in Four-Day School Week
Dropping fuel prices have meant less conversation this school year about some Iowa districts wanting to move to a four-day school week -- an idea that generated quite a bit of discussion last school year.
"Now that fuel prices have dropped a little bit, there has been less conversation about changing the length of the school week," said Margaret Buckton, a Des Moines school-board member who's also associate executive director of public policy for the Iowa Association of School Boards. "There are some things that could be done with that time that could be useful, but 8.5 hours is a long day for young kids."
School districts across the United States have offered and implemented plans for four-day school weeks. But so far, none of the Iowa districts interested in the idea has made the switch.
The Iowa Department of Education requires school districts seeking a four-day school week to provide an "innovative school calendar waiver form" providing evidence of the educational benefit to the students. A compromise between the state and district may be reached, but without sufficient evidence and plans to better the school system, the petition is likely to fail.
The issue was a hot one last November at some school-board meetings, but interest appears to have subsided since then.
Bondurant-Farrar is the only Iowa district to submit a petition for review. Officials of the 1,300-student district thought the plan to take Mondays off would help cover a $1.3-million budget deficit and provide more time for teacher training. But the petition was rejected by state education officials in February because district officials could not provide sufficient reasoning for eliminating a school day.
Bondurant-Farrar Superintendent Peggy Vint said the school district was initially looking for ways to save money and operate more efficiently. In addition, a four-day-school-week waiver must be submitted a year in advance to be considered. By then, the community decided not to go through with the four-day-school-week proposal.
"The parents just weren't interested in having their kids come to school for four days," Vint said. "They wanted to maintain the same kind of schedule they had at work for the most part. So, because the community didn't want to go that direction, we didn't determine that we would go any further."
This weekly summary comes from IowaPolitics.com, an online government and politics news service. IowaPolitics.com staff contributed to this report.
