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LEGISLATIVE CONNECTION a communication of the Iowa Nurses Association Volume 4, Number 12
TOP STORIES OF THE WEEK Governor Vilsack Releases the Revised Budget Governor Vilsack proposed a revised budget with $285 million in spending cuts, transfers from the Economic Emergency Fund and other funds, or the equivalent of 6% of next year’s budget, in order to meet the expected shortfall in revenue for the FY 2002. The Governor’s proposals include:
Vilsack said that the state will continue to look for savings opportunities through merging or reforming state services, through eliminating some programs and through not filling positions of retiring employees and lay-offs. He said that the state will not raise taxes but could eliminate 600 positions over the next year. House Speaker Siegrist said that the Republicans will release their own budget targets next week after analyzing the Governor’s budget. The Republicans previously proposed $330 million as a target for spending cuts in FY 2002 rather than move any additional gaming receipts into the General Fund or use the cash from the reserve funds. Rep. Millage, the chair of House Appropriations, previously said that bonding for infrastructure projects is a bad budgeting practice. Senator Lamberti , the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that the state needs to keep a at least 7% level in the two reserve funds for cash flow purposes in a normal year, and could need more if the state revenues drop below forecasted levels. The reserve funds have a balance of about $476 million, and Governor Vilsack is proposing to use 25% of that balance to offset the impact of the budget cuts. Next Week Next week looks to be a busy week. April 6th, a week from this Friday, is the second funnel deadline, and the House and Senate leaders have already said they will work Friday if necessary. Most House Files, with the exception of Ways & Means, Appropriations and Leadership bills, need to be out of Senate Committees, and most Senate Files need to be out of House Committees.
STATUS OF THE INA AGENDA
Language for "securitizing" the tobacco settlement funds is still being worked on. House File 354 is waiting action in Senate Human Resources Committee, which is chaired by Sen. John Redwine, a physician from Sioux City. Other subcommittee members are Sen. Nancy Boettger of Harlan and Sen. Pat Harper of Waterloo. It must be moved out of committee by Friday. HF 200 died in the funnel. It is eligible for consideration next January. Other Bills on Issues on Watch: Mental Health & Substance Abuse Parity: None of the bills made the first funnel. The reason given primarily is due to the large premium increase many Iowa employers received. The business community actively worked against all the bills citing large premium increases and their desire for no mandated coverage. Verbal Orders: SF 242 would extend the length of time for a prescribing practitioner to sign a verbal order from 72 hours to 30 days after discharge. This bill passed the Senate and has been assigned to House State Government committee. There will be a formal subcommittee meeting on the bill. Repeal of Code for Birth Centers: SF 390 was introduced to repeal the Code to regulate birth centers. A number of discussions have been held. There are CNMs (certified nurse midwives) on both sides of the issue. INA is monitoring the bill. It appears Senators will pull back and study the issue more over the summer. Safe Havens: SF 355 passed the Senate. It allows fourteen days for a child to be left at a facility if the mother/parents do not want to keep the child. This makes it more consistent with the House bill. MAKING CONTACT Attend local town hall meetings evenings or on Saturdays as locally scheduled. Phone Numbers for leaving a message: Governor’s Office 515/281-5211 Iowa House of Representatives at 515/281-3221 Iowa Senate at 515/281-3371 Website Contacts for sending emails or regular letters: www.state.ia.us/governor/ On the "Office of Governor" page, go to "Desk Tops" on left side and hit "Comments", this brings up the "Comments Desk" and #3 is the email hot button. www.legis.state.ia.us On the "Welcome to the Iowa General Assembly" page, go to "Members", then "Find Your Legislator" and you can type in your street address, city