As the House adjourned the 2nd session of the 83rd General Assembly, the House Republican Research Staff put together an end of session wrap-up of notable bills in all committees.

2010 End of Session Wrap-up

With great fanfare last week, the Office of Energy Independence (OEI) urged Iowans to consider upgrading their home appliances since the Federal government had provided the state with $2.6 million in stimulus funds for rebates. On Monday morning, Iowans responded. And now, many of them have questions about what happened.

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On Thursday, the House and Senate Commerce Committees will hold a rare joint meeting to discuss one of the bigger issues facing Iowans today – health insurance premiums. It was learned last week that 80,000 Iowans were receiving double-digit premium hikes for their state regulated insurance plans. Legislators will have the chance to ask Wellmark why this is happening and what can be done to lower the cost of health insurance for Iowans.

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After a number of closed-door meetings, Iowa Democrats came forward Tuesday to introduce a new health care proposal. Elected officials hailed ideas having the government become a player in the insurance business and implementing direct competition with Main Street insurance agents. And to top it off, a promise to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on subsidies for insurance coverage. Iowans may be surprised to learn that this ceremony did not happen in the Rose Garden of the White House. It occurred within in the Iowa State Capitol.

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The House Energy and Commerce Committee is entangled in negotiations by committee Democrats in an attempt to cobble together a climate change bill that members of the majority party can support. These efforts have been complicated by a number of issues, with one towering over all others – the impact on Americans’ utility bills.

While details are very scarce on the bill, several items appear to be certain to be included. A national energy efficiency standard will probably be included, meaning utility customers will be paying more to fund these efforts. Implementing a renewable portfolio standard for utilities to have a certain amount of energy produced from renewable sources will also be in the bill.

The big impact would come from a cap and trade system for greenhouse gases. Under this, a carbon dioxide producer would pay a set rate for each ton produced. Needless to say, this fee would have to come from someone and that someone would be the customer.

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As the House adjourned for the 1st session of the 83rd General Assembly, the House Republican Research Staff put together an end of session wrap-up of notable bills in all committees.

2009 End of Session Wrap-up

From this week’s House Republican Newsletter:

There have been many articles lately in the media about the latest craze on the social networking site Facebook – 25 random things about me, All across the world, people of all ages are posting random facts about their lives for their friends and others to read. This seems very innocent, people telling funny anecdotes about themselves to their friends and family. But what if this phenomenon is not about revealing fun and embarrassing information about yourself. What if 25 random things about me is really a scam to get people to give out the keys to their online accounts?

People are providing all sorts of little known information about themselves. Among the items people post about themselves are:

• Where they met their spouse.
• Where they went for their first date.
• Their wedding anniversary.
• Where they went to elementary school.
• Their best friend’s name.
• Their favorite color.
• Their parent’s middle names.
• Their mother’s maiden name.

That seems like harmless stuff. But if you go to your Gmail, AOL, or online banking/credit card website and click the “Forgot My Password” link, you’ll be surprised to see what information they want to verify who you are.

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