Bleeding Heartland - Amanda Ragan

Health insurance compromise will be key issue in Iowa Senate district 27 (updated)

desmoinesdem — Tue, 28 May 2013 14:35:00 GMT

Many questions remain to be answered about Iowa's new plan to provide health insurance to low-income citizens, but this much is clear: resolving the impasse over Medicaid expansion will be a major theme in State Senator Amanda Ragan's re-election campaign next year.

Follow me after the jump for background on Ragan and more details about Iowa Senate district 27, sure to be targeted by both parties in 2014.
Ragan has served in the Iowa Senate since 2003, rising to the position of assistant majority leader and chair of the Human Resources Committee. Mason City has always been the population center of her Senate district, and she was re-elected to represent Senate district 7 by a comfortable margin of 12,908 votes to 8,452 in 2010, a mostly disastrous year for Democratic candidates. (Five incumbent state senators were defeated.) Senate district 7 contained 12,997 registered Democrats, 10,219 Republicans, and 16,534 no-party voters as of November 2010, so Ragan must have done well among independents to win with more than 60 percent of the vote.

The redistricting plan adopted in 2011 put Ragan in "the most Republican Senate seat held by a Democrat" according to John Deeth. The latest voter registration totals indicate that Senate district 27 contains 12,091 Democrats, 13,481 Republicans, and 17,282 no-party voters. Mason City is still the largest city in Ragan's district, but she lost Floyd and Mitchell counties, which she had long represented, and picked up more conservative areas. Here's a detailed map of her current district:

I haven't seen a 2014 campaign website for Ragan yet, but here's an excerpt from the biography posted on her 2010 campaign website:

Amanda Ragan is an Assistant Majority Leader, chair of the Human Resources Committee, and vice-chair of the Health & Human Services Budget Subcommittee. She also serves on the Appropriations, Natural Resources & Environment, Rules & Administration, and Veterans Affairs committees.
Senator Ragan is active in her local district. She is a member of the Osage Chamber of Commerce, the Charles City Chamber of Commerce, the St. Ansgar Chamber of Commerce, and the Mason City Chamber of Commerce. She was a volunteer member of the Mason City Chamber Diplomats, and was honored as the Diplomat of the Year in 1998 and 2001. Additionally, she has served on the North Iowa Band Festival Committee for the past 10 years.
Amanda currently serves as a member of the State of Iowa Healthy and Well Kids in Iowa (HAWK-I) Board of Directors and the Iowa Department of Public Health Birth Defects Advisory Committee. She is also a member of the Maternal Health Advisory Council, the Francis Lauer Youth Services Board of Directors, Mason City Sunrise Rotary, and Trinity Lutheran Church.
In addition to her service in the Iowa Senate, Amanda Ragan is the Executive Director of two area non-profit agencies - The Community Kitchen of North Iowa, Inc., and the Meals On Wheels program. Both are based in Mason City.
She is married to Jim Ragan, a retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Colonel. She has two grown children, Edith and Charles, and four grandchildren.

During the legislative session that just ended, Ragan was one of the key Senate Democrats pushing to expand Medicaid, as foreseen under the 2010 health insurance reform act. Last week, House Republicans and Senate Democrats struck a compromise whereby Iowa will accept federal funding to expand health insurance coverage for the poor, but low-income people will receive policies through private health insurance providers rather than traditional Medicaid. In her closing remarks to colleagues, Senate President Pam Jochum credited Ragan with making this deal happen:

The biggest challenge of this session was how to help Iowans who, despite working every day, still cannot afford health insurance.
We met that challenge.
And by doing that, we showed the nation how to put lasting progress ahead of short-term partisanship.
Thanks to the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan, 150,000 working Iowans will finally be able to go to a doctor when needed.
The Iowa Health and Wellness Plan will make Iowa's entire health care system more financially secure.
The Iowa Health and Wellness Plan will slow rising health care costs for every Iowa family and Iowa business.
The Iowa Health and Wellness Plan will bring health insurance to 80,000 currently uninsured working Iowans, and preserve health care for 70,000 Iowans currently on IowaCare.
Iowans look at the mess divided government in Washington D.C. has created, and they shake their heads.
Iowans expect better from their state legislature, and we delivered.
We delivered on health care, our most difficult issue, and on a host of other issues.
Here's an example of how we did it.
The key to Iowa's health care compromise was the work of Democrat Amanda Ragan, the chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, and Republican Linda Upmeyer, the House Majority Leader.
These two North Iowa residents are longtime friends, guests at the weddings of each other's children. They came to the Legislature at about the same time. One is a strong Democrat. The other is a passionate Republican.
In the final days of the session, these two put partisanship to the side and hammered out the health care compromise.
The work they did brought health care security to tens of thousands of Iowa families.
The bipartisanship of Senator Ragan and Majority Leader Upmeyer was repeated time and time again on the other issues by other legislators.

That campaign ad writes itself, don't you think?

Upmeyer's Iowa House district makes up half of Ragan's Senate district. Unlike Ragan, Upmeyer wasn't on the conference committee assigned to find a compromise over health insurance. Ragan went outside official channels to find a solution House Republicans and Governor Terry Branstad could live with.

To my knowledge, no Republican has announced plans to run against Ragan next year. Speculation has centered around two possible candidates: former Mason City Mayor Bill Schickel and former State Senator Merlin Bartz. Earlier this year, Schickel sought unsuccessfully to become chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa. UPDATE: Forgot to mention that Schickel served three terms in the Iowa House, representing the Mason City-based district. He retired from the state legislature in 2008.

Bartz took a job running Representative Steve King's Mason City office after losing his re-election bid in Senate district 26 last year. He would have to buy some residence in Senate district 27 to run against Ragan, because his family's farm lies outside the district in Worth County.

Upmeyer almost certainly won't challenge Ragan next year. She'll be a front-runner to become the first woman speaker of the Iowa House if current Speaker Kraig Paulsen seeks the GOP nomination for the open seat in Iowa's first Congressional district.

Any relevant comments are welcome in this thread.

UPDATE: Appearing on Iowa Public Television's program "Iowa Press" on May 31, Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal went out of his way to say that Ragan and Upmeyer "did yeoman's work on this [the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan]. An issue that could have driven us apart and we could have gotten stuck in the partisanship of it, but those two individuals sat down and worked together and really helped move us forward on this issue."

Last-minute Iowa legislative scramble is nothing to brag about

desmoinesdem — Fri, 24 May 2013 17:30:00 GMT

The Iowa Senate wrapped up its work for the year shortly after midnight on May 23, and Iowa House members adjourned about 11 hours later. Lawmakers in both parties have been congratulating themselves for compromising on some big issues that ended in stalemate the previous two years. Rod Boshart compiled an excellent list of what the legislature did and didn't approve during 2013.

We all can appreciate the desire to finish a big project before a holiday weekend, and since legislators stopped receiving per diem payments weeks ago, they understandably wanted to get out of town as quickly as possible. However, I found it disturbing that votes were held before most lawmakers, let alone members of the public, had time to digest final conference committee deals on education reform, an alternative to Medicaid expansion, property taxes, and the health and human services budget. Transparency isn't just a buzzword. Had journalists and advocacy groups been able to look over the last-minute compromises, people might have discovered problematic language or even simple drafting errors, which could produce unintended consequences after Governor Terry Branstad signs these bills into law.

I have a lot of questions about the final education reform bill and the plan to provide health insurance to low-income Iowans, particularly those earning between 101 percent and 138 percent of the poverty level. I also need more time to sort through the budget numbers and final changes to the standings bill. After the holiday weekend Bleeding Heartland will examine the important results of the legislative session in more detail. For now, I've posted after the jump details on who voted for and against the major bills approved this week.

UPDATE: In the May 24 edition of the On Iowa Politics podcast, statehouse reporters Mike Wiser and James Lynch discussed how the big issues came together "behind closed doors," with no public scrutiny or oversight. Lynch commented that to his knowledge, the conference committee named to resolve the impasse over Medicaid expansion never formally met, except perhaps for one organizational meeting. Lynch recounted one occasion when Iowa House Republican Dave Heaton was briefing journalists about the health care talks, and the journalists asked when that happened, since there hadn't been any public notices of conference committee meetings. According to Lynch, Heaton replied, "We're not having meetings, but we're meeting." Senate President Pam Jochum said that negotiations between Democratic State Senator Amanda Ragan and House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer produced the "key to Iowa's health care compromise." Notably, Upmeyer didn't have a prominent role in passing the House health insurance plan, nor was she named to the conference committee assigned to merge the House and Senate proposals.

Speaking to journalists on May 22, Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal and Jochum weren't able to answer a specific question about compromise wording reached regarding Medicaid coverage of abortions. That was no minor issue--it was the last sticking point holding up approval of the health and human services budget. In effect, Gronstal told journalists, you can see the wording after the final bill is published.
Senate File 295, the bill including property tax cuts and an increase in the earned income tax credit, passed the Iowa Senate by 44 votes to 6 and the Iowa House by 84 votes to 13.

In the Senate, these six Democrats voted no: Joe Bolkcom, Bob Dvorsky, Rob Hogg, Janet Petersen, Dick Dearden, Herman Quirmbach

In the House, these 13 Democrats voted no: Marti Anderson, Bruce Hunter, Chuck Isenhart, Dave Jacoby, Jerry Kearns, Vicki Lensing, Mary Mascher, Pat Murphy, Jo Oldson, Sharon Steckman, Todd Taylor, Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, Cindy Winckler

House File 215, the education reform bill, passed the Iowa House by 95 votes to 0 and the Iowa Senate by 40 votes to 10. Dick Dearden was the only Senate Democrat to vote against the bill, joined by Republicans Brad Zaun, Dennis Guth, Ken Rozenboom, Jack Whitver, Randy Feenstra, Bill Dix, Jerry Behn, Mark Chelgren, Jake Chapman.