and zip code to get to your Congressional and state senator and representative names, phone numbers and email addresses. Deanna McCallum and Linda Goeldner are the INA registered lobbyists. To learn more about the nursing agenda or nursing issues, call the INA office at 515/225-0495 or email either at DmcCall34@aol.com or Lkgoeld@aol.com. GOVERNOR’S APPOINTMENTS Board of Nursing Examiners William Miller, Harlan; Merlin Hulse, Clarence; Linda Brady, Des Moines State Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators Claudia Boeding, Hampton; Judy Weller, Pomeroy BILLS PASSED OF INTEREST TO NURSING House Debate HF 590 AIDS TESTING - Allows for AIDS testing of individuals receiving assistance from care givers or from persons giving emergency first aid on a voluntary basis and without compensation. H-1329 by Carroll - Gives immunity to person or institution that performs or fails to perform the test. ADOPTED H-1328 - WITHDRAWN The House PASSED the Bill, as amended, 89-0; it now goes to the Senate SF 66 BUDGET LAW - Requires that the budget submitted by the Governor, and passed by the Legislature, not exceed the 99% spending limitation. Does not allow the use of reversions of appropriated funds to stay under the 99% limitation. H-1327 by Smith - Creates the Children First Fund and allocates any cash surplus over the money needed to fill the reserve funds into this fund. FAILED, 43-53 All other amendments - WITHDRAWN The House PASSED the bill, 55-42, it now goes to the Governor HF 655 ADULT DAY SERVICES OVERSIGHT - Direct the Department of Elder Affairs to develop an adult day services oversight system in cooperation with the DIA, DHS, DPH, area agencies on aging, industry representatives, and consumers to study adult day services issues. The House PASSED the Bill, 94-0; it now goes to the Senate HF 680 ABUSE REPORTER TRAINING - Requires training for mandatory reporters of child and dependent adult abuse. Adds education related employees to list of mandatory reporters. Requires peace officers meet reporter-training directive along with other public employee reporters. Requires the DPH Director to create a Abuse Education Review Panel. Requires licensing boards to training procedures for mandatory reporters. H-1342 by Hoversten - Adds head-start programs. ADOPTED H-1332 by Hoversten - Allows licensing boards to exempts persons who served in the military during the educational training period from having to undergo training. ADOPTED H-1333 - WITHDRAWN The House PASSED the Bill, as amended, 97-0; it now goes to the Senate Senate Debate SF 170 MINOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS - Allows 14 and 15 year-olds to work as aides in hospitals, health care facilities and assisted living programs if the person receives training regarding exposure to biohazards. Allows a person under 18 to enroll in training programs for nurses, nursing assistants or aides and to be employed in those positions following the completion of the program. S-3118 by Schuerer - Strikes the specific language authorizing 14 and 15 year-olds to work as aides in hospitals and related facilities. Prohibits 14 and 15-year -olds from working in positions with exposure to blood-borne pathogens. Includes hospices in the places of employment. Makes language corrections. (ADOPTED Previously) S-3198 by Dearden - Establishes criminal and civil penalties for violations of rules regarding exposing kids to blood-borne pathogens. FAILED, S-3208 by Gronstal - Requires that teen workers in this industry be paid at least $6.15 an hour. FAILED, 22-24 The Senate PASSED the bill, as amended, 27-20; it now goes to the House SF 452 PRESCRIPTION DRUG CARDS - Requires the use of a uniform prescription card by providers of third-party payment or by prepayment of prescription drug expenses. Requires the Insurance Commissioner to adopt rules S-3218 by Johnson - Requires the card to identify the pharmacy benefits manager. Makes language corrections. ADOPTED S-3220 by Johnson -: Language correction. ADOPTED S-3219 by Johnson - WITHDRAWN The Senate PASSED the bill, as amended, 45-0; it now goes to the House SF 355 SAFE HAVENS - Creates the Newborn Infant Surrender Act.
Surrender: Allows a parent to voluntarily surrender the custody of a
child who is four days old or younger at a hospital or other health care facility.
