Lawmakers remain concerned about state budget

Local legislators Sen. Chaz Allen and Rep. Wes Breckenridge met with constituents on Saturday, the last in a series of legislative coffees sponsored by the Jasper County League of Women Voters.

The monthly events give the voting public a chance to meet with lawmakers and ask questions about the political process. At Saturday’s forum, residents quizzed Allen and Breckenridge on a number of issues, including sexual harassment issues at the statehouse.

With Bill Dix, R-Shell Rock, resigning after video surfaced of him kissing a lobbyist in a Des Moines bar last week, residents voiced concerns not only about sexual harassment but who is left to foot the bill when lawmakers are sued over their conduct. After Iowa Senate GOP staffer Kirstin Anderson won a $1.75 million lawsuit against the state ,lawmakers have been scrambling to clean up the image of the Senate chamber. Anderson was fired in May of 2013, hours after filing a complaint alleging a toxic work environment caused by sexual harassment. Earlier this year Sen. Allen, D-Newton proposed legislation that would require legislators who lose sexual harassment lawsuits to pay legal costs out of pocket, but the legislation failed to advance.

“There’s a fund there for that, but it’s from the general fund, you’re paying for that,” Allen said. “We put forth that bill, it never got taken out of committee.”

Concern over the cost of sexual harassment lawsuits comes as legislators are grappling with serious budget cuts. The potential cuts would trim between $40 to $90 million from the state’s 2018 budget as the state scrambles to cut taxes while also balancing the books. Breckenridge said he thinks the state needs to do a better job of estimating revenue. Without accurate revenue estimates, lawmakers are forced to go back and cut services, something Breckenridge said he’s concerned about.

“Between the de-appropriations last year to what they’re looking at this year, each agency that I deal with is struggling with staffing levels and they’re holding positions open because they don’t have the money,” Breckenridge said.

Breckenridge’s fix — taking a closer look at the tax incentives the state of Iowa is handing out to businesses. Lawmakers need to review incentives to make sure the state is getting a good return on its investment, Breckenridge said.

“We need to start being more fiscally responsible with those dollars,” Breckenridge said. “If the revenue isn’t there we’re going to be in worse shape than we are now. You can’t get that money back, it’s already gone.”

Residents also quizzed both lawmakers on how the state plans to fix Medicaid. Privatizing the system has become a mess, but neither legislator said it’s clear that a definitive fix is coming anytime soon. Breckenridge told attendees at the legislative coffee that a recent House bill addressed some concerns, but wasn’t enough to help what he termed a “catastrophic failure.”

“People are falling through the cracks and not getting the services they need,” Breckenridge said.

Shifting towards a community-based model for health services, including mental health, may provide a better option for many Iowans, including those in rural areas, Breckenridge said. However, he stressed the state needs to provide a clear funding source for those services, otherwise, the burden of providing those services will fall back on the cities and counties, who are dealing with their own budget issues.

“We can’t rely on the cities and counties to pick up that workload,” Breckenridge said. “Yeah, the state’s being efficient with that, but all they’re really doing is passing it back onto the cities and counties who’ll have to raise taxes.”

One potential solution for patients may include the possibility of medical marijuana. Several proposals floated around the statehouse this year, but neither legislator said they went very far. Allen told the audience that he’d been in contact with an Iowa woman who suffers from repeated seizures and the woman moved to Colorado because medical marijuana isn’t legal in Iowa. Allen said he’d support medical marijuana legislation and be willing to consider proposals for full legalization of the drug, but he said many in the legislature are still opposed to legalization.

“I’m not a scientist but I think I’d want to be somewhere where I didn’t have to worry about it,” Allen said. “I think it’s more fear of the unknown, I think people don’t like the idea, just generational issues.”

Michelle Smith, president of the Jasper County Democratic Party, said she’s in favor of legalization. Smith said she doesn’t think most marijuana users present much of a danger to others, she sees drunk driving as a bigger issue.

“They’re at home eating Cheetos and watching Netflix,” Smith said. “We turn on the news every day and see someone killed by a drunk driver.”

Contact David Dolmage at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or ddolmage@newtondailynews.com