Senate File 446 contained the health and human services budget and the alternative to Medicaid expansion, which will use federal funds to cover Iowans earning up to 138 percent of the poverty level (provided the federal government grants Iowa a waiver). All 26 Senate Democrats voted for this bill, and all 24 Senate Republicans voted against it--probably more because of a dispute over Medicaid abortion funding than over the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan.

The Iowa House approved Senate File 446 by 80 votes to 17. The 17 state representatives to vote against the bill were Democrats Dan Muhlbauer, Marti Anderson, Cindy Winckler, Bruce Hunter, Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, and Phyllis Thede, and Republicans Dwayne Alons, Julian Garrett, Mark Brandenburg, Tedd Gassman, Dean Fisher, Sandy Salmon, Jason Schultz, Larry Sheets, Ralph Watts, Tom Shaw, and Greg Heartsill.

Latest tactics to bring Republicans around on Medicaid expansion

desmoinesdem — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:20:00 GMT

The Iowa legislature's 2013 session is already in overtime, and the standoff over whether to expand Medicaid is one of the last obstacles to adjournment. A conference committee including five lawmakers from each party has been seeking middle ground between Medicaid expansion, a priority for the 26 Senate Democrats, and the "Healthy Iowa Plan" that barely cleared the Iowa House but failed in the Senate.

This week Senate Democrats offered another gesture toward the Republican desire for low-income Iowans to have more "skin in the game" when they obtain health insurance coverage.

Meanwhile, three major advocacy groups stepped up their efforts to persuade lawmakers that the Healthy Iowa Plan offers inferior access for patients while incurring substantially higher property tax costs.

Finally, a coalition of progressive organizations announced that it will run a television commercial this Sunday targeting GOP State Representative Dave Heaton, the weakest link among House Republicans trying to pass Governor Terry Branstad's alternative plan. Details on all those developments are after the jump.
These ten lawmakers serve on conference committee working on the Medicaid issue:

Senate President Pam Jochum (D)
Senator Amanda Ragan (D)
Senator Jack Hatch (D)
Senator Nancy Boettger (R)
Senator David Johnson (R)
State Representative Dave Heaton (R)
State Representative Walt Rogers (R)
State Representative Joel Fry (R)
State Representative Tyler Olson (D)
State Representative Mark Smith (D)

Yesterday, Senate Democrats announced a new compromise to make Medicaid expansion more acceptable to Republicans. From a May 9 press release (emphasis in original, click the link to view a video):

During a meeting today with House negotiators, negotiators for the Iowa Senate today proposed a compromise plan designed to increase access to affordable health care for Iowans.
1) In response to Republican concerns, the Senate Democratic compromise waives copays if participants participate in annual physical exams and make other healthy choices.
2) In response to Republican concerns, the Senate Democratic compromise strengthens language on improving the health of Iowans.
3) Senate Democrats still support the "opt-out" compromise included in the Senate's original bill.
"We have compromised on the top concerns of Governor Branstad and House Republicans," said Senate President Pam Jochum. "However, we continue to strongly oppose the Republican approach which spends MORE in federal, state and local property tax dollars to provide LESS help to Iowans."
Jochum said negotiations had reached a delicate point.
"This weekend, legislators will be at home in their districts," Jochum said. "Now's the time for Iowans to speak up in support of affordable health care for low paid, working Iowans. We can help bring these working Iowa families better health and improved financial security."

Radio Iowa's O.Kay Henderson reported,

Democrats in the legislature who simply want to expand the existing Medicaid program to cover 150,000 more Iowans are offering to link co-pays for all current and future Medicaid recipients to health and wellness initiatives. Senator Jack Hatch, a Democrat from Des Moines, says Democrats would waive those co-pays for those who get regular check-ups and take steps to improve their health, like quitting smoking or losing weight, but a trip to the emergency room for a minor health issue would require a co-pay.
"We're going to ask patients to participate in their own health care," Hatch says. "...The Republicans have talked about 'skin in the game.' We're going to include that in our proposal."
Republican Governor Terry Branstad's "Healthy Iowa Plan" requires a monthly premium payment of $10, but premiums could be reduced for those who take steps to improve their health. Senator David Johnson, a Republican from Ocheyedan, says there's "still a long way to go" before the gap between Democrats and Republicans is bridged.
"It's opened the door a crack, I would say," Johnson says of this latest offer from Democrats.

Rogers, the Iowa House floor manager of the alternative bill, called the compromise "a slight move" in the right direction, while Governor Terry Branstad's spokesman Tim Albrecht commented,

"We are pleased to see this issue moving forward and see this as a positive development," he wrote in an email. "We view this proposal as a thoughtful, good faith compromise effort and will continue to carefully review it."

I hope Republicans will take this opportunity to declare victory on "personal responsibility," while accepting that Medicaid expansion makes more sense for Iowans.

On Wednesday, the AARP, Iowa State Association of Counties, and American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network held a press conference at the capitol to underscore the benefits of expanding Medicaid, rather than going the Branstad route.

The governor's plan is financed with $85 million in local property taxes. Anthony Carroll, AARP's Iowa associate state director, said AARP members are being shown another map which indicates only a handful of Iowa hospitals would qualify to provide the care - so uninsured Iowans in far southwest Iowa's Fremont County, for example, would have to go to Des Moines to visit a doctor under the governor's plan.
"Really now it's about showing the differences to people who aren't maybe directly impacted by low income Iowans. They don't have a family or a friend member (who is uninsured) and when you talk about especially your local dollars being used for something that may not provide local coverage, that's a sharp difference," Carroll said. "That's what's new here."
Dr. Richard Deming, an oncologist in Des Moines, is part of the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network.
He says a major flaw in the governor's plan is that only a handful of health care systems that win a special "accountable care organization" designation will provide the care to Iowans enrolled in the "Healthy Iowa Plan."
"I'm all about personal responsibility and accountability, but if you don't have access to health care, accountability and responsibility is really a moot point," Deming said.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I enclose the graphics prepared by the AARP. This one shows how much more the Healthy Iowa Plan will cost in county property taxes alone.

This graphic shows how much broader access will be if low-income Iowans are able to enroll in Medicaid, rather than in the Healthy Iowa Plan:

Among the five Republicans on the conference committee, Heaton is the weakest link. He understands the major flaws in Branstad's plan and only reluctantly provided the 51st vote for it in the Iowa House.

The Healthiest Iowa Initiative coalition of many groups is urging Iowans to call Representative Heaton about this issue. This commercial started running online on May 9 and will run on Des Moines and Quad Cities television on Sunday, May 12.

From a press release by Progress Iowa:

"We encourage all Iowans, and particularly those in Representative Heaton's district, to contact him and tell him to support full Medicaid expansion," said Matt Sinovic, executive director of Progress Iowa. "Representative Heaton will cast a key vote on the conference committee that is split down party lines, as well as a key vote when the bill returns to the Iowa House. It's crucial for Iowans to express their concerns to him by calling and emailing in these final days of the legislative session."
The ad released today highlights the benefits of full Medicaid expansion: covering an additional 150,000 Iowans at limited cost to the taxpayers, in comparison to Governor Branstad's Healthy Iowa Plan, which will cover 60,000 fewer Iowans and cost the state an estimated $163 million more every year.
Uninsured young adults, veterans, the working poor, and the mentally ill would all benefit from full Medicaid expansion. In addition, expansion would create more than 2,000 jobs, according to a report released by the Iowa Hospital Association.
Throughout the legislative session, Progress Iowa has worked in coalition with 27 organizations, who formed the Healthiest Iowa Initiative, to educate Iowans and call them to action in support of Medicaid expansion.

UPDATE: The Des Moines Register's Jason Noble tweeted on May 9, "I just asked Rep. Dave Heaton if he's been getting calls on Medicaid expansion. Then his phone rang & he took a call on Medicaid expansion."

Another Iowa legislative victory for Big Ag

desmoinesdem — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:49:00 GMT

Factory farm advocates failed in 2009 to circumvent the Iowa DNR's rulemaking on applying manure over frozen and snow-covered ground. Then they failed in 2010 to win passage of a bill designed to weaken Iowa's newly-adopted regulations on manure storage and application.

But this year, the Iowa Pork Producers Association succeeded in convincing state lawmakers to relax requirements for CAFO operators to be able to store their own manure properly. All they had to do was dress up their effort as an attempt to help families with aspiring young farmers.
Last month Bleeding Heartland covered House File 512, the so-called "mothball" bill for farm structures. Proponents say it would help farm families who need to downsize temporarily, until a child has grown up, finished college, and decided to come home to farm.

The big "tell" during the House debate was that proponents rejected State Representative Chuck Isenhart's amendment, which stated:

During the period of election [to be a small animal feeding operation], a manure storage structure that is part of the confinement feeding operation is not used to store manure originating from a location outside the confinement feeding operation.

If the intent of the bill were to keep vacant buildings available for family use someday, the Iowa House should have approved that amendment. But they rejected it, because CAFO operators want to have the option to dump excess manure in the vacant buildings of neighbors. Transporting and offloading manure to another farm increases the risks of spills and water pollution.

Several environmental organizations and the Iowa Farmers Union had lobbyists registered against House File 512. Only the Iowa Pork Producers Association had lobbyists registered in favor.

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action was mobilizing opposition to this bill. In early April, that group claimed victory when the legislation was placed on the Iowa Senate's "unfinished business" calendar.

But unfinished business doesn't always stay unfinished at the statehouse. Last week, Senate leaders revived their version of the same bill, called Senate File 418. As described in the Senate Journal for May 1 (pdf), Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Joe Seng received unanimous consent to replace Senate File 418 with House File 512. The Senate then approved by voice vote Seng's amendment to the legislation, and passed the bill by 43 votes to 6 (Jack Hatch was absent). The six no votes came from the following Democrats:

Joe Bolkcom
Dick Dearden
Pam Jochum
Matt McCoy
Janet Petersen
Herman Quirmbach

I am surprised Rob Hogg was a yes here.

