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Special
Session: “Agreement will be Reached”
(DES MOINES) –
House Speaker Christopher Rants expressed optimism today regarding
the Legislature’s willingness to forge an agreement on the
economic enhancement plan.
“There is
definitely an opportunity to offer a meaningful economic
development program to Iowans,” said Rants.
“We have come a long way towards consensus, and we will
continue further closing the gap.
We are prepared to meet the challenge of finding common
ground on reducing Iowa’s tax burden and taking a pay-as-you-go
approach to the Iowa Values Fund.”
Key
House and Senate members are meeting today and will continue to
negotiate through the weekend. Legislators will be back next week to vote on any agreements
that are reached. House
leaders decided it would be more productive for key legislators to
meet today and through the weekend to iron out differences instead
of working through the night and early morning.
“People
make better decisions during the daylight than they do at three in
the morning," said Rants.
“The special session isn’t over and won’t be until
our agenda is accomplished. As
such, these groups know that they need to work efficiently to get
things done. We’ll
call everyone back next week to debate and vote on the agreement
put forth by the group.”
The House also
passed HAVA, which provides a standard set of voting procedures
for the state. Rants
and House Majority Leader Chuck Gipp also warned that a veto of
the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) would disenfranchise Iowa voters.
“We
compromised with the governor extensively, and for him to threaten
an eleventh-hour veto is disappointing,” said House Majority
Leader Chuck Gipp. “Voting
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is our most
fundamental of rights; we must not compromise the integrity of the
process and the governor should sign this bill into law.
We stand to lose a lot of money if the governor fails to sign
this bill. Even if we
weren’t in the difficult financial times that we are now, it would
be a mistake for the governor to turn away so much money.”
Rants and Gipp
also noted that $30 million in matching funds has been authorized to
Iowa by the federal government for the implementation of HAVA.
The Iowa House would grant these funds upon a $1.2 million
appropriation, which is contingent upon the governor’s signature
on the HAVA bill.
President
Bush Signs Jobs and Economic Growth Plan into Law
The
President this week signed a modified version of his tax cut plan,
which included a $20 billion package of aid for the states.
The tax cuts included an acceleration of the income tax cuts passed
two years ago, and a lowering of the tax rate on dividends and
capital gains.
President
Bush: "By ensuring that Americans have more to spend, to save,
and to invest, this legislation is adding fuel to an economic
recovery.
The
state aid is divided into two parts: a $10 billion increase in FMPA
Medicaid payments, and $10 billion in general assistance for the
states, divided by population. States must certify that they
will use their share of the $10 billion on essential government
services (only those funded in the most recently enacted budget) or
unfunded mandates.
Ways
& Means Update
Bills
introduced to and passed out of committee this week:
-No
ways & Means bills passed committee during the special session.
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Week
in Review Archives