Iowa Catholic Conference 2007 Legislative Concerns and Priorities

Jan. 11, 2007

The Iowa Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of the bishops of Iowa, is a collaboration of numerous Catholics throughout Iowa that are skilled in areas relating to the Catholic Church in Iowa.

The ICC's Board of Directors is headed by the four Bishops in Iowa and includes priests, religious women, laymen, laywomen and deacons from around the state. The board's primary activity is the approval of priorities that the ICC Staff work on each year.

The ICC Staff is based in Des Moines. They lobby at the State Capitol as well as research issues and head grassroots organizing efforts.

The Iowa Catholic Conference has identified the following concerns and priorities for the 2007 legislative session.

Pro-Life

* The Iowa Catholic Conference will support extending protections to unborn victims of violence.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports research in adult stem cells; however, the ICC opposes embryo destruction for stem cell research.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports the existing ban on human cloning.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference will continue to support efforts to provide women with a choice to be fully informed about abortion.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports ensuring alternatives to abortion for women by providing funding to clinics and programs that assist women in crisis pregnancies.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports disclosure of trafficking of fetal tissue.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference will support updating the statistical reporting of abortions law to include procedure used, week of gestation, and county where patient resides.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference will support legislation to promote adoption programs.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference will continue to support restrictions on the use of taxpayer funds for abortions, including taxpayer funds allocated to those organizations who perform and advocate abortions.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference opposes any state efforts to legalize assisted suicide and/or euthanasia.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference will continue to oppose the death penalty in Iowa.

Health Care

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports the broadest expansion possible for HAWK-I and Medicaid services, including eligibility requirements, provider payments and state funding.

* The Conference also strongly supports state initiatives which would make health care more readily available and affordable to all Iowans, including parents of children who are recipients of the HAWK-I benefits.

Welfare Reform

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports genuine welfare reform that strengthens families, encourages and rewards work, and protects vulnerable children--born and unborn. "Welfare reform" should include provisions that 1) protect human life and human dignity; (2) strengthen family life; (3) encourage and rewards work; (4) preserve a safety net for the vulnerable; (5) build public/private partnerships to overcome poverty; and (6) invest in human dignity and poor families.

Utilities/Housing

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports programs to provide adequate assistance to those who lack the resources to pay their utility bills.

* The Conference supports efforts to assist homeless Iowans and to create and preserve affordable housing units as well as rental assistance to low-income families. This includes shelter assistance, case management for homeless children and families, and rehabilitation of existing housing, both city and rural.

Children and Families

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports efforts to expand family treatment programs; improve childcare programs and increase welfare payments to poor families and children in Iowa.

* The Conference believes that programs such as job training and childcare must be adequately funded. Families of adults who, through no fault of their own, have not become self-sufficient at the conclusion of a family investment agreement period should not be denied continued benefits.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference will support legislation to ensure parental consent when free contraceptives are provided to their children.

* The Conference will also strive to strengthen support to families in both work and marriage.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports efforts to provide comprehensive programs for domestic violence victims and for those who commit these crimes.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports amending the Iowa Constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman.

Immigration

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports the basic human rights of documented and undocumented immigrants and refugees.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports legislation allowing undocumented high school graduates who are residents of Iowa to be eligible to pay in-state tuition rates at colleges and universities in the state of Iowa.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference calls for fair treatment under the law for all workers, for a just living wage, for safe working conditions, and for humane treatment of their children and families.

* The Conference also supports full restoration of benefits to permanent legal residents, including legally documented immigrants.

* Undocumented immigrants carrying false papers in order to secure a driver's license or secure work are currently subject to a felony for such behavior. Felony conviction means automatic deportation. The Conference favors reduction from a felony to an aggravated misdemeanor for such offenses.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports adequate funding for training under the Iowa's Human Trafficking law.

Community Corrections

* The Iowa Catholic Conference favors sentencing reform that will emphasize community-based corrections for prisoners who are not a threat to the community.

* The Conference favors sentencing reform that will give greater latitude to judges when deciding appropriate penalties.

Elderly Care

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports measures to provide effective programs for those who are poor and elderly, including health care, transportation, housing and nutrition.

* The Conference is in support of development of programs which would provide for a full continuum of care for moderate and low-income families, from assisted living care to nursing home care, etc.

Rural Life

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports incentives in rural areas to create new jobs which provide living wages and safe working conditions.

* The Conference supports access to healthcare, education, and services in rural areas.

* The Conference calls for moves to strengthen agriculture and protect family farms in Iowa.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports efforts to strengthen the Family Farm Act.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports legal aid for needy farmers.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports the creation and growth of small business in Iowa's rural communities through programs similar to the Iowa New Growth Initiative.

Environmental Issues

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports measures to preserve, protect, and improve the quality of the air, water, and land in Iowa.

* The Conference strongly endorses legislation that requires industry, including large agricultural related production operations to be environmentally sound.

* The Conference favors strict enforcement of present environmental laws and adequate state funding for this purpose. The Conference favors local control whenever possible.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports efforts to expand renewable sources of energy in the state of Iowa.

Economic Justice

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports a progressive tax system, a just living wage, and fair and reasonable labor practices by employers.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports sales tax increases on tobacco and alcohol if the revenues directly assist the state in providing for the health and welfare of the people of Iowa.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference opposes amendments to the Iowa Constitution that would require a super-majority of the legislature to implement a tax increase.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference opposes legislation that would allow for additional taxes and/or fees for services to be imposed on not-for-profit organizations.

Education

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports continuation of the assistance for students enrolled in accredited private schools through technology, transportation and textbook appropriations.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports broadening financial assistance to families through tax credits or other means to allow their children to attend the public, private or parochial school of their choice.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports expanding tax credits to individuals and corporations who contribute to a "school tuition organization" that provides scholarships to low-income children who want to attend a nonpublic school.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports full funding of the Area Education Agencies.

* The Iowa Catholic Conference supports on-site special education assistance through the AEAs.

Legislative Concerns in bold-face type are the legislative priorities for the 2007 Legislative Session.

Other concerns may be moved to "priority" status if the issues are introduced and start to advance through legislature.