Excerpt from a May 1 press release by Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action:

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement member Lori Nelson of Bayard, Iowa released the following statement Wednesday morning before the Iowa Senate debates an environmentally hazardous bill that would de-regulate basic and common-sense manure management regulations:
"Senate File 418 - the so-called "mothball" bill - is a shameful attempt by one of Iowa's largest corporate ag lobby groups and Democrats like Majority Leader Mike Gronstal and Ag Chair Joe Seng to de-regulate basic environmental protections that were designed to keep factory farm manure out of our water."
"Today we will hear false statements on the Senate floor, by Democrats and Republicans alike, that this bill is somehow meant to protect the environment because dumping overflowing toxic manure into an abandoned factory farm during bad weather is safer than spreading it on frozen or snow-covered ground. But this is a false comparison and is simply not true. There is a third option that was contemplated by legislators and regulators over five years ago that put the responsibility on the industry to solve this problem, and that is the correct approach we must continue to demand now."
"After the 2009 law banning liquid manure application on frozen and snow-covered ground, the Environmental Protection Commission and the Administrative Rules and Review Committee carved out a five year window for the factory farm industry to come into compliance with the new law, either by building extra storage capacity, reducing their herd sizes, or taking other steps to properly manage their manure over the winter months."
"The industry has had five years to fulfill their obligations, but they have refused, because they don't want to spend the money to do what's right. Now the Iowa Senate, under the leadership of Democrat Mike Gronstal, is set to give one of Iowa's most polluting industries a free pass for bad management rather than stand up for everyday people and the environment."
"We have 628 polluted waterways in this state. The amendment that will be proposed on the floor of the Senate today by Senator Seng is lipstick on a factory farm pig. There is no such thing as an emergency that would require dumping overflowing manure into an abandoned factory farm. That's not an emergency, that's bad management. Winter comes every year, and extreme weather is the new normal. The industry has had years to figure this out."
"Senators of both parties who claim that this measure is the lesser of two evils compared to spreading manure on snow are giving the factory farm industry a free pass for bad management. This is a horrible bill, it's bad policy, and legislative support for it demonstrates to every Iowan all that is wrong with state politics."

Yesterday the Iowa House took up the amended House File 512. According to the House Journal (pdf), floor manager Lee Hein moved that the representatives concur in the Senate amendment. Immediately afterwards, the House approved the bill by 85 votes to 14. Only these Democrats voted no:

Ako Abdul-Samad
Bruce Hunter
Marti Anderson
John Forbes
Lisa Heddens
Chuck Isenhart
Anesa Kajtazovic
Vicki Lensing
Mary Mascher
Kevin McCarthy
Jo Oldson
Cindy Winckler
Beth Wessel-Kroeschell
Art Staed

All House Republicans voted yes, joined by all of the other Democrats present. Dan Muhlbauer was absent but would surely have been a supporter; he supported House File 512 last month.

UPDATE: Cody McKinley, a lobbyist for the Iowa Pork Producers, told the Des Moines Register that

an amendment added to the bill by the Senate addresses CCI's concerns by allowing animal or manure storage in a mothballed facility only "on an emergency basis" and requiring farmers to inform the Department of Natural Resources of such circumstances.
"At any time, the DNR still has jurisdiction over that facility to go in and inspect and make sure they're fulfilling the full extent of the law," McKinley said.

That's not nearly as useful as Isenhart's amendment, which would have barred the use of mothballed facilities to store manure from other farms. So what if a CAFO informs the DNR that they are transporting manure to a vacant building? The DNR doesn't have enough CAFO inspectors even now, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency thoroughly documented. DNR staff won't closely scrutinize these "emergency" storage situations and won't be able to prevent spills during transport and offloading.

Iowa Medicaid expansion news roundup (updated)

desmoinesdem — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:35:00 GMT

Last week Governor Terry Branstad finally introduced legislation to enact his Healthy Iowa Plan instead of the Medicaid expansion foreseen under the 2010 federal health insurance reform law. Strangely, neither the governor's office nor the Iowa House Republican caucus held a news conference or even posted a press release about House Study Bill 232. The bill arrived at the statehouse on Thursday, April 4, after many legislators had left for the weekend.

So far House and Senate Republicans appear united behind Branstad's approach, while the governor's office strives to counter the obvious case against his plan (costs more, covers less). I've posted arguments for both sides and other news links after the jump.
The Democratic-controlled Iowa Senate already approved a Medicaid expansion bill in late March, along party lines. On April 4, Republicans on the Iowa House Ways and Means Committee took up that bill and replaced the entire text with one paragraph stating the "intent of the general assembly that health care delivery in the state result in improved patient health outcomes, improved patient care, and reduced cost."

Later the same day, Branstad's bill finally arrived at the statehouse. You can read the full text of House Study Bill 232 here.

State Representative Walt Rogers will floor-manage Branstad's plan in the House. He talked to Tony Leys of the Des Moines Register about the process.

Rep. Walt Rogers, a Cedar Falls Republican who is managing the new bill, said the Republican-controlled House will consider Branstad's ideas and the Medicaid-expansion proposal put forth by Democrats controlling the Senate.
Rogers said he liked the notion of encouraging personal health responsibility, but he suggested the House would consider changes to Branstad's proposal. "I would expect us to look at it and tweak it here and there. ... I'm hoping we can make this even better," he said.
Rogers said there was no conscious attempt to time the bill's introduction so it would gain little attention.

Sure there wasn't.

Side note: Rogers is also a possible candidate for Congress next year. If he seeks the Republican nomination in the first district, whatever compromises he makes on expanding health insurance coverage could hurt him in the GOP primary. The public benefit in reducing the number of uninsured Iowans might seem obvious to most people, but hard-core Republican primary voters are more likely to oppose any expansion of health care at the government's expense.

Back to the main topic of this post: Branstad's alternative to Medicaid expansion. The immediate reaction from Senate Democratic leaders was quite negative. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal told an audience in Council Bluffs that the governor's plan is "absurd."

Branstad, who has rejected federal funding in fear that it won't be sustainable, has a plan with accountability by Medicaid-eligible patients requiring them to pay $500 to $1,000 with the state matching that amount.
"These are people who can't keep their washing machines running," Gronstal said at the year's final Legislative Coffee. "The concept of them coming up with $500 to $1,000 is absurd on its face. The governor doesn't have any idea what poverty is in this state."
What's more, Gronstal said, the governor's plan would only help a portion of low-income people leaving up to 60,000 who are eligible without any coverage. That means everyone else pays up to $1,000 a year for uncompensated services like this.
"It will be rejected in the Senate," Gronstal said of the governor's plan.

Democratic Senator Mary Jo Wilhelm delivered this speech on the Senate floor on April 8 (transcript provided by the Iowa Senate):

Thank you, Madam President.
Since I talked about when I was an Iowa worker who couldn't afford health insurance, I've heard from many Iowans in the same situation.
People like this woman from southeast Iowa:
"For years I worked as a waitress, and had no insurance.
"A lot of people do not realize that if you don't have insurance, it probably takes everything you earn just to make ends meet."
That is the best argument for Medicaid expansion.
Here's a woman who made it in just one sentence.
"As a small business owner and recently divorced woman, I do not have health insurance as of the first of this year."
These are the Iowans who need our help.
Working Iowans living without health insurance.
Most other states are expanding Medicaid.
What happened to Iowa?
Well, Governor Branstad has finally released his plan. It is packed with premiums, co-pays and other "gotchas" to deny working people health insurance.
How did we get here? Well, let me tell you.
Last July, the U.S. Supreme Court said states could choose to expand Medicaid or not.
Governor Branstad immediately announced he would come up with a better plan.
A couple of days later, he changed his mind.
On July 15, in a C-SPAN interview, Governor Branstad said he was working instead to elect Mitt Romney so health care reform would be repealed.
Well, we know how that turned out.
What has Governor Branstad done since the election?
He's encouraged Iowans to walk more and eat more fruits and vegetables.
He's joked that helping working Iowans get health insurance was like letting people drink at an open bar.
He's said he wants working people who can't afford real insurance to pay for some sort of Branstad Insurance-Lite.
Last week, he released a plan that does just that.
Here's what Governor Branstad didn't do.
Governor Branstad did not come up with a plan that is better than Medicaid expansion.
The Governor's plan costs more, covers fewer people, and provides less health care.
That's why the Branstad plan is no plan at all.
Thank you, Madame President.

I can't see why the U.S. Health and Human Services Department would approve this alternative to expanding Medicaid. It doesn't cover as many people or provide the same kind of benefits. At this writing, no advocacy groups in the health care arena have registered their lobbyists in support of House Study Bill 232, in contrast to more than 50 organizations that support expanding Medicaid in Iowa. Nevertheless, so far I haven't heard any Republican lawmaker criticize the governor's plan. Senate Minority Leader Bill Dix made several unconvincing arguments on its behalf over the weekend on WHO-TV. He seems to believe that any state-specific "Iowa plan" will be superior to a federal program.

