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

Continue reading…

Yesterday House Republicans made two efforts to get a vote in the House on marriage but were stopped both times by the Majority party.

Republican Leader, Kraig Paulsen, brought up a motion to pull House Joint Resolution 6 out of committee and to the floor for debate, but was ruled out of order.

Later in the day Representative Christopher Rants filed an amendment to the Health and Human Services Budget bill that would have stripped the language and replaced with the language of House Joint Resolution 6. It was ruled non-germane, which was expected, and then a vote to suspend the rules and debate the marriage issue failed on a party-line vote.

To hear Rep. Rants floor speech on the issue, use the player below:

House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) issued a statement on the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage:

“I believe marriage is between one man and one woman and am disappointed in the ruling of the Supreme Court. In 1998, the Legislature overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation protecting marriage as between a man and a woman. There is now a divide between the legislative and judicial branches and Iowans should be permitted to weigh in and have the final say on this question.

“In 2007, the Legislature responded immediately when our flag desecration law was ruled unconstitutional, we should act swiftly now and protect the institution of marriage. There is currently a bi-partisan proposal protecting marriage before the legislature (HJR 6) and it should be debated immediately.”

Click here to read House Joint Resolution 6.

This morning on the floor the House passed House Joint Resolution 1.

House Joint Resolution 1 – HJR 1 establishes a Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation trust fund. The joint resolution credits the fund with an amount equal to the amount generated by a sales tax rate of three-eighths of 1 percent as may be imposed upon the retail sales price of tangible personal property and the furnishing of enumerated services sold in this state.

It passed the House 82-14 (bill information here)

This afternoon the House debating the following bills:

House File 45 – Suspension of Assistance During Commitment. HF 45 changes Iowa’s Medicaid law that would suspend a person’s Medicaid eligibility when they are placed in custody. Under current law, a person who is in custody of corrections or law enforcement has their Medicaid terminated as required by law. Once a person is released, it is difficult to re-establish eligibility for Medicaid and then these Iowans do not receive the mental health treatment they need.

Continue reading…

(DES MOINES) – ”During a press conference on Monday, Reps. Jeff Kaufmann (R-Wilton), Jodi Tymeson (R-Winterset) and Pat Grassley (R-New Hartford) unveiled seven pieces of bipartisan legislation aimed at protecting the property rights of Iowans. Joining the three Republican legislators was Democrat congressional candidate Ed Fallon as well as Iowa landowners from across the state.

“This legislation is fundamental to the people’s rights in this state,” said Rep. Jeff Kaufmann. “Iowan’s have had their lives turned upside down by a simple loophole, we’re very happy that we can work in a bipartisan manner to protect our citizens. I would think Republicans and Democrats alike can agree that no one’s land should be taken away from them.”

Full Press Release Here