Posted below is the analysis of the omnibus budget bill proposed by House Republicans. The current schedule for the bill is to have it go through committee on Monday June 6 and then be debated on the floor on Tuesday June 7.

Omnibus Bill for FY 2012–

On Tuesday, the House passed HF 345 by a vote of 68-26 (6 absent). House File 345 is also known as the Joint Physical Care Bill. Passage of this bill opens the door for both parents to be more active in their children’s lives if a divorce happens.

Representative Julian Garrett (District 73) managed HF 345 on the house floor. The Joint Physical Care Bill amends Iowa Code §598.41(5)(a), which addresses what happens in situations of joint legal custody. With the passage of HF 345, if joint legal custody has been awarded, the court may award joint physical care to both parents as well. This legislation creates a rebuttable presumption that joint physical care is in the best interest of the child. A rebuttable presumption is an assumption made by a court that is assumed true, and it is up to the opposing party to prove it false. In a case where joint legal custody is awarded, the court will assume that joint physical care is in the best interest of the child unless one party demonstrates that it is not in the best interest of the child by clear and convincing evidence.

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As Iowa continues to grow, our state will face many challenges. Currently, the house judiciary committee is working to address one of the main challenges facing both rural and urban Iowans, the issue of eminent domain.

This week House Republicans and Democrats held a subcommittee meeting to hear from people on both sides of the issue. The goal of the meeting was to learn more about the specific situations currently facing Iowans and how best to draft eminent domain language that will protect property owners but not stop growth around the state.

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House Republican committee assignments are now assembled for 2011. Click the links below to view lists in PDF.

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(DES MOINES) – Speaker-Elect Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) today announced the final committee chairs for the 84th General Assembly.

Continue reading for the list of appointments…

As the retention of judges on this year’s ballot receives increased attention, it can be helpful to understand the system by which our judges are chosen and appointed. The focus of this article will be the Iowa Supreme Court Justices, while the processes for the appointment of lower court justices differs, they are largely a variation of the Supreme Court process.

When there is a vacancy on the Iowa Supreme Court it is left to the State Judicial Nominating Commission to accept applications and review them. Eligible candidates to the Supreme Court must be residents of the state and a member of the Iowa State Bar. The Nominating Commission has 60 days from the time they are given notice of the vacancy to certify three nominees to the Governor. The three nominees chosen by the Nominating Commission become the exclusive candidates from which the Governor may nominate.

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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

The Judicial Branch budget passed earlier this year underfunded the courts by almost $15 million. That appropriation created an almost 10% gap in funding for the courts in FY 2010. This gap, created by the Democrat’s budget, was likely to lead to a reduction of access to justice for Iowans and another year of furloughs for court employees.

However, Democrats found a way to fill much of this gap with Senate File 478, the final bill passed in the 2009 session. The bill, signed by the Governor on Monday, raises court fees and even creates new ones. The increased fees are expected to net an extra $16.7 million annually. That is another $16.7 million it will cost Iowans to access the courts.

While the $16.7 million in increased fees would be more than enough to fill the budget shortfall faced by the courts, SF 478 only appropriated an additional $11 million dollars to the Judicial Branch. The remaining $5.7 million will disappear into the General Fund and the courts are left with a $4 million dollar deficit.

If past performance is an indicator of future behavior, we can expect the Judicial Branch to use some of the same methods used this year to achieve budget savings. This will likely mean less access to the courts, with a disproportionate amount of the burden being born in rural areas.

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 Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen:

Last week was eventful in the Legislature. It was the second “funnel” deadline and if a non-Appropriations or non-Ways and Means bill that did not make it through a committee in the other Chamber it is no longer eligible for debate as a standalone bill.

I expect this week to be rather eventful also. We seem to be moving towards adjournment for the year but several significant items remain. I continue to be disappointed by the Legislature’s lack of effort towards any bills that help put Iowans back to work. I also have some significant concerns about the budget.

Below is a list of some of the proposals that seem to have some life in them.

Budget
Budget bills are beginning to move. It is unclear what the final budget will look like. What I do know is this: the current budget year is out of balance by $70+ million and next year’s proposed budget does not match with projected revenues and therefore is currently out of balance. My expectation is that both of these will be brought into balance with some combination of federal stimulus dollars, other one time sources, and tax or fee increases. Regardless, it appears there will be significant gaps to fill when the “one time” dollars go away.

Republicans have offered over $215 million in budgetary cost savings. Click here http://iowahouserepublicans.com/republicans-offer-budget-reductions-to-the-fy-2010-budget for the complete list.

Federal Deductibility
Regarding the repeal of Iowans’ ability to deduct their federal income taxes from their state income a new version has been introduced. It is slightly improved, but continues to be a massive tax increase on Iowans.

Based on the information we received from the Department of Revenue the total tax increase on Iowans over the next five tax years equals $460 million.

Tax Year 2009: -$20 million
Tax Year 2010: -$35 million
Tax Year 2011: $154 million
Tax Year 2012: $157 million
Tax Year 2013: $149 million

Further, the plan continues to have “winners” and “losers” in every income tax bracket. Winners are those who will receive a tax cut – winners are those who will see a tax increase.

Individual Filers/ Winners vs. Losers and No Change

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