As Bleeding Heartland has discussed before, Senate Democrats addressed the governor's concern that the federal government would not meet its commitments on Medicaid funding in future years. The bill approved by the Iowa Senate would allow Iowa to opt out of the Medicaid expansion if federal funding fell through. However, Branstad is still warning that Iowa can't afford to take a chance on Medicaid. This week, he has tried to push back against a core problem with his alternative: it costs more and delivers less. I enclose a chart the governor's staff began circulating around the statehouse this week:

The Iowa Senate responded with this joint statement by the main Democratic lawmakers working on the Medicaid expansion:

Refuting the Governor's "true side-by-side comparison" on health care
Joint statement by Senators Jochum, Hatch, Ragan, and Bolkcom
"We welcome the fact that Governor Branstad is finally engaging in the health care debate.
"Yet the 'true side-by-side comparison' he issued today is a disappointment. Below is a factual rebuttal.
"At stake is health insurance for struggling working Iowans, lower health care costs for all Iowans, and the long-term strength and competitiveness of our state's health care system.
"Based on public statements and private conversations, we are confident that the Iowa House and Senate will do what is necessary to move Iowa forward in this area."
end
Refuting the Governor's "true side-by-side comparison" on health care
Governor's document can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/br5gjan
Branstad Claim: "Iowans with below 100% FPL will be served by the Healthy Iowa Plan,..."
89,000 uninsured working Iowans making less than 100% of FPL would be covered under the Governor's "Healthy Iowans Plan," under the federal waiver the governor hopes to receive.
If the Governor receives such a waiver, Iowa will pay 40% of the cost while the fed pay 60%. Under Medicaid expansion, Iowa would pay at most 10% while the feds pay at least 90% after the 7th year. There is no state share for the first three years.
Branstad Claim: "...Iowans above 100% accessing health care through the affordable health benefits exchange."
61,000 uninsured working Iowans who earn between 101 and 138 % of FPL would buy private insurance throughout the federal exchange. Each person covered in this way will cost the federal government up to $3000 more than if they were covered by Medicaid. To recover some of that extra expense, Iowa small businesses will penalized as much $19 million by the federal government.
Branstad Claim: "Rewards Quality Health Care Outcomes: Yes, in Year 1"
Everyone knows this claim is not true. The governor is talking about Accountable Care Organizations (ACO), a complex new approach to improving health care outcomes. There is only one ACO currently in Iowa, a pilot project located in Fort Dodge. There is no simply no realistic way for the Governor's untried approach to implemented next year. Establishing working ACOs will take several years to accomplish.
The Senate plan for Medicaid expansion expands "medical homes," the cost-effective coordination of a single patient's care by medical and community support providers. The study referred to by the governor is the Senate's responsible strategy of working with Iowa's health care providers so the move to ACOs will be successful.
Branstad Claim: "Member Contributions: Yes, similar to the successful and popular Hawk-I program"
The Governor's effort to rebrand insurance premiums as "member contributions" will be rejected by the federal government. Medicaid funds clearly cannot be used for premium-based insurance schemes for persons under 150 FPL.
In addition, charging struggling working people premiums for insurance results in denying them insurance. Under the Governor's plan, Iowans who pay their rent, buy food, or make car payments and therefore miss a premium payment, will lose their insurance for a year. By failing to insure these people, the Governor's plan will drive every other Iowan's health costs.
Branstad Claim: "Estimated Cost to the State of Iowa at Full Implementation: Branstad Plan - $23 million"
Governor's claim that his plan costs $23 million leaves out the following annual costs:
$43 million in property taxes from every county in Iowa, an action which will likely torpedo the new mental health reform effort
$42 million from Broadlawns Hospital
$13 million from the University of Iowa Hospitals
$42 million dollars in general fund money
Branstad Claim: "Estimated Cost to the State of Iowa at Full Implementation: Medicaid Expansion - $83.4 million"
The $89 million listed by the Governor is the estimated cost of for a FULL year of the Senate plan for Medicaid expansion in 2020, when the state share finally reaches 10%. For the first three years, the state share is 0%. After that, it increases to a maximum of 10% of 2020.
The true apples- to-apple cost of each plan in the first full year is $162 million for the governor's plan and $5 million for the Senate Democratic plan. This $5 million is for administrative costs, no matter which plan is approved.
The true apples- to-apple cost of each plan in 2020 is difficult to determine. Since the Governor's plan costs $162 million in 2014 and increases from there, the cost is certain to be more than the estimated $89 million cost of the Senate plan in 2020.

Anyone can read House Study Bill 232 and see that it's going to cost a lot more than $23 million per year.

At the governor's weekly press conference on Monday, Branstad said lawmakers should "get past the hyper-partisanship and try to come up with a practical plan that will meet the needs of this state for the long-term." His communications director Tim Albrecht accused State Senator Jack Hatch of being

a "political opportunist" hoping to launch a gubernatorial campaign on the backs of Medicaid recipients.
"Jack Hatch is angry, because he attached his health care hopes to a failed, 1960s' program like Medicaid while Gov. Branstad instead offers a modern health care plan that will make its patients healthier," said Tim Albrecht, Branstad's communications director.

The Iowa House has scheduled a public hearing on the governor's plan and the Medicaid expansion on Tuesday, April 16 at 5:30 pm. Count on fireworks at that event. I'll be curious to see which interest groups (if any) show up to defend the governor's plan. The Iowa Hospital Association continues to advocate strongly for expanding Medicaid as a boon for the Iowa economy as well as for Iowans' health. According to Des Moines Register reporter Jason Noble, some corporations are pushing for a compromise.

Representatives from hospitals and others in the medical field said they favored the funding mechanism included in the Democrats' preferred plan: an expansion of the existing Medicaid program that would draw down substantial new federal dollars.
But they also lauded the innovative changes to the way the state provides health care to the poor envisioned in the alternative plan Republican Gov. Terry Branstad rolled out last week.
An ideal compromise, they said, would accept federal dollars but move away from traditional Medicaid and toward care that aims to prevent serious illnesses and pays providers for keeping patients healthy.
"We could make major reforms to our Medicaid program in a way that is meaningful and saves costs and provides quality care to the patients," said Sabra Rosener, a lobbyist for the Iowa Health System. "But it's going to take some guts and it's going to take some real thought and getting past whether we take the federal money or not."

In my opinion, the controversy over expanding Medicaid will keep lawmakers working for weeks if not months after the 2013 legislative session was scheduled to end.

Any relevant comments are welcome in this thread.

UPDATE: On April 11, State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald held press conferences in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and Davenport to discuss the competing health coverage plans. Here is the press release from the Iowa Democratic Party:

FITZGERALD: EXPANDING MEDICAID IS THE FINANCIALLY SMART MOVE FOR IOWA
Branstad Plan is a "bad financial deal" for Iowans
DES MOINES - State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald today gave his assessment on the competing health care plans that have been introduced in the legislature. After review of the Senate proposal and the Branstad plan, he has concluded that the only financially sound course is to do what the Democrats have proposed and expand Medicaid to 150,000 Iowans.
"I view it as my responsibility to not get caught up in the rhetoric and let Iowans know when they are getting a good or bad financial deal," said Treasurer Fitzgerald. "I have sat down read through the Senate and the Governor's health care plans. Governor Branstad's plan is a bad financial deal for Iowa, while expanding Medicaid is the financially smart move for the state of Iowa."
Fitzgerald cited a fiscal impact statement that found that the Senate plan spends only $4.7 million in taxpayer dollars in FY15, while the Governor's plan would spend more than $163 million. In addition, while the Governor has said he believes the Federal government would not fulfill its commitment under Medicaid expansion, the Governor actually asks the Federal government to spend an additional $90 million in FY15 to enact his plan - $667 million under his proposal while only $577 million under the Democratic plan.
"Today, I am asking Iowans to look at these numbers, think about the people affected, and contact Governor Branstad and leaders in the legislature," said the Treasurer. "Tell them that it is time to expand Medicaid. It makes financial sense. It makes common sense. And, it is the right thing to do."

IA-Sen: Most Democratic state legislators endorse Braley

desmoinesdem — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:10:00 GMT

Representative Bruce Braley's campaign for U.S. Senate rolled out its largest batch of endorsements today: 71 state legislators. All 26 Iowa Senate Democrats plus 45 of the 47 Iowa House Democrats are named in the press release I've posted after the jump. For some reason, Iowa House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and former Iowa House Speaker Pat Murphy are not in this group. Murphy is running for the first Congressional district seat Braley is vacating.

Earlier this week, Braley's campaign announced that it raised more than $1 million during the first quarter. That is a solid number, and I'll be interested to see how the numbers break own (contributions from individuals vs PACs, for instance). Bleeding Heartland will publish a detailed roundup of Iowa Congressional fundraising after all the candidates have filed their reports with the Federal Election Commission. Those reports are due April 15.
April 3 press release from Braley for Iowa (emphasis in original):

71 Iowa Legislators Endorse Braley for Senate
DES MOINES, IA - 71 Democratic members of the Iowa legislature have announced their formal endorsement of Bruce Braley for Senate. 45 Iowa House Democrats are endorsing Braley today, as are all 26 Iowa Senate Democrats, including Iowa Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal and President Pam Jochum.
Braley announced in February that he had formed a committee to run for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Tom Harkin.
Sen. Michael Gronstal (D-Pottawattamie) said, "I'm proud to endorse Bruce Braley today. Iowans are fortunate to have Bruce in their corner fighting for them in Congress, and he'll do even more in the Senate. From passing polices that strengthen the middle class to helping small businesses, Bruce works so hard to get things done for Iowa because he's never forgotten where he's come from."
Rep. Kirsten Running-Marquardt (D-Linn) said, "Today is a great day for Iowa. I proudly stand with many of my colleagues and endorse Bruce Braley. Bruce has a proven track record of fighting for the middle class, standing up for veterans and working to make college affordable. He is one of us and Iowa needs him in the US Senate."
Braley said, "I'm honored by this outpouring of support. I've launched this campaign because Iowans deserve a Senator who will work hard every day to rebuild the middle class, create economic opportunity, and use taxpayer money more wisely. The endorsements of 71 Iowa legislators today is a big boost to our campaign and I'll rely on all of them to help build our growing grassroots organization in the months ahead."
In recent weeks, momentum has continued to build behind Braley's Senate campaign. On Monday, Braley announced that he has raised $1 million for his Senate campaign since Harkin announced his retirement. In February, Rep. Dave Loebsack (IA-02) and former Rep. Leonard Boswell endorsed Braley for Senate. Last week, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald announced their endorsement. And eight labor organizations have endorsed Braley: State Association of Letter Carriers, the Iowa Postal Workers Union, the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 3 Iowa Union, UAW Region 4, SEIU Iowa - Local 199, AFSCME Iowa Council 61, the Iowa State Council of Machinists, and the Great Plains Laborers' District Council.
A full list of the legislators announcing their endorsement today can be found below:
HOUSE
Name County
Deb Berry Black Hawk
Anesa Kajtazovic Black Hawk
Bob Kressig Black Hawk
Sharon Steckman Cerro Gordo
Patti Ruff Clayton
Roger Thomas Clayton
Mary Wolfe Clinton
Daniel Muhlbauer Crawford
Dennis Cohoon Des Moines
Nancy Dunkel Dubuque
Charles Isenhart Dubuque
Bruce Bearinger Fayette
Todd Prichard Floyd
Daniel Kelley Jasper
Curtis Hanson Jefferson
Dave Jacoby Johnson
Vicki Lensing Johnson
Mary Mascher Johnson
Sally Stutsman Johnson
Jerry Kearns Lee
Art Stead Linn
Daniel Lundby Linn
Tyler Olson Linn
Kirsten Running-Marquardt Linn
Todd Taylor Linn
Mark Smith Marshall
Ako Abdul-Samad Polk
Marti Anderson Polk
Bruce Hunter Polk
John Forbes Polk
Ruth Ann Gaines Polk
Jo Oldson Polk
Rick Olson Polk
Joe Riding Polk
Jim Lykam Scott
Phyllis Thede Scott
Cindy Winckler Scott
Frank Wood Scott
Lisa Heddens Story
Beth Wessel-Kroeschell Story
Mary Gaskill Wapello
Scott Ourth Warren
Helen Miller Webster
Dave Dawson Woodbury
Chris Hall Woodbury
SENATE
Name County
Jeff Danielson Black Hawk
Bill Dotzler Black Hawk
Amanda Ragan Cerro Gordo
Rita Hart Clinton
Tom Courtney Des Moines
Pam Jochum Dubuque
Brian Schoenjahn Fayette
Rich Taylor Henry
Mary Jo Wilhelm Howard
Tod Bowman Jackson
Dennis Black Jasper
Joe Bolkcom Johnson
Bob Dvorsky Johnson
Robert Hogg Linn
Wally Horn Linn
Liz Mathis Linn
Steve Sodders Marshall
Chris Brase Muscatine
Dick Dearden Polk
Jack Hatch Polk
Matt McCoy Polk
Janet Petersen Polk
Michael Gronstal Pottawattamie
Joe Seng Scott
Herman Quirmbach Story
Daryl Beall Webster

