By Lynn Campbell  |  IowaPolitics.com

DES MOINES — Iowa’s effort to transform its education system is receiving national attention, as the proposal faces key milestones in the Legislature next week.

“If all these reforms get passed, it puts Iowa in the top third nationally, maybe even top 10, when it comes to reform,” said Tim Melton, vice president of legislative affairs for Students First, a California nonprofit advocating education reform. “The wind is certainly on our backs to get this stuff done.”

The Iowa House Education Committee at 4 p.m. Monday is expected to debate its version of education reform, which will largely mirror what’s proposed by Gov. Terry Branstad, with some amendments. Senate Democrats on Monday will present their vision for education reform.

“I think it will be interesting to see how the conversation changes when there’s another piece to look at,” said Mary Jane Cobb, executive director of the Iowa State Education Association, or ISEA, which represents more than 34,000 educators. “What’s really needed from our perspective is more time for teachers to collaborate and work together. We don’t see that in the bill.”

Talks about how to again make Iowa a world leader in education started in July, with an education summit convened by Branstad that attracted national and international leaders in education. Branstad in October unveiled a 10-year plan to transform Iowa’s education system, and in January released a more immediate $25 million plan that would:

• Retain third-graders who can’t read;
• Require high school students to take end-of-course exams before they graduate;
• Require a 3.0 grade-point average for admission into teacher-preparation programs;
• Evaluate teachers annually instead of every three years;
• Widen the pathway for starting charter schools.

Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, said the version of House Study Bill 517 expected to be approved Monday by the House Education Committee will include the majority of the concepts proposed by Branstad.

A plan by Senate Democrats will include more opportunities for teacher collaboration, as advocated by the ISEA. And instead of retaining third-graders who can’t read, Democrats will propose offering more help — tutoring, after school, summer school and greater parental involvement — to those students who are struggling and falling behind.

“We have some language that I believe is a more balanced (approach). It focuses a lot of attention on reading, but it’s not Draconian,” said Senate Education Chairman Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, an associate economics professor at Iowa State University.

Quirmbach said retaining a child at the same grade level must be a highly individualized decision because “what you’re doing, long-term effect, is you’re taking away a year of the kid’s adult life.” He said that child would graduate a year later or go to college a year later.

Students First leaders said the organization plans to be there for Monday’s developments.

The group aims “to be a counterbalance to the folks that protect the status quo” and is active in 15 states, Melton said. It has 1.1 million members nationwide and about 10,000 in Iowa, along with a full-time state director and lobbying firm. The group is advocating for changes involving Iowa’s teacher evaluations, alternative certification, charter schools and teacher tenure.

Cobb criticized Students First as not truly understanding Iowa in its push to reform teacher tenure.

“Their focus on eliminating ‘last in, first out,’ I think, is a national issue looking for some roots in Iowa that don’t exist,” Cobb said. “It’s pretty easy in education reform to take global, nationally held ideas about education and fit them into state-specific circumstances. In this case, it doesn’t fit.”

But Jason Glass, director of the Iowa Department of Education, said national attention from advocacy groups hasn’t deterred Iowa policymakers from moving forward with a plan that’s right for the state.

“The governor’s education reform proposals were decided and built around Iowa’s context,” Glass said. “While we listen to and were influenced by national and international thinking, it’s very much an Iowa design and Iowa-built plan.”

Students First advocates performance-based teacher pay, which Melton said is not controversial with the public.

“Everyone in the workforce is kept in their jobs because of performance,” said Melton, a former Michigan Democratic state lawmaker who served as House Education Committee chairman there. “With busboys, if there are cutbacks, who do you keep? The one who’s cleaning the table the fastest. A lot of these practices are already adopted in the general workforce.”

But Branstad’s proposal to move Iowa to a four-tier teacher compensation system has been put on hold until next year. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Scott Raecker, R-Urbandale, has said the governor’s plan could cost between $200 million and $300 million in fiscal 2014.

“That four-tiered system was supposed to be the centerpiece of the governor’s proposal. ‘One Unshakable Vision’ was the title for their blueprint,” Quirmbach said. “And then four, six weeks later, it got all shook up.”

Glass said the blueprint for education reform released in October indicated that Iowa wouldn’t make any changes to teacher compensation until 2014-15, at the beginning of a new two-year budget cycle.

“When you talk about educator compensation, that’s where all the money is. Because of the enormous cost implications, it’s wise to be cautious and prudent,” Glass said. “Part of the reason that the governor wants to slow down this discussion — right now, we’re just not as certain how this economy is going to perform.”

Cobb said she agrees that teachers are key to student success. But she disagrees with Students First, as well as the bill before the House Education Committee, on the mechanics of how to get there.

“Some of the pieces that are in the legislation around teacher employment policies don’t have a place in the conversation about how we improve student learning,” Cobb said. “There’s too much focus on how we evaluate teachers. Something like extending the probationary period from three years to five years doesn’t get us anywhere with student learning.”

