(DES MOINES)—House Republican Leader Christopher Rants (R-Sioux City) and Minority Whip Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) toured the flood-damaged towns of Cedar Rapids and Palo yesterday.

The leaders toured the area with Cedar Rapids City Councilman Chuck Wieneke and were shown firsthand the levees, damage to the Cedar Rapid’s downtown area, and the destruction of thousands of homes.

“The pictures of the damaged area do not convey the extent of the devastation the people of Cedar Rapids and Palo are facing. I would encourage other lawmakers to see the destruction firsthand,” said Rants. “We know there are more towns across Iowa who are facing severe flood damage and we want to be prepared to help.”

Full Press Release Here

Microsoft will be locating a server farm in central Iowa that will bring 100 jobs. A similar facility in San Antonio pays its employees an average of $70,000 annually. Microsoft’s move is in part due to tax incentives supported by Republicans. Click here to view the vote: House File 2233, 2/14/08, HJ 283

Last year the Legislature did something similar to entice Google to locate a server farm near Council Bluffs. Click here to view that vote: House File 912, 4/25/07, HJ 1749

These are exactly the kind of high tech, high paying jobs Iowa needs to attract and keep. Which makes it interesting that when Republicans attempted to give the same tax incentives to smaller Iowa based tech companies, Democrats opposed the idea on two separate votes in 2008. Click to view those votes:
H-8043, 2/28/08, HJ 444
H-8555, 4/17/08, HJ 1369

A new Newsletter is available for viewing. Click the link below to see a PDF version.

Caucus Newsletter 6-26-2008 (PDF)

In this week’s edition:

• Smoking Ban Rules are Official
• Hazardous Material Disposal Problems due to Flooding
• Summary of Legislation Related to Local Governments
• Tax Changes Related to Flooding

Supreme Court finds individual right to own guns
http://www.reuters.com/article/…

Supreme Court Blog details ruling
http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/

Supreme Court says Americans have right to guns
http://www.breitbart.com/article…

The House took some votes on gun rights issues in the past few years as well:

Castle Doctrine
HF 414 provides that a person may use reasonable force, including deadly force, and a person has no duty to retreat, and may meet force with force, if the person believes reasonable force, including deadly force, is necessary under the circumstances to prevent death or serious injury to oneself or a third party, or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony. The bill is called Castle Doctrine because it allows a citizen to protect his or her own home from criminals. Rep. Rants invoked House Rule 60 to bring HF 414 out of committee since majority Democrats had no plans to move the bill.

Vote and Details: 03-08-2007. HJ 734-35

Uniform regulation of concealed carry weapons permits
Rep. Baudler sponsored amendment H-8674 to HF 2700. This requires sheriffs to issue a concealed weapon permit to a qualified applicant and requires a sheriff who denies a weapon permit to give a reason for the denial in writing. It makes other changes to the concealed weapons law including an increase in training.

Vote and Details: 04-25-2008. HJ 1906

The state budget assembled by legislative Democrats over the last two years grew by $928 million or 17 percent. The $928 million increase is actually larger then the entire state budget in 1975. (State Budgets from 1970 to 2009) The 17 percent increase represents the largest two year increase in the last 20 years. The 17 percent increase is also larger than any of Iowa’s neighboring states.

Budget increase from FY ‘07 to FY ‘09:
Iowa 17%
Minnesota 3.4% DECREASE
Wisconsin 3.8%
Illinois 11.3%
Missouri 14.3%
Nebraska 11.4%
South Dakota 14.9%

The Issue Summaries for the 2008 Legislative Session are available now on the website. The Republican Research Staff members compiled the information regarding legislation that received floor action this year into files based on the committee they were in.

To see the Issue Summaries, go to the Research Staff Documents and Issues page.

Residents and workers in twenty-four counties are now eligible for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) through Iowa Workforce Development. The counties eligible for DUA are: Adams, Benton, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Cedar, Cerro Gordo, Delaware, Fayette, Floyd, Hardin, Johnson, Jones, Linn, Louisa, Marion, Muscatine, Page, Polk, Story, Tama, Taylor, and Winneshiek.

The benefits cover self-employed workers not usually entitled to unemployment insurance, including Iowa farmers. People applying for Assistance need to provide proof of past earnings, such as business records or bank statements and their most recent income tax form, at the time they file their claim. Any Iowa Workforce Development Center can accept DUA claims or individuals can file on the Workforce website – www.iowaworkforce.org - at “file an unemployment claim”.

Claims for benefits need to be filed by July 17, 2008. For Black Hawk, Buchanan, and Butler counties, the deadline is July 7.

For More Info, Click Here

As the state prepares to deal with the aftermath of this year’s flooding, it’s helpful to take a look back at some historical documents about the Flood of 1993 on the Legislative Service Agency’s website.

The documents can be found here.

A new Newsletter is available for viewing. Click the link below to see a PDF version.

Caucus Newsletter 6-13-2008 (PDF)

In this week’s edition:

• Several articles with information on the Floods
• Ominous Signs for State Revenue
• Smoking Ban Rules in Limbo

More rain swept through the state on Thursday, bringing further destruction from storm damage and flooding. This prompted Governor Culver to add 28 counties to the disaster list late Thursday evening, bringing the total number of counties under a Governor’s Emergency Proclamation to 83.

The additional counties are: Adair, Appanoose, Audubon, Cass, Clinton, Davis, Decatur, Des Moines, Greene, Grundy, Guthrie, Henry, Jackson, Jefferson, Keokuk, Lee, Louisa, Lucas, Mahaska, Madison, Mills, Monroe, Pottawattamie, Poweshiek, Shelby, Washington, Wayne, and Winnebago.

The list previously included: Adams, Allamakee, Benton, Black Hawk, Boone, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Carroll, Cedar, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Clarke, Clayton, Crawford, Dallas, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin, Fremont, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Harrison, Howard, Humboldt, Iowa, Jasper, Johnson, Jones, Kossuth, Linn, Marion, Marshall, Mitchell, Monona, Montgomery, Muscatine, Page, Polk, Ringgold, Scott, Story, Tama, Taylor, Union, Van Buren, Wapello, Warren, Webster, Winneshiek, Worth, and Wright.

Residents in these counties may be eligible for assistance from the Iowa Disaster Reimbursement Grant Program, which provides limited financial assistance to households that have disaster-related needs and are unable to meet such needs through other means. The program awards grants up to $3,319 per household to those meeting specific criteria. Information on this program may be found at http://www.dhs.iowa.gov/Consumers/Assistance_Programs/CashAssistance/DisasterAssistance/StormHelp.html Individuals are encouraged to apply for the grants as soon as possible.

Additional assistance is available through the Iowa Concern Hotline at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/iowaconcern/ or by calling (800) 447-1985. Here those affected by flooding or storm damage may speak with stress counselors, and obtain legal & financial information, or help to identify the appropriate resources that may help in your particular situation.

The Iowa Department of Human Services has a hotline for disaster claims. To determine whether you are eligible to receive that state assistance, call (877) 937-3663.

For counties under a presidential disaster declaration, residents can call the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at (800) 621-3362, or go to www.fema.gov for additional federal assistance.