Iowa Senate approves Medicaid expansion along party lines

desmoinesdem — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:55:00 GMT

Last night the Iowa Senate approved Senate File 296, a bill to expand Medicaid, on a strictly party-line vote of 26 to 23. You can listen to the entire Senate debate (approximately 90 minutes) at Radio Iowa. I've posted highlights from the debate after the jump, along with the full list of 52 organizations that have registered their support for Senate File 296. Some corporations and organizations have have registered their lobbyists as undecided on Senate File 296, but at this writing, not a single organization is registered against the Medicaid expansion.
Senate President Pam Jochum's opening remarks are on YouTube. She emphasized that Democrats have addressed some of Governor Terry Branstad's concerns by adding more accountability to the Medicaid program and by giving Iowa a chance to opt out of the expansion in the future if the federal government does not meet its funding commitments.

Here's my partial transcript of Jochum's opening remarks:

Senate File 296 has many provisions that the governor's office and the Senate agree on. For example, we agree to focus on wellness and prevention. We agree to move away from fee for service. We agree to pay health providers to keep people healthy and change our health care system to a system of wellness rather than a system of sickness. We agree. We agree.
Senate File 296 includes the governor's innovation grant language. We, like the governor, believe in an integrated system, and we agree that moving to outcome-based Medicaid is the way to go. [...]
So here's a brief summary of the bill before us. It allows working Iowans between the ages of 19 and 64 to enroll in the Medicaid program if their incomes are below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. [...] This is what it means. These are Iowans who, if they are single, are earning 15,800 dollars [annually]. Or if you are a family of four, you are living on 32,400 dollars a year or less. That's who we're talking about. They aren't people who are trying to game the system. They are our neighbors and friends, and they have a face.

Democratic Senator Chris Brase spoke from his experience working as a paramedic with people who resist going to the hospital. You can view Brase's floor remarks on YouTube. Here's my partial transcript, beginning around the 0:50 mark:

As most of you are aware, my full-time job is I'm a firefighter/paramedic for the city of Muscatine. We talk about the working poor, we talk about the uninsured.
From my vision, these are my patients. Patients that I get called into their homes because their medical condition got to the point that it's a crisis, and the only option that they have is the emergency room.
And I hear time and time again, people telling me they don't want to go to the emergency room. They can't afford it. "I don't have insurance."
And I have to look at them and respect that they do have that concern [...] But I also know through my diagnostics that we do, the treatments that we do, these people need to go [to the hospital]. They need to go be seen because of worse conditions.
Hopefully we can get them to an ER, they can get treated where there's not a long-term disability, or a long-term cost to them.
This is not the way to treat our citizens of Iowa. We have an opportunity to help all these people get basic health insurance, to get ongoing care, to be able to see a physician on a regular basis without traveling 50 or 60 miles or waiting eight to ten weeks for an appointment.

As I mentioned above, all 23 Republicans who were present last night voted against expanding Medicaid. O.Kay Henderson posted highlights from their remarks at Radio Iowa.

Senator Jack Whitver, a Republican from Ankeny, said he shares the governor's fear that the federal government will fail to fulfill its promise to pay the bills.
"We need a solution that is best for Iowa and the care of our citizens," Whitver said, "not a one-size-fits-all federal entitlement program that is unsustainable and is bankrupting both the federal government and many states."

Whitver ignores the fact that Branstad's Healthy Iowa Plan would involve substantial federal funding too. And I wish some Republican would explain why they're not concerned about the more than $6 billion Iowa already receives from the federal government every year for various programs.

Several Republicans, including Mark Segebart and David Johnson, urged senators not to vote to expand Medicaid until more details are available about Branstad's plan. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal's response was excellent.

Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs said legislators have been waiting nine months for Branstad to produce details.
"The governor will leave out 65,000 Iowans - we do have one detail," Gronstal said. "I'm pretty sure if that's where we end up, that will not be our finest hour."

Another detail we already know should be a deal-breaker too: unlike Medicaid, Branstad's Healthy Iowa Plan will not cover mental health care.

Any relevant comments are welcome in this thread. Here's the latest list of 52 organizations registered in support of Senate File 296.

AARP Iowa
AFSCME IA Council 61
Alliance for Residential Treatment Services
Alzheimers Association Greater Iowa Chapter
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Brain Injury Alliance of Iowa
CHAIN
Child and Family Policy Center
Community Health Charities of Iowa
Des Moines University
Epilepsy Foundation
Eyerly Ball CMH Services
Family Planning Council of Iowa
Genesis Health System
HCI Care Services
Hospice and Palliative Care Association
Iowa Alliance in Home Care
Iowa Alliance of Community Mental Health Centers
Iowa Annual Conference of United Methodist Church
Iowa Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
Iowa Association of Area Agencies on Aging
Iowa Association of Community Providers
Iowa Behavioral Health Association (IBHA)
Iowa CareGivers Association
Iowa Catholic Conference
Iowa Chronic Care Consortium
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund
Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
Iowa Hospital Association
Iowa Medical Group Management Association
Iowa Mental Health Counselors Association
Iowa Nurses Association
Iowa Primary Care Association
Iowa Psychiatric Society
Iowa Psychological Association
Iowa State Association of Counties
Iowa State Association of County Supervisors
League of United Latin American Citizens LULAC
League of Women Voters of Iowa
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Linn County Board of Supervisors
March of Dimes Iowa Chapter
Mercy Health Network
National Association of Social Workers, Iowa Chapter
National Multiple Sclerosis Society-Upper Midwest Chapter
Orchard Place
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland
Polk County - Board of Supervisors
Polk County Medical Society
South Central Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO
Urban County Coalition
Visiting Nurse Services of Iowa

Branstad running out of excuses not to expand Medicaid (updated)

desmoinesdem — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 14:55:00 GMT

Iowa Senate Democrats offered Governor Terry Branstad a compromise this week to address his concerns that the federal government will not keep its promises to fund the Medicaid expansion provided under the 2010 health care reform law. Follow me after the jump for details on their latest offer and a cost comparison of Medicaid expansion and Branstad's "Healthy Iowa Plan."
Senate President Pam Jochum, Human Resources Committee Chair Amanda Ragan, Ways and Means Committee Chair Joe Bolkcom, and Health and Human Services Budget Subcommittee Chair Jack Hatch met with Branstad's staff on March 13 to make their latest offer on Medicaid expansion. Ragan, Jochum, and Hatch discussed the terms at a press conference on March 14. You can read the full transcript from the press conference or watch video footage here.

Ragan praised Branstad's focus on "wellness and prevention" and noted that Democrats have included "innovation grant language" and other proposals favored by the governor in Senate File 71, their Medicaid expansion bill. She said, "We believe in the integrated care system, and we agree with him in moving with outcome-based Medicare is the way to go." (One of Iowa Republicans' key talking points is that Medicaid doesn't offer "outcome-based solutions.")

Jochum told reporters yesterday,

Following the lead of other Republican governors in other states, we have offered to re-evaluate Iowa's participation in Medicaid expansion if the federal government does not keep its promise.
In other words if it would renege on its commitment of paying 100 percent of the cost for the next three years and then of course it's on a sliding scale that by 2020 it's 90 percent participation by the federal government and 10 percent participation by the state government.
The language we suggested would protect Iowa taxpayers from any risk, and it would address the Governor's concerns.
In short, if the federal government's sky falls, WE will be off the hook as a state.
I want to mention, and we should all remember, that the federal government has never, never failed to meet its obligations to Medicaid in nearly its 50 years of existence.

When it was his turn to speak, Hatch focused on the additional costs Branstad's plan would incur, compared to the Medicaid expansion. He referred to the document I enclose below. Not only would the governor's plan cover fewer Iowans at greater cost to state and county governments, it would also require an additional federal budget appropriation.