Creates a rebuttable presumption that the person surrendering the child is the
parent. Requires the person receiving the child to notify DHS. Immunities:
Grants immunity to the individual who receives the child and the owner of the
health facility. Gives the parent immunity from prosecution if the infant is
not harmed. Parental Rights: Requires DHS to immediately take
action to assume custody and to notify the juvenile court and the county attorney.
Requires the county attorney to proceed with a CHINA hearing and to terminate
parental rights as soon as practical. Waives requirements regarding attempts
to reunify the child with the parents. Allows the parent to request that the
surrender be revoked within 14 days of the surrender. Other: Makes the
records regarding the surrender confidential records. SF 433 DPH CHANGES - Designates GHB (Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid)
as a controlled substance. Allows the DPH to grant per diem expenses to ad hoc
committees. Increases certain deadlines for notice regarding continuing education
requirements for optometrists to 75 days Adds LPNs and RNs to the list of certain
health professionals under the Iowa Code who receive licensing information from
the DPH electronically. Makes corrective changes dealing with water purification
systems, hearing aid dispensers and barber assistants. BILLS IN COMMITTEE OF INTEREST TO NURSING Use the website address above to find 1) the bill language and 2) the email address for the legislators listed below. Legislators serving on the following subcommittees are the individuals to whom comments should be initially made. Legislators give first priority to those living in their House or Senate District. Make sure the legislator knows you are a registered nurse. House State Government Committee - Assigned to Subcommittee: SF 196 LOBBYIST REPORTS - Gipp (C), Garman, Jochum, Reynolds, Van Engelenhoven SF 242 VERBAL HOSPITAL ORDERS - Elgin (C), Bradley, T. Taylor House Human Resources Committee: Assigned to Subcommittee: SF 394 HOSPITAL AND BIRTHING CENTER FEES - Boal (C), Boddicker, Reynolds SF 428 CHILD ABUSE INTAKE REPORTS - Hoversten (C), Boddicker, Smith Senate Human Resources Committee: Assigned to Subcommittee: HF 354 DEATH PRONOUNCEMENT - Redwine (C) Boettger, Harper House Labor Committee: Assigned to Subcommittee: SF 170 MINOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS - Hansen (C), Raecker, T. Taylor Senate Human Resources Committee: Assigned to Subcommittee: HF 590 AIDS TESTING - Boettger (C), Dvorsky, Redwine HF 655 ADULT DAY SERVICES OVERSIGHT - Veenstra (C), Boettger, Harper HF 680 ABUSE REPORTER TRAINING - Tinsman (C), Harper, Miller House State Government Committee: Voted Out: SF 196 LOBBYIST REPORTS - Authorizes the Ethics and Campaign Board to obtain copies of all campaign records when verifying information. Requires all lobbyists to file reports on January 31 and July 31. Makes other changes to lobbyist reports, including that lobbyists include compensation, as prorated to each client, that is paid for lobbying efforts. Eliminates the requirement that a lobbyist’s client file a compensation report. PASSED, 20-0; Floor Manager: Gipp Senate Human Resources Committee: Voted Out: HF 341 INFORMED CONSENT - Creates new code section known as the "Woman’s Right to Know Act. Requires informed consent from women including information a doctor is required to provide prior to the medical termination of a pregnancy. Makes a medical emergency exception. Makes it a simple misdemeanor for a doctor to violate informed consent provisions. Effective October 1, 2001. PASSED, 7-6; F. M.: Redwine BILLS INTRODUCED OF INTEREST TO NURSING HF 688 PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT LICENSING (Human Resources; Successor to HSB 203) Requires physician assistants to be licensed, not just registered. Makes the Physician Assistants Board the governing body of the profession. (Calendar) FM: Tymeson HF 691 DRUG TEST ORDERS (Human Resources; Successor to HF 47) Allows a juvenile court to issue an ex parte order that a child who has been exposed to illegal drugs be tested to determine if illegal drugs are in the child’s system. (Calendar) Floor Manager: Boddicker
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