Listen to interview with Senate Education Chairman Herman Quirmbach:
http://www.iowapolitics.com/1009/120217Herman_Quirmbach.mp3

See HSB 517:
http://tinyurl.com/7jylav3

By Lynn Campbell  |  IowaPolitics.com

DES MOINES — Iowa workers who make minimum wage would get a 38 percent pay raise under a proposal advanced Thursday by Senate Democrats.

The state would increase its minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.75 in July, and to $10 in January under Senate File 2040, approved 2-1 by an Iowa Senate Labor and Business Relations subcommittee. That’s an annual pay of $20,000 a year, up from $14,000 a year.

“I believe that we’re actually going to harm the economy by pushing the minimum wage past the threshold that the federal government recommends,” said state Sen. Mark Chelgren, R-Ottumwa, who is president and owner of two businesses.

Iowa’s minimum wage was last increased in July 2009 from $6.55 an hour to $7.25 an hour, to mirror an increase in the federal minimum wage.

“This isn’t going to lift anybody out of poverty, but it’s going to help keep the lights on, help keep the car running,” said Charlie Wishman, secretary and treasurer for the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, which represents more than 50,000 members of 520 unions.

“We raise the minimum wage and it’s economic development, because this money is spent … it’s either saved for tuition or put back immediately into the economy,” said Sen. Dick Dearden, D-Des Moines. “It goes back on Main Street. It does good for local businesses.”

But following the 2009 increase, more than 500,000 jobs were lost, said John Gilliland, senior vice president for government relations for the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, the state’s largest business trade group representing 1,400 Iowa businesses that employ more than 300,000 Iowans.

The increase also led 58 percent of restaurants to increase their menu prices; 41 percent to reduce employee work hours; 26 percent to postpone plans for new hiring and 24 percent to reduce their number of employees, according to the National Restaurant Association, which represents more than 380,000 restaurants and others in the food service industry.

“There are ripple effects sometimes, beyond just raising the minimum wage, for the rest of the population,” said Craig Walter, a lobbyist for the Iowa Restaurant Association, which represents more than 6,000 restaurants and bars. “It’s something we would like to avoid.”

Walter said businesses have just experienced one of the largest economic downturns in 80 years and are “crawling out of that hole.” He said profit margins are running only 2 percent to 4 percent. An increase in the minimum wage would eat into that.

“If you start increasing the minimum wage, my small guys are basically scraping by … Any kind of adjustment, they won’t hire that high school kid. They’ll just do the work themselves,” said Kristin Kunert, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, which represents more than 10,500 Iowa small businesses, each with an average of 15 employees. “It is hurting the people they want to help.”

Kunert said only a “very small percentage” of small businesses pay the minimum wage. Most pay more. But she said small businesses would have a more difficulty than big ones in absorbing the increased costs.

“Larger companies have an HR department,” she said. “My guys have grandma doing the books.”

Chelgren also said he pays more than minimum wage to all 14 employees at his two businesses: Frog Legs, which makes components for wheelchairs; and Fizzix Manufacturing, a urethane manufacturer that specializes in durable medical equipment.

As many as 85 percent of those who earn the minimum wage are teenagers, Gilliland said, citing data from the Employment Policies Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit research organization that studies public policy issues surrounding employment growth. He said those teens lose job opportunities each time the minimum wage is increased.

But state Sen. Thomas Courtney, D-Burlington, said 76 percent of workers who earn at or near the minimum wage are adults 20 or older. His data came from the National Employment Law Project, a national advocacy organization for employment rights of lower-wage workers

“I don’t believe that there’s any proof that the minimum wage makes businesses go under,” Courtney said.

Gilberto Garcia, 23, is among those adults getting paid $7.25 an hour. He works at a Burger King in Des Moines and described the minimum wage as “so-so.”

“It’s OK when you need the job. It’s OK,” Garcia said.

Despite Thursday’s passage of Senate File 2040 by a subcommittee of the Democratic-led Senate, the bill isn’t expected to go far. The Republican-controlled Iowa House does not support the bill.

“I’m not naive enough to think it’s going to go anywhere on the other side,” Courtney said, referring to the Iowa House.

Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, said he favors a different approach to increasing jobs and improving the economy.

“If you’re interested in putting Iowans back to work, then you need to make it easier to be an employer in the state of Iowa, not harder,” Paulsen said. “So that is where we’re focusing our attention.”

See Senate File 2040:
http://tinyurl.com/6pu6deu

By Lynn Campbell  |  IowaPolitics.com

DES MOINES — Delia Meier, whose family owns the Iowa 80 Truckstop in Walcott, which calls itself “the world’s largest truck stop,” said an increase in Iowa’s gas tax would be bad for business.

“I’m on the eastern side of Iowa and currently on diesel fuel, we’re 1 cent higher than Illinois now,” Meier said. “So I’m already at a disadvantage. Adding another 10 cents or even 8 cents just makes me that much further out of the market. It’s not something that we can absorb. Not only do we lose customers, but Iowa loses revenue.”

Meier said trucks can go 1,000 miles without re-fueling, and Iowa is 300 miles wide. She said increasing the gas tax will move Iowa from the 38th to the 18th highest state in fuel tax and will lead truckers to bypass Iowa truck stops like hers, which employs more than 500 people and has been open 24 hours a day, seven days a week since 1964.