Hatch explained the cost differences as follows:

His structure of financing his proposal is a huge obligation of state dollars of $163 million dollars a year. He is asking that we remain under the old 60/40 plan, and that the state taxpayers incorporate and invest $163 million dollars to fund Medicaid expansion. That doesn't do as well, provides fewer services to fewer people and costs us $163 million dollars a year.
It's important to know that this is a hit on Iowa taxpayers.
It's a hit we don't have to take because the Senate plan fully [accepts] the federal investment in Medicaid Expansion, and if you look at the bottom of your sheet we gave you there is a very significant irony in his plan.
He asks for $224 million dollars in federal dollars to match the $163 million that he is proposing. The difference is that under Medicaid expansion through the budget reconciliation plan of 2010 the federal governments contribution to states is already obligated and is already part of the deficit reduction figures that we're hearing about in Washington.
Under the Governor's plan he's actually asking the federal government to appropriate new money $224 million dollars that is not covered under the reconciliation plan.
So he is actually adding to the federal debt and the very program and the very criticism that he says he wants to avoid. It's a strange phenomenon. One in which we realize that his people have to work a little harder in understanding the law.
Now there is another part of this plan that he's cobbled together state and local money that is also disturbing to a lot of us and should be disturbing to Republicans who have worked so hard on mental health.
Mental health redesign the past three years has focused not only on a regional basis but how the state and the local counties fund mental health services in his plan you will notice that he is asking for $44 million dollars in mental health property taxes to fund part of the state's share.
Which means he has to go out to each of the 99 counties get an agreement with all of the supervisors to literally scoop that money back to pay for the Medicaid services under his plan, which would lower the available local money for counties to fund other mental health services that we have been working so hard to protect.
His plan doesn't make sense at all on the local level at the state level and purposely it is a plan that will take Iowa tax payers away from the state and possibly away from taxpayers who could who know why there giving taxes to state and expect us to spend it reasonably.
In the end his proposal is unaffordable, unsustainable, and unworkable.

Neither Branstad nor the top two Republicans in the Iowa House are ready to accept reality, judging from this report by Radio Iowa's O.Kay Henderson.

A spokesman for the governor says Branstad is "pleased to see Senate Democrats are presenting an alternative approach." Branstad communications director Tim Albrecht says while it's a "first step," this is no "grand bargain" that resolves the impasse.
Republicans like House Speaker Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha are siding with the governor who is developing a different plan that would give about 80,000 Iowans a state subsidy to buy private insurance.
"The current Medicaid system is not a particularly efficient way to provide health care to any Iowans," Paulsen says, "let alone low cost, you know, or low income Iowans."
House Republican Leader Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake disputes the idea putting more low income Iowans on Medicaid will reduce hospital charity care costs.
"To the extent that we can find an Iowa program that works for Iowans, creates quality, integrated care - that's a far preferable way to go," Upmeyer says.

The Iowa Hospital Association and many other advocacy groups involved in health care strenuously disagree with Upmeyer's assertion. You can review the lobbyist declarations on the Senate's Medicaid expansion bill here.

Unless the U.S. Health and Human Services Department makes clear quickly that it would not grant a waiver for Branstad's alternative, the Medicaid dispute is likely to send this year's legislative session well into overtime.

UPDATE: On March 17, the conservative Sioux City Journal's editorial board became the latest major Iowa newspaper to endorse the Medicaid expansion.

To turn down this substantial federal commitment of support for insuring more residents of Iowa when so many other states have said "yes," based only on the perhaps-misplaced fear of a shift in costs some day in the future, isn't in the best interests of Iowa.
Like the IowaCare Medicaid waiver program it would replace, Branstad's proposed alternative to Medicaid expansion, the Healthy Iowa Plan, would cover fewer Iowans and provide less coverage than the Medicaid expansion but would cost the state more money, we fear.
Besides, it's unclear if the Legislature will pass Branstad's plan or if it would get federal approval as a Medicaid waiver. [...]
Medicaid expansion is strongly supported by hospitals--key economic local pillars--in Iowa.

Latest news on the conflict over expanding Medicaid in Iowa

desmoinesdem — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 13:45:00 GMT

This week New Jersey's Chris Christie became the eighth Republican governor to recognize that only a chump would turn down 100 percent federal funding to provide Medicaid coverage to low-income constituents. But Governor Terry Branstad doubled down on his determination not to allow Medicaid to expand in Iowa.

While some advocates are hoping Republican legislators will help pass a Medicaid expansion bill by a veto-proof majority, that scenario appears extremely unlikely. A prolonged standoff between Branstad and Iowa Senate Democrats seems unavoidable.
At his regular weekly press conference on February 26, Branstad confirmed that he will ask the federal government for a waiver to expand and extend the IowaCare program, which is set to expire later this year. Rod Boshart reported,

Branstad said Iowa's Medicaid program would implement accountable care organizations that would provide a set annual fee and potential bonuses based on quality and available funding. He said the effort would include strong incentives for members to focus on prevention and personal responsibility in their health decisions.
"Just expanding Medicaid has not worked to improve health," he said, "in fact the health of the American people has gone consistently downhill. We've become more obese and less healthy."
Branstad said health care reform must increase the quality of care, lower costs and make Iowans healthier. He noted that Iowa Medicaid has grown from 250,000 recipients in 2000 to more than 400,000 Iowa adults now served - an expansion that grew participation by 65 percent and increased costs by 129 percent to more than $3.7 billion projected for fiscal 2014.
"Expanding Medicaid without any attention to the long-term funding of this program - both at the federal and state levels - fails the people that we really intend to help and it fails the hard-working taxpayers of Iowa and the United States that have to pay for it," he said.
Branstad said his administration is seeking flexibility to redesign the IowaCare program to best serve the health of Iowans.
According to Iowa's proposal, the IowaCare waiver program would cover Iowans below 100 percent of the federal poverty level and would require monthly contributions co-pays and deductibles which could be waived if preventative services are completed. The mechanisms are not intended to create financial savings for the state, but rather to encourage health and cost-conscious behaviors.

Right off the bat, you can see that Branstad's plan will exclude many people who would be covered under the Medicaid expansion. The 2010 federal health insurance reform law calls for everyone at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty level to be eligible for Medicaid. Branstad wants to cover only Iowans below 100 percent of the federal poverty level.

Several leading Democratic lawmakers met with the governor on February 27 to discuss the Medicaid expansion. Iowa Senate President Pam Jochum, Senate Human Resources Committee Chair Amanda Ragan, and Senate Health and Human Resources Budget Subcommittee Chair Jack Hatch told reporters afterwards that the governor said it will be at least two weeks before his administration has a plan to present. Because of the legislature's "funnel" deadlines, the House and Senate need to start moving bills through committee before then. Jochum said, "We asked for a bipartisan work group that would include Democrats and Republicans from both chambers, as well as the governor's staff, and the governor rejected that idea."

Hatch added,

The governor and his people have a lot of work to do. They have a vague concept of what they want, but in our conversation with them, they were unable to answer some questions [that are] pretty basic to how we develop a program, how to work with the feds and how to deliver a new health care system to the state of Iowa. So we are hoping that they will get engaged with us. We're going to focus now on working with our colleagues in the Senate, Republicans and Democrats. [...]
We also are going to start working with our [Iowa] House colleagues, because we want them to know that they are welcome in developing something.

Radio Iowa's O.Kay Henderson asked whether Branstad indicated how many additional Iowans would be covered under his program. Jochum and Ragan said the governor didn't provide any details about that, or about how he would pay for his alternative to expanding Medicaid.

This week the Des Moines Register's editorial board called on legislators to bypass Branstad on this issue.

It is hard to imagine the governor's supposed "redesign" of IowaCare will be more comprehensive, or more financially sound, for the state, than comprehensive insurance under Medicaid that would be paid entirely by the federal government for the first three years. [...]
So now it is up to the Iowa Legislature to stand up for the people of Iowa - and to stand up to Branstad.
An Iowa Senate subcommittee last week took the first step toward that goal by passing legislation to expand the Medicaid eligibility to take advantage of the federal government's offer. The full Senate should get on board, too, and their counterparts in the Iowa House should do the same.
If Branstad vetoes the legislation, lawmakers should override that veto because, despite the political allegiance some lawmakers have to the governor, their allegiance should be to their constituents. Iowans need health insurance to be healthy. They don't want the taxes they are paying to the federal government to go only to help people in other states. Hospitals and doctors in Iowa should be compensated for providing care to poor people. That compensation has the potential of creating jobs in hospitals that have gone unpaid for treating the poor.

The Iowa Hospital Association is urging Iowans to contact Republican lawmakers about Medicaid, and so are other groups like the AARP, which notes that an estimated 17,204 Iowans between the ages of 50 and 64 lack health insurance coverage and would be eligible for the Medicaid expansion.

Under the Iowa Constitution, it takes a two-thirds vote in each chamber to override a governor's veto. In other words, at least 67 state representatives and 34 state senators would need to vote for a bill to expand Medicaid. In the Iowa House, 20 Republicans would have to join the 47 Democrats to override a veto--if House leaders even agreed to put a Medicaid expansion bill up for a vote. House Speaker Kraig Paulsen told the Des Moines Register's editorial board earlier this month,

"I don't right now see a scenario where we do the Medicaid expansion as defined in the ACA [Affordable Care Act]," Paulsen said.
The expansion could add an estimated 150,000 Iowans to the Medicaid rolls, extending health insurance to single individuals without children and those at slightly higher income levels.
The expiring program that Paulsen referenced as a potential focal point of legislative action on health care is the IowaCare program, which provides care to low-income individuals who don't qualify for Medicaid but which has more limited access points - requiring, for instance, patients to travel to either Des Moines or Iowa City for specialty care. Funding for the program is due to expire later this year.
Extending it is on the Republican agenda, Paulsen said, and that extension could reach "a significant subset" of the Iowans would be included in an expansion of Medicaid.
"I think we'll have that conversation, and try to make that system and the other Medicaid systems operate in a more effective fashion," Paulsen said. [...]
As for the IowaCare extension, House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer said a proposal was in the works and could come up for discussion soon.

