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Senate Update: Iowa failed to crack down on stalking this legislative session
by Bob Dvorsky, State Senator · Op-Ed · May 27, 2016
While the 2016 session made progress on a number of fronts, there were disappointments for working families, crime victims, and sick and disabled Iowans.
Some initiatives never got off the ground. Others passed the Senate—often with bipartisan support—but were dismissed by House leaders.
A few of these missed opportunities include:
• Failing to boost school funding by 4 percent for the 2017-18 school year. After several lean years, we’re still not doing enough for our schools and student achievement.
• Failing to expand statewide preschool so that all children get a chance to attend for one year.
• Failing to give terminally ill Iowans the “right to try” experimental drugs and devices when they are desperate for relief or a cure.
• Failing to provide reasonable on-the-job accommodations for pregnant workers, unless it would cause undue hardship to a business.
• Failing to crack down on stalking and domestic violence, or to strengthen treatment, monitoring and penalties for violators.
• Failing to reduce drunken driving fatalities and other drug and alcohol-related crimes with accountability-based 24/7 Sobriety pilot projects in counties that want to try the successful program.
• Failing to move Iowa into the 21st century by giving Internet users the power to plan for their digital assets, just like they would for physical property.
We’ll continue to study these issues in the coming months so that we’re ready to make progress when the 2017 session gavels in next January. We must invest in our children’s education, strengthen Iowa’s health care safety net, and stand up for working families and crime victims.
To contact Senator Dvorsky during the week, call the Senate Switchboard at 515-281-3371. Otherwise he can be reached at home at 319-351-0988. E-mail him at bob.dvorsky@legis.iowa.gov.
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