ICC looks at 2003 legislative action

Posted May 15, 2003

The 2003 Iowa Legislative Session wrapped up on May 1, a Thursday night just one day shy of their May 2 deadline. Unfortunately, legislators won't be home for long. They will be back at work in the upcoming weeks. The Governor has said that he will call a special session to deal with several tax issues as well as economic development legislation. The good news is that most of the key issues that the Iowa Catholic Conference was working on were already dealt with by last week.

House File 206, a bill requiring clergy to be mandatory reporters of child abuse, was passed out of the House and Senate and currently is awaiting the Governor's signature. If it is signed, Catholic clergy will be required by law starting July 1, 2003 to report the abuse of any child under the age of 16. This information must be acquired first hand and gives broad protection to the seal of confession. This means that any information obtained by the clergy member during the Sacrament of Reconciliation will remain confidential.

Senate File 440, Allowable Growth for Non-public schools, did not make it up for debate in the House by the end of the session. This bill would have created a funding mechanism similar to the public school allowable growth funding mechanism. Put simply, when the state legislature approves a 2 percent growth to public school education funding, non-public schools would receive a 2 percent growth as well on the small amount they receive from the state.

The bill had bi-partisan support going into the final week, but the House simply ran out of time to run the bill. The positive side of the situation is that the funds would not have been appropriated until FY '05. This means that similar legislation can be passed next session and provide the exact same result as the bill would have done this year. Many key legislators were upset that the bill died this year and have promised to make it a priority next year.

Some positive bills that passed through the 2003 Legislature this year were Senate File 3 and Senate File 422. SF 3 required statistical reporting of RU-486, a drug used for abortions. It was signed by the Governor in April. SF 22 related to sentencing reform. Although the changes in sentencing reform were very small, SF 422 did provide a step in the right direction in the areas of mandatory sentencing and community corrections.

Not all issues went our way this year. The current budget problems led to numerous cuts in state services this year. The Department of Human Services continues to be cut year after year. DHS provides many services to children and families in Iowa. Any further cuts could be devastating to their basic safety net. Medicaid survived without facing serious cuts this year. However, escalating costs will make it a target for reduction in its services and eligibility. The ICC will be keeping a close eye in the upcoming year on Medicaid.

Another area that was cut significantly this year was the Area Education Agencies. AEA's are a great resource for non-public schools, and cuts to their appropriations will mean a significant decrease in the services that are provided to all K-12 education.

Overall, the 2003 legislative session was a busy one for the Iowa Catholic Conference. The ICC would like to thank the following legislators for their support on numerous Catholic issues: Rep. Rod Roberts (R - Carroll), Rep. Dolores Mertz (D - Ottosen), Sen. David Johnson (R - Ocheyedan), and Rep. Royd Chambers (R - Sheldon).

The Iowa Catholic Conference staff will spend the next months organizing our grassroots network and would love to come and speak to your parish or group. Please keep us in mind when preparing your agendas for the summer and fall. We can speak in general about legislative priorities or we can focus on any of our key areas.

Contact our office at info@iowacatholicconference.org or at (515)243-6256 for more information.