Last week ended with a flurry of visits from constituents including Dr. Hector Ibarra’s science students from West Branch Middle School.
They displayed their projects in the Capitol Rotunda and impressed a wide variety of people with their poise, scientific knowledge, and ability to answer questions.

They were also present in the House Chamber to see one of their ideas pass and continue to the Senate. The bill started a process to phase-out lead wheel weights on state-owned vehicles

The students and many of their parents also witnessed a debate between several of my colleagues. Unfortunately the debate was more about a personality clash than policy differences. All in all, it was a learning experience for the young people. I always enjoy meeting with students. Being a 20-year veteran of the classroom, these duties are among my favorite.

We worked on a variety of policy bills last week as the budget process continues at the subcommittee level. My basic budget philosophy this session is that the state should not spend more than it takes in. I also believe that employees of state and local governments, including myself, should not receive higher increases in salary than the taxpayers that fund the services. Quite frankly in this economic climate, this usually means no increase. Just to hold the line on health insurance benefits can be an increase in the amount of tax dollars expended.

The Government Reorganization bill passed the House last week 95-0. The bill will cut the budget over 120 million dollars. This is a good start but far short of the savings projected by the Governor.

In this bill, we defeated an attempt to cut services to our small town libraries. Ultimately there would be no total savings to the state with these cuts. We also defeated an attempt to move county Empowerment funding to the Department of Education. I believe this would have resulted in less local control and ultimately a less viable system. This is no permanent victory, though; I am concerned the Senate or Governor may change our bill as it moves through the process.

Unfortunately, the House did pass an initiative which forces rural Empowerment Boards to consolidate even when they are meeting quality standards. Even more troubling is the fact that this will ultimately not save dollars. Some of us fought this change but it passed on a party-line vote. I am grateful to my urban Republican colleagues for standing with us against this ill-advised initiative.

One bill that received a lot of media attention was the “puppy mill” bill which ultimately passed by a sizeable margin. The bill mandates inspections of dog breeding facilities after a complaint, although the problems of unlicensed facilities still remain.

Initially I had concerns over the limited resources in the Department of Agriculture to carry out the inspections and I wanted a clear and definite line drawn between pets and livestock. I also wanted assurance that veterinarians would not be held liable for the abuse perpetrated by others.

All of my concerns were addressed and in a bipartisan manner we passed a bill that will protect animals from abuse and still allow legitimate breeders to raise their animals in a safe environment. My thanks to committee chair, Jim Lykam from Davenport for a fair and bipartisan process.

Next week we will address the issue of a texting ban while driving. I will give you details on the bill next week, but if you have an opinion, let me know. I plan to vote “yes” to the bill, based on overwhelming evidence that it will make our roads a safer place, although there are enforcement issues.

Capitol Visitors: Dr. Hector Ibarra and his West Branch Middle School science students along with many West Branch parents.

Listening Post Schedule: 1 p.m. Feb. 27, West Branch Library.



You may contact Rep. Kaufmann at jeff.kaufmann@legis.state.ia.us, 515-281-3221 or State Capitol, Des Moines, IA 50319.