Although I have announced that I will not seek a seventh term in the Iowa House, there is much work left to be done in this session. I was elected to serve my constituents until the next legislator from House District 29 is sworn in next January, 2009, and I have every intention of fulfilling my commitment to my friends and neighbors in our legislative district.

There are dozens of bills before the Iowa House that must be considered. Each and every one of those bills has an impact, positively or negatively, on some Iowan. Here are some of the bills that seem to attract the most attention:

Smoking Ban (HF 2349)

The bill banning smoking in Iowa continues to bounce between the Iowa House of Representatives and the Iowa Senate. Each chamber has changed the bill significantly, adding new exemptions and removing others. Last week, the Iowa House approved an amendment that will allow any establishment with a liquor license to set aside certain “age 21 and older” only times. During those periods, smoking would be allowed. That would allow restaurants, bars and casinos to set aside times of the day when smoking is permitted. Later in the week, the Senate removed the “age 21 and older” provision and moved to a more restrictive ban on smoking in public places.

Now, it comes back to the House and we have the choice of accepting the Senate position or sending the bill to a conference committee to resolve the differences. The conference committee will be made up of equal members of the Iowa House and Senate. The conference committee members will then work to resolve the differences between the two versions and reach an agreement that must pass without changes in both the House and Senate in order to become law.

I voted against the bill in the House because I believe the exemptions defeat the goal of improving the health of all Iowans. Iowans spend more than $1 billion a year on health care costs due to tobacco related illnesses. State taxpayer supported Medicaid spends $300 million a year; private health care insurance and the federal program for senior citizens, Medicare, foots the remainder of the bill.

Health Care (HF 2539 & SF 2390)

Last week, I wrote about the Health Care Reform bill passing out of committee with a unanimous vote. I can happily report to you that the bill passed the Iowa House with a vote of 97-0! It is a rare occurrence for a bill of this magnitude to garner that level of agreement. The unanimous vote is a result of the bi-partisan work of Representatives Lisa Heddens, Mark Smith, Linda Upmeyer, Clarence Hoffman, and myself working together to improve the health care system for all Iowans.

HSB 2539 states that it is the intent of the General Assembly that all Iowans have health care coverage, with the initial priority of providing health care coverage for all children by December 31, 2010.

There are two items in the bill that will have an immediate impact on Iowa families if enacted. One feature of the bill requires that insurance companies allow children to be covered up to age 26, or so long as the dependent child maintains full-time status as a student in a post-secondary educational institution. In addition, individuals who move from a group insurance policy to an individual insurance policy will not be denied or underwritten due to preexisting conditions.

Budget

We continue our work on budget bills. I chair the sub-committee with the largest appropriation, Health and Human Services, with a budget of $1.2 billion. We are facing a very tight year with a status quo budget, which means there will be little or no opportunity to fund new programs. Our priorities are in the areas of child welfare, health care, mental health and, wherever possible, we will continue to fund preventative programs.

When our work is done, the state budget will be balanced and fiscally responsible.

You can write me at the State Capitol, Des Moines, IA 50319; call me at 515/281-7328 or e-mail me at  ro.foege@legis.state.ia.us.

Ro

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