WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa is urging fair treatment of the wind energy production tax credit whenever the committee of jurisdiction takes up expired or expiring tax provisions.

"Good tax policy requires certainty that can only come from long-term predictable tax laws," Grassley wrote to Sen. Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Finance Committee.  "Businesses need certainty in the tax code so they can plan and invest accordingly.  And, while I look forward to working with my colleagues in the future to enact tax reform and put an end to the headaches and uncertainty created by the regular expiration of tax provisions, right now our focus must be on extending current expired or expiring provisions to give us room to work toward that goal."

Grassley's letter noted that opponents of renewable energy single out such provisions for removal while overlooking the many generous, permanent provisions benefiting other forms of energy.  Grassley has detailed the many provisions benefiting the oil, gas and nuclear industries in remarks on the Senate floor.   His letter said Iowa ranks third in the nation in terms of installed wind capacity, providing more than 28 percent of Iowa's electricity, while supporting more than 6,000 jobs.  Nationally, the wind energy industry supports more than 73,000 jobs.  "With jobs and the economy at the top of Americans' concerns, it would be a travesty for our new majority to put these jobs at risk," Grassley wrote.

Grassley also wrote that the wind energy industry is the only industry that has put out a phase-out plan for its tax credit.  He said such a phase-out should occur in the context of comprehensive tax reform, where all energy tax provisions are on the table.

Grassley authored and won enactment of the first-ever wind energy production tax credit in 1992.  The incentive was designed to give wind energy the ability to compete against coal-fired and nuclear energy and helped to launch the wind energy industry.  He has worked to extend the credit ever since.

Grassley is a senior member and former chairman of the Finance Committee.

AMES, IA (07/08/2015)(readMedia)-- Thirty-six architecture and 11 landscape architecture students studied in Italy for the spring 2015 semester with the Iowa State University College of Design Rome Program. Their studio projects involved research, analysis and proposed redesign of segments of the 12-mile Aurelian Wall that rings the area of Imperial-era Rome. They also participated in a three-day design charrette with 19 students from the University of Oklahoma in Rome and 50 Italian students from Roma Tre University.

Victor Valadez of Muscatine, IA (52761), majoring in Architecture at Iowa State University, traveled to Italy in spring 2015 for a semester of study with the ISU College of Design Rome Program.

Bethanie Blake of Davenport, IA (52807), majoring in Architecture at Iowa State University, traveled to Italy in spring 2015 for a semester of study with the ISU College of Design Rome Program.

Evan Aubry of Moline, IL (61265), majoring in Landscape Architecture at Iowa State University, traveled to Italy in spring 2015 for a semester of study with the ISU College of Design Rome Program.

The 12-mile Aurelian Wall (completed 275 AD) that rings the area of Imperial-era Rome served as the focus for all the studio projects.

For the first project, students redesigned one of the wall's historic gates as an archaeological artifact that houses a museum, with particular consideration for improving the relationship between the gate and the contemporary city's infrastructure. On the second project, architecture and landscape architecture students formed interdisciplinary teams to conduct inventory and analysis on different one-mile segments of the wall, so they could have good analytical information for the whole wall. This fed into the third project, for which students proposed an intervention in some segment of the Aurelian Wall that forged connections while highlighting the wall as a historic urban artifact or monument.

Between the second and third projects, Iowa State University held a three-day design charrette about the Aurelian Wall in association with 19 students from the University of Oklahoma and about 50 Italian students from Rome Tre University. The charrette was held at Roma Tre's campus in Testaccio and the work was exhibited In Iowa State's studios at the Palazzo Cenci in the historic center of Rome.

The students' study was enhanced by extended field trips to northern Italy (Bagnaia, Caprarola, Perugia, Venice, Verona, Vicenza) and southern Italy (Baia, Naples, Paestum, Pompeii and the island of Capri) as well as day trips throughout Rome and environs.

The College of Design offers a variety of high-quality international experiences to students through faculty-led semester, summer and spring-break programs as well as other short-term study abroad opportunities and exchange programs in locations around the world.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack (D-IA) joined with Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) to introduce H.R. 2878 to prevent Medicare's enforcement of unreasonable and inflexible direct supervision rules for outpatient therapy services at Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and other small, rural hospitals. This legislation was introduced by Loebsack and Jenkins in the 113th Congress and passed the House by a voice vote on September 9, 2014. The bill was signed by the President on December 4, 2014 and became public law. However, the law has expired and was introduced again by Congressman Loebsack and Congresswoman Jenkins.

"I am pleased to again join with Rep. Jenkins and work in a bipartisan manner to ensure all Iowans have access to high-quality health care no matter where they live," said Congressman Loebsack. "Critical Access Hospitals play an important role in rural communities by providing access to primary, emergency, and acute care services. I have visited multiple CAHs across my District that have struggled to meet the direct supervision requirement, and this important legislation will provide them with certainty that they deserve."

"Rural communities in Kansas and across the country depend on Critical Access Hospitals," said Congresswoman Jenkins. "CAHs are the lifeblood of their communities, and this legislation corrects a decision from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that puts a strain on providers without providing any quality improvements for the patients they serve. I was proud to lead a bipartisan push with Senator Moran last Congress to make this bill law, extend the direct supervision requirement moratorium, and give much-needed certainty to rural hospitals. I hope that Members from both parties can once again come together to ensure that high-quality, timely care is available no matter where you live in America."

Items to Note:

·       There are 1,332 CAHs across the country, 82 in Iowa.

·       Companion legislation was introduced in the Senate by U.S. Senator's John Thune (R-S.D.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), and Jon Tester (D-Mont.). S. 1261 passed out of the Senate Finance Committee on June 24, 2015.

Examples of direct supervision rules for outpatient therapy services: 

·       Application of cast to a finger

·       Blood transfusions

·       Application of a splint to a finger

·       Demonstration and/or evaluation of a patient utilizing a nebulizer or metered dose inhaler

·       Alcohol and/or substance abuse (other than tobacco) structured assessment and brief intervention (such as advising of health risks and counseling for 15-30 mins)

·       Pulmonary rehabilitation, including exercise of one hour per session - up to two sessions per day

What They Are Saying:

American Hospital Association: On behalf of our more than 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, and our nearly 43,000 individual members, the American Hospital Association (AHA) is pleased to express our support for the your legislation, H.R. 2878, which would extend through calendar year (CY) 2015 the enforcement delay on direct supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services provided in critical access hospitals (CAHs) and rural prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals with 100 or fewer beds. Your legislation provides immediate and critical relief to small, rural hospitals and ensures patients in these communities will continue to have access to outpatient therapeutic services. As you know, these services have always been provided by licensed, skilled professionals under the overall direction of a physician and with the assurance of rapid assistance from a team of caregivers, including a physician.

National Rural Health Association: The National Rural Health Association (NRHA), a non-profit membership organization with more than 21,000 members in rural America, strongly applauds the introduction H.R. 2878 to place a moratorium on CMS' enforcement of direct physician supervision requirements for outpatient therapy services at Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and other rural hospitals for 2015.  Your legislation will provide temporary relief that will go far in relieving the regulatory burden of direct supervision of outpatient therapeutic services for rural hospitals.