Konfrst

With the Iowa Legislature scheduled to adjourn on May 2, there is still a lot of work to get done for Iowans.

The biggest unresolved issue is passing the state budget. The Governor released her budget back in January, but we’ve not seen any progress from GOP legislative leaders so far.

Here’s what we know right now. When the Governor released her budget earlier this year, she planned to use about $900 million in one-time money to cover the state’s ongoing revenues. The Senate GOP budget uses a similar amount, and we’ve yet to see any numbers from House GOP lawmakers.

With Iowa’s economy already contracting and the chaos in DC leading to more uncertainty in our manufacturing and ag sectors, the next few years are going to be rocky. When you add in the 44% increase in state funding to private school vouchers and another $1 billion tax cut for corporations that lay off workers on the table, it’s going to compound the state’s budget problems even more.

While state budget negotiations seem to have stalled, there were a few good bills that passed the House in the last week.

Two of the ideas House Democrats have been working on for years to lower childcare costs were finally approved by the full Iowa House. One bill expands the state’s child and dependent care tax credit to put more money in the pockets of Iowa families dealing with rising costs of childcare. The second bill lowers property taxes for childcare centers to make them more affordable for families.

After years of waiting, Iowa is finally one step closer to ensuring our firefighters and first responders get the care they deserve. Originally sponsored by Democratic lawmakers, a bill is on its way to the Governor that expands cancer health care coverage for first responders.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cancer is the leading cause of death among firefighters, and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) has said that 63% of the names added to the Fallen Firefighter Memorial were members who died of occupational cancer. I’m thrilled to see this bill finally make it to the Governor’s desk so first responders can get the care they deserve.

It’s not clear when the Legislature might finish up for the year, but with so much uncertainty still out there, we’ll likely be headed for overtime. So far, there hasn’t been nearly enough done to actually lower costs for Iowans who are struggling to pay the bills.

At a minimum, we need to get a few more bills passed to lower the cost of housing and health care before we adjourn.

That’s people over politics.

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State Representative Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights serves the 32nd District in the Iowa House and is the Iowa House Democratic Leader.