But Meier’s concerns weren’t publicly discussed when a second legislative panel Wednesday gave its stamp of approval to increase Iowa’s gas tax to pay for improvements to the state’s roads and bridges. Lawmakers only made comments for the bill.

“I think the general public is furious about this topic,” Meier said. “I think they don’t believe that this could possibly be considered (in a year that) the economy’s down, fuel prices are up. Why would this be considered this year? I think there’s quite a bit of disbelief that this could possibly be happening.”

The Iowa Senate Transportation Committee voted 11-2 for Senate Study Bill 3141, which would increase Iowa’s gas tax by 5 cents in 2013 and another 5 cents in 2014. The bill also calls for the state to look at ways to get hybrid, high-fuel efficiency and other alternatively fueled vehicles to pay their share for Iowa’s roads.

“I think it’s high time we do this,” said Iowa Senate Transportation Chairman Tom Rielly, D-Oskaloosa. “… It’s about improving the safety of our roads and putting people back to work.”

State Sen. Daryl Beall, D-Fort Dodge, said he sees this as a user fee, rather than a gas tax.

“As a user’s fee, a lot of the users of those roads are out-of-state drivers,” Beall said. “This allows them to pay for it. But it’s also an investment in Iowa jobs.”

Wednesday’s vote came after an Iowa House subcommittee on Monday voted to increase Iowa’s gas tax by 8 cents per gallon. House Study Bill 547 would raise the tax paid on new vehicle purchases from 5 percent to 6 percent of the purchase price. It also calls for new yearly fees for hybrid vehicles and vehicles that run on alternative fuels, like propane or natural gas.

Iowa currently charges 21 cents per gallon of gasoline, and 19 cents for ethanol-blended fuel. The last time the state increased its gas tax was in 1989.

“It’s a good state to do business in right now,” said Meier, who’s also president of Truck Stops of Iowa, an association representing all of the largest truck stops in the state. “An 8-cent or a 10-cent increase on diesel fuel makes us very uncompetitive with the surrounding states … That kind of label really hurts us in Iowa to be a high-tax state.”

Gov. Terry Branstad‘s Transportation 2020 Citizen Advisory Commission in November identified a $1.6 billion annual shortfall for transportation infrastructure needs. That included $215 million a year that’s considered “critical.” The panel recommended increasing Iowa’s gas tax as much as 10 cents a gallon.

City and county officials have been especially vocal in advocating for an increase in the state’s gas tax, saying money is needed to repair crumbling roads and bridges, which are key to Iowa’s agricultural services and wind-energy companies. Other backers of the plan include economic development groups, the Iowa Farm Bureau and labor unions.

Kelly Danaher, 29, of Riverside, who makes a 40-minute commute to Mount Pleasant for work each day, said she sees a bright side in a potential gas-tax increase.

“As much as it sounds horrible to have to spend more money for gas, maybe it might be an incentive for people to look for alternative sources beyond gasoline,” Danaher said. “I now commute to work and I hate it. It’s super expensive and terrible and has been a big issue in our budget.”

But 62.1 percent of 600 Iowa registered voters oppose proposed increases in the gas tax and new vehicle registration fees, while 34.1 percent support them, according to a poll by the Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes individual liberty, free enterprise, and limited and accountable government. The Feb. 6-7 poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Regular unleaded gasoline averaged $3.45 per gallon across Iowa on Tuesday, according to AAA, which lobbies for driver and passenger rights, and safer vehicles. That’s up 9 cents per gallon from last week, and up 31 cents per gallon from a year ago. The national average was $3.52 per gallon, up 4 cents from last week.

Iowa State University economist David Swenson said an eventual 10-cent-a-gallon increase in the gas tax would amount to $32 a year for the average commuter. However, the potential increase in the gas tax comes as Iowans brace for the possibility of paying $4 or $5 for a gallon of gas this summer, according to some analysts.

Listen to interview with Meier:
http://www.iowapolitics.com/1009/120215Delia_Meier.mp3

Listen to comments by Rielly:
http://www.iowapolitics.com/1009/120215Tom_Rielly.mp3

Listen to interview with Danaher:
http://www.iowapolitics.com/1009/120215Kelly_Danaher.mp3

See the Legacy Foundation poll:
http://legacyfoundation.us/poll-shows-iowans-oppose-fuel-tax-increase/ 

By Lynn Campbell  |  IowaPolitics.com

But Yusef, 43, said some young mothers get confused about their new roles as parents. She said Iowa’s 2001 safe-haven law, which allows parents to give up unwanted children as old as 14 days confidentially and without criminal penalty, should be expanded to include older babies.

See a national comparison of states’ safe haven laws:
http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/statutes/safehaven.pdf

By Andrew Duffelmeyer  |  IowaPolitics.com

Washington, D.C.-based animal protection organization Compassion Over Killing on Wednesday released the video, which they said shows poorly performed castrations of hogs resulting in herniated intestines; pregnant and nursing pigs nearly immobilized in crates; layers of feces caked on the floor; and sick or injured piglets not receiving veterinary care.