Last week brought some great news, and it also brought some of the most harsh and angry debate in my 12 years of legislative experience.

The great news this week was that the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced that, in the first eleven weeks of 2008, Quitline Iowa has taken 10,015 calls from Iowans seeking help in overcoming tobacco addiction. The total in the entire year of 2007 was 8,760 calls.

Smoking Cessation. The dramatic increase in call volume this year is due to a new service being offered by the IDPH. Beginning January 1 of this year, any Iowan age 18 or older who calls Quitline Iowa can receive a free two-week course of nicotine patches and gum, known as nicotine replacement therapy. Most of us who were once addicted know that going “cold turkey” works only about 5% of the time. Most successful quitters, including myself, needed support from their health care provider or a cessation counselor.

People who use nicotine replacement therapy, together with telephone counseling, are at least two times more likely to be successful than people who don’t. The patches and gum usually cost about $20-$50 for a two week supply. Nicotine replacement and Quitline Iowa is paid for by the increase in the tobacco tax.

As I am a member of the Iowa Tobacco Use & Prevention Commission, it is good to know that we are experiencing a successful outcome in our efforts to reduce tobacco use and improve the health of Iowans. We will continue to fund this program that is achieving such positive results. For more information, visit www.quitlineiowa.org or call 1-800-784-8669.

Collective Bargaining Updated. The harsh and angry debate came about on Wednesday when we took up House File 2645, and went on into the wee hours of Thursday morning. HF 2645 expands the list of items that either management or workers could choose to include in collective bargaining negotiations for public employees. The intention is to give all sides involved in public sector collective bargaining the same bargaining rights that private sector contract negotiators already have. This historic legislation levels the playing field for Iowa’s public sector employees for the first time since the public employee bargaining law was enacted in 1974.

The first and last strike by public employees in Iowa occurred in 1970, when Keokuk teachers went out on strike because of the school board's refusal to accept a compromise salary proposal made by an impartial third party. That action eventually brought the public collective bargaining bill into existence in 1974.

Current law requires that certain items can be brought up for discussion during contract negotiations including wages, holidays, vacation, seniority, transfers and job classifications. This is what is known as “limited scope” negotiating powers. The House-approved legislation expands the list of discussion items that either side can raise. The “open scope” list includes discipline and discharge, health and safety concerns, staffing, uniforms and equipment, and other items that will make public workers more efficient and productive.

Opponents argued that this legislation will be a disaster, that it will raise taxes and will take power away from public employers. Many of those arguments were also made when collective bargaining for public employees was first enacted 34 years ago. Thirty-four other states currently allow for expanded scope of bargaining, including Wisconsin and Minnesota, and it is working well.

Beginning Wednesday afternoon, the bill was debated until 2:30 AM on Thursday morning. Legislators and staff then went home to rest and returned to continue the debate at 9 AM. Debate on this bill continued until 1 PM on Thursday, when the bill passed in a 52-47 vote, split along party lines. We then moved on to other bills that were non-controversial and debated and discussed those bills until 8 PM on Thursday.

I voted in favor of HF 2645 because I believe it is an overdue updating of a law that has served Iowa well for over three decades. The law continues to prohibit public employees from going on strike. The agreement is that public employees and employers will abide by the decision of an arbitrator.

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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