In the Iowa Senate, eight Republicans would have to join the 26 Democrats to override a veto. I haven't heard a single Senate Republican call for expanding Medicaid. The Senate Human Resources Committee vote on a Medicaid bill went along party lines. Iowa Senate Minority Leader Bill Dix has been like a broken record tweeting talking points against expanding Medicaid. Here are a few of his many comments on the subject.

February 5: "Expanding Medicaid in Iowa is a tough pill to swallow. The program has no measurable, outcome-based solutions."

February 13: "Wisconsin Gov. Walker declines Medicaid expansion. Without measurable outcomes-based solutions, Iowa should follow suit."

February 22: "Medicaid expansion is another step toward universal health care in America. Can we really afford it?"

February 25: "Glad we have a watchdog in @TerryBranstad as he recently sought answers from HHS Sec. Sebelius about Medicaid expansion."

February 25: "Is it responsible for Iowa to add an additional 150,000 people to a Medicaid program with no outcome based solutions?"

February 27: "Dems push Medicaid expansion through committee with little to no talk of fixing this program and no measurable outcome based solutions."

State Senator Brad Zaun rehashed a lot of the rhetoric Branstad has used in a blog post for the Iowa GOP's website:

The state of Iowa is facing a very big decision. Should we opt-in to Affordable Care Act and face mountains of rules and regulations and the possibility that the federal government will not be able to follow through on their promise of funding. Should Iowa stay independent and follow through on its promise to deliver Medicaid to citizens and demand better health outcomes.
Currently, states are asked to opt-in to the system, essentially expanding Medicaid, enrolling more people and becoming dependent on the federal government for additional funding. This buy-in would cost billions and mandate that states meet many requirements for years to come. Expanding this program and being dependent upon the federal government is not a sound financial decision. We simply cannot count on the federal government to fulfill its promise.
Proponents will say that the benefit of the expansion is that the federal government will pay 100% of cost for the newly eligible person for the first three years. After that, the federal government will cover up to 90% for newly eligible persons. It is doubtful that the federal government will be able to uphold this promise. They are bankrupt. Federal government revenue totals around $12.5 trillion and expenditures total around $13.8 trillion. In order to balance the budget, the feds would have to cut around $1.3 trillion out of the budget. With a $1.3 trillion deficit and $16.4 trillion debt, it is hard to believe that they will be able to keep a commitment to fund Medicaid let alone the additional expansion costs. Any federal cuts to Medicaid will mean additional spending requirements for Iowa and make future funding commitments is next to impossible.
It is not reasonable to Iowans to continue to expand a system and to saddle the hard-working taxpayers with the ongoing expense. Iowans deserve a health care system that works for them and helps them become healthier. We should be working to fix the system and work to have a system with measurable outcomes before we choose to expand a program by nearly 150,000 people.

Iowa Senate Democrats sent out a press release yesterday vowing not to give up on "this opportunity to take a major step forward for Iowa," but is there any chance at all? Those who prefer to see the cup half-full may be encouraged by these comments from Hatch yesterday:

We told [Branstad] that we amended our bill today that included a lot of the programs that he had spoken about: prevention, personal responsibility, paying with outcomes. All of that is included in our bill. He was a little surprised and said that he liked that, and that there may be some things in our bill that he could incorporate. [...]
Mike Wiser, statehouse bureau chief for Lee Enterprises: What's to make people who want this Medicaid expansion, particularly some of these 150,000 people who would be added to the rolls, what's to give them any hope or indication that this will actually happen? Isn't this kind of false hope because the governor so far is not on board with this?
Hatch: There are eight Republican governors in the past four weeks who had the same position as the governor of this state who have changed their mind. We're hoping that they will begin to understand the financial impact to the state, and the opportunity to bring more people under health care insurance than ever before [...] We're not going to leave this place until we resolve this issue. [...] We are anxious to work with [the governor].

Could negotiations over the next few months give Branstad a fig leaf for changing his position? He could claim that he forced Democratic lawmakers to make Iowa's Medicaid program more accountable and outcome-based before agreeing to expand it.

Final note: yesterday the Iowa Hospital Association released a poll showing substantial public support for expanding Medicaid.

From the write-up on the Iowa Hospital Association's blog:

According to the poll, which was conducted by Essman/Research in Des Moines and funded by the American Hospital Association, 56 percent of Iowans support expansion while 32 percent said they are against it. Specifically, those polled were informed that an estimated 125,000-150,000 low-income adults would be covered under Medicaid expansion in Iowa. They were then asked, "Would you support the expansion of the Medicaid program in Iowa?"
In response to that question, a majority of adults in every Iowa congressional district supported expansion by a margin of at least 18 points. And while urban-dwelling Iowans are much more likely to support expansion (64 percent), a majority of rural Iowans (54 percent) also backs the idea.
Beginning in 2014, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) makes federal funding available to provide adults earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level ($14,856 for an individual; $30,657 for a family of four in 2012) with health coverage through Medicaid. Right now, the only non-disabled Iowa adults eligible for Medicaid coverage are parents at or below 82 percent of the federal poverty level.
The new poll shows Iowa Republicans are split over the question, with 43 percent in support and 45 percent against. However, when asked if Iowa should expand Medicaid to prevent losing the state's share of federal funds to other states, far more Republicans support expansion (47 percent) than oppose it (37 percent). Whether to provide insurance to more needy Iowans or to ensure Iowa gets its share of funding, better than eight out of 10 Democrats support expansion. [...]
One benefit of expansion is that more Iowans will receive coverage for mental health care. According to the survey, more than three out of four Iowans, including 74 percent of Republicans, believe better access to mental health benefits is needed in the state. [...]
Medicaid expansion would also provide more Iowans with access to preventive health care, such as yearly physicals, immunizations and diagnostic testing. According to the survey, nine out of 10 residents believe that every Iowan should have access to these benefits. [...]
To gather data for the poll, Essman/Research conducted 502 random telephone surveys in early February with Iowans age 19-64 years old in all 99 counties. Essman/Research developed the questionnaire and the random sample, collected the survey data, coded the open-ended verbatim responses, analyzed the data and prepared the survey report. On the total sample of 502 random telephone surveys, at the 95 percent confidence level, the maximum margin of error is +/- 4.4 percent.

Cautionary note: the American Hospital Association, which commissioned this poll, strongly supports the Medicaid expansion as a way to reduce the amount of uncompensated care hospitals provide. A survey commissioned by another advocacy group found a similar margin of support for the Medicaid expansion in Iowa. The Des Moines Register's latest statewide poll conducted by Selzer & Co. found Iowans more evenly divided over expanding Medicaid.

Please share any relevant thoughts in this thread.

LATE UPDATE: "Two weeks" turned out to be an exaggeration. Branstad rolled out his "Healthy Iowa Plan" on March 4.

Who's who in the Iowa Senate for 2013

desmoinesdem — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:18:54 GMT

The Iowa legislature's 2013 session opened today. After the jump I've posted details on the Iowa Senate majority and minority leadership teams, along with all chairs, vice chairs, and members of standing Senate committees. Where relevant, I've noted changes since last year. Click here for a similar post on the new Iowa House.

Democrats hold a 26 to 24 majority in the upper chamber. The huge experience gap between the Iowa Senate caucuses is striking. Only seven of the 24 Republicans have served as lawmakers in either the House or Senate for more than four years, whereas 19 of the 26 Democrats have more than four years of legislative service. Click here for details on the tenure of all 50 Iowa senators.
Iowa Senate Democratic leadership team

Majority Leader Mike Gronstal was first elected to the Iowa House in 1982 and won his first Senate election in 1984. He was just re-elected in Senate district 8, covering most of Council Bluffs in Pottawattamie County.

Senate President Pam Jochum is the first Democratic woman to hold this position. She was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2008, after serving for 16 years in the Iowa House. She was just re-elected in Senate district 50, covering Dubuque. Bleeding Heartland posted more background on Jochum here; Radio Iowa published a nice profile and interview here. Some things about Iowa politics may be depressing, but Pam Jochum as Senate president ain't one of them.

President Pro Tempore Steve Sodders was first elected to the legislature in 2008 and was just re-elected in Senate district 36, covering Marshall and Tama counties and part of Black Hawk County. During the last legislative session, Jeff Danielson was Senate president pro-tem, and Sodders was one of the assistant majority leaders.

Majority Whip Joe Bolkcom was first elected in 1998 from a district covering most of Iowa City in Johnson County. He holds over until 2014 in the new Senate district 43.

Assistant majority leaders:

Bill Dotzler was first elected in 2002 from a district covering a large area in Waterloo in Black Hawk County. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 31, covering a similar area.

Wally Horn was first elected in 1982 from Cedar Rapids in Linn County. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 35, covering a large area of Cedar Rapids.

Amanda Ragan was first elected in 2002 from a Senate district covering Floyd and Mitchell counties and part of Cerro Gordo, including Mason City. She is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 27, which still includes Mason City and most of Cerro Gordo but now covers Franklin County and most of Butler County.

Matt McCoy has represented parts of Des Moines in the Iowa Senate since 1997. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 21, covering much of the south side of Des Moines and part of West Des Moines in Polk County.

Iowa Senate Republican leadership team

Bill Dix was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2010. He had previously served in the Iowa House for 10 years, then run unsuccessfully for Congress. Dix tried but failed to become minority leader in the fall of 2011. Last year Jerry Behn was minority leader, but he agreed to step aside after Republicans failed to win the Senate majority in the 2012 elections. Dix has longstanding ties to the advocacy group Iowans for Tax Relief. Last month, he hired that group's former leader, Ed Failor Jr., to the Senate Republican staff. Dix is up for re-election in 2014 in Iowa Senate district 25.

Minority Whip Rick Bertrand was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2010. To my knowledge, he is the only Iowa legislator ever to file a defamation lawsuit over a campaign commercial. Bertrand is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 7, covering most of Sioux City. Last year Brad Zaun was minority whip, but he agreed to step aside after the November elections.

Assistant minority leaders:

Joni Ernst was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2010, having previously served as Montgomery County auditor. She was just re-elected in 2012 in Senate district 12, covering Montgomery, Mills, Fremont, Page, Taylor, and Ringgold counties. She is one of the two new assistant minority leaders, replacing Merlin Bartz, who lost his re-election bid, and Pat Ward, who died in October 2012.

Randy Feenstra is the other new assistant minority leader. He was first elected in 2008 and just re-elected in Senate district 2, covering Sioux, O'Brien, and Cherokee counties.

David Johnson was first elected in 2002 from a district covering Osceola, Dickinson, Clay and O'Brien Counties, plus part of Sioux. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 1, covering Lyon, Osceola, Dickinson, Clay and Palo Alto counties.

Tim Kapucian was first elected in 2008 from a district covering Benton and Grundy counties, most of Tama and part of Iowa County. He was just re-elected in Senate district 38, covering all of Benton, Iowa and Poweshiek counties.

Roby Smith was first elected in 2010 from a district centered in Bettendorf and Davenport in Scott County. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 47, covering a similar area.

Iowa Senate Standing Commitees

Agriculture

Chair: Joe Seng was first elected in 2002 from a district covering much of Davenport in Scott County. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 45, covering a similar area. Many Democrats will be hoping for a credible primary challenger, given Seng's support for bad legislation like the "ag gag" bill, his previous efforts to undermine water quality protections, and his challenge against incumbent Representative Dave Loebsack last year in Iowa's second Congressional district.

Vice Chair: Rich Taylor was just elected to the Senate for the first time in 2012 from Senate district 42, covering Lee and Henry Counties and parts of Jefferson and Washington. Last year Gene Fraise was the vice chair of this committee, but he retired.

Ranking member: Dan Zumbach was just elected for the first time in 2012 from Senate district 48, covering Delaware County and parts of Buchanan, Jones and Linn Counties. He is a farmer with strong support from the Iowa Farm Bureau. Last year David Johnson (see above) was the ranking member of this committee.

Other members: Dennis Black (D), Tod Bowman (D), Daryl Beall (D), Chris Brase (D), Rita Hart (D), Steve Sodders (D), Sandy Greiner (R), Dennis Guth (R), Hubert Houser (R), Tim Kapucian (R)

Appropriations

Chair: Bob Dvorsky was first elected in 1994 and currently represents parts of Johnson and Linn Counties, including Coralville. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 37, covering Coralville and a large area in Johnson County as well as Cedar County. He is married to outgoing Iowa Democratic Party Chair Sue Dvorsky.

Vice Chair: Jeff Danielson was first elected in 2004 and was just re-elected in 2012 in Senate district 30, covering Cedar Falls, part of Waterloo and some rural areas in Black Hawk County. Last year Matt McCoy (see above) was vice chair of this committee.

Ranking member: Jack Whitver was first elected in a 2011 special election. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 19, covering Ankeny and other parts of northern Polk County. Last year Bill Dix, now Senate minority leader, was the ranking member on this committee.

Other members: Dennis Black (D), Joe Bolkcom (D), Tom Courtney (D), Bill Dotzler (D), Jack Hatch (D), Rob Hogg (D), Liz Mathis (D), Matt McCoy (D), Janet Petersen (D), Amanda Ragan (D), Brian Schoenjahn (D), Nancy Boettger (R), Joni Ernst (R), Dennis Guth (R), Tim Kapucian (R), Ken Rozenboom (R), Mark Segebart (R), Roby Smith (R)

Commerce

Chair: Matt McCoy (see above).

Vice Chair: Janet Petersen was just elected to the Iowa Senate for the first time in 2012, after serving for 12 years in the Iowa House. She represents Senate district 18, covering parts of northern and eastern Des Moines in Polk County. Last year Tom Rielly was the vice chair of this committee, but he retired.

Ranking member: Bill Anderson was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2010. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 3, covering much of Woodbury County (including southern neighborhoods in Sioux City) and most of Plymouth County.

Other members: Daryl Beall (D), Joe Bolkcom (D), Jack Hatch (D), Liz Mathis (D), Brian Schoenjahn (D), Joe Seng (D), Mary Jo Wilhelm (D), Rick Bertrand (R), Mike Breitbach (R), Jake Chapman (R), Charles Schneider (R), Amy Sinclair (R)

Economic Growth

Chair: Steve Sodders (see above)

Vice Chair: Tod Bowman was first elected to the Senate in 2010 and is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 29, covering Jackson County, part of Jones County, and most of Dubuque County outside the city of Dubuque. Last year Bill Dotzler (see above) was the vice chair of this committee.

Ranking member: Jake Chapman was just elected for the first time in 2012 in Senate district 10, covering most of Dallas County, a little bit of Polk and Cass counties, and all of Adair and Guthrie Counties. Last year Sandy Greiner was the ranking member on this committee.

Other members: Jeff Danielson (D), Bill Dotzler (D), Rita Hart (D), Jack Hatch (D), Liz Mathis (D), Rich Taylor (D), Mary Jo Wilhelm (D), Jerry Behn (R), Mark Chelgren (R), Hubert Houser (R), Charles Schneider (R), Jack Whitver (R)

Education

Chair: Herman Quirmbach was first elected in 2002 and is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 23, covering Ames and some rural areas in Story County.

Vice Chair: Brian Schoenjahn was first elected in 2004 and just re-elected in 2012 in Senate district 32, covering Bremer County and parts of Fayette, Buchanan and Black Hawk.

Ranking member: Joni Ernst (see above) Last year Shawn Hamerlinck was the ranking member on this committee, but he lost his re-election bid in Senate district 46 to Chris Brase.

Other members: Tod Bowman (D), Daryl Beall (D), Bob Dvorsky (D), Rob Hogg (D), Rita Hart (D), Liz Mathis (D), Mary Jo Wilhelm (D), Jerry Behn (R), Nancy Boettger (R), David Johnson (R), Amy Sinclair (R), Brad Zaun (R)

Ethics

This committee has three members from each party in accordance with Iowa law.

Chair: Wally Horn (see above) Last year then Senate President Jack Kibbie co-chaired this committee, but he retired.

Vice Chair: Dick Dearden was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 1992 and was just re-elected in Senate district 16, covering much of the east side of Des Moines and Pleasant Hill in Polk County.

Ranking member: Sandy Greiner served in the Iowa House from 1993-2000 and from 2003-2008, and spent two years in the Iowa Senate in 2001 and 2002. She came out of political retirement to defeat Democratic State Senator Becky Schmitz in 2010 from the old district 45. She is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 39, covering part of Johnson County, most of Washington County and all of Keokuk County. Greiner is also board president of the American Future Fund, a 501(c)4 organization that has spent heavily in elections in Iowa and around the country. Last year Paul McKinley was the top Republican on this committee, but he retired.

Other members: Joe Seng (D), Jerry Behn (R), Jack Whitver (R)

Government Oversight

Chair: Janet Petersen (see above) Last year Tom Courtney chaired this committee.

Vice Chair: Brian Schoenjahn (see above) Last year Steve Sodders was vice chair of this committee.

Ranking member: Kent Sorenson (see above)

Other members: Matt McCoy (D), Sandy Greiner (R)

Human Resources

Chair: Amanda Ragan (see above)

Vice Chair: Mary Jo Wilhelm was first elected in 2008 and was just re-elected in Senate district 26, covering Worth, Floyd, Chickasaw, Mitchell, and Howard Counties, and parts of Cerro Gordo and Winneshiek.

Ranking member: David Johnson (see above) Last year Jim Seymour was vice chair of this committee, but he retired.

Other members: Joe Bolkcom (D), Bill Dotzler (D), Jack Hatch (D), Pam Jochum (D), Liz Mathis (D), Herman Quirmbach (D), Joni Ernst (R), Nancy Boettger (R), Mark Segebart (R), Jack Whitver (R)

Judiciary

Chair: Rob Hogg was first elected in 2006 and is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 33, covering part of Cedar Rapids in Linn County. Last year Gene Fraise chaired this committee, but he retired.

Vice Chair: Tom Courtney was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2000 and was just re-elected in Senate district 44, covering Des Moines and Louisa Counties, plus a large area in Muscatine County. Last year Rob Hogg was vice chair of this committee.

Ranking member: Charles Schneider was just elected to the Iowa Senate for the first in the December 2012 special election to represent district 22, covering several suburbs in Polk and Dallas Counties. Last year Nancy Boettger was ranking member on this committee.

Other members: Bob Dvorsky (D), Wally Horn (D), Janet Petersen (D), Herman Quirmbach (D), Steve Sodders (D), Rich Taylor (D), Nancy Boettger (R), Kent Sorenson (R), Jack Whitver (R), Brad Zaun (R)

Labor and Business Relations

Chair: Wally Horn (see above)

Vice Chair: Dick Dearden (see above) Last year Pam Jochum, now Senate president, was vice chair of this committee.

Ranking member: Hubert Houser was first elected in a 2001 special election. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 11, covering most of Pottawattamie County outside Council Bluffs, most of Cass County, and all of Union and Adams counties. Last year Pat Ward was the ranking member on this committee, but she passed away in October 2012.

Other members: Chris Brase (D), Joe Seng (D), Bill Dotzler (D), Steve Sodders (D), Jack Hatch (D), Bill Anderson (R), Jake Chapman (R), Bill Dix (R)

Local Government

Chair: Mary Jo Wilhelm (see above)

Vice Chair: Chris Brase was just elected for the first time in 2012 in Senate district 46, covering parts of Muscatine and Scott Counties. Last year Daryl Beall was vice chair of this committee.

Ranking member: Amy Sinclair was just elected for the first time in 2012 in Senate district 14, covering all of Wayne, Lucas, Clarke, and Decatur Counties, most of Marion County, and a small area in Jasper County. Last year Merlin Bartz was the ranking member on this committee, but Wilhelm defeated him in Senate district 26.

Other members: Bob Dvorsky (D), Rita Hart (D), Herman Quirmbach (D), Brian Schoenjahn (D), Rich Taylor (D), Mark Chelgren (R), Dennis Guth (R), Brad Zaun (R)

Natural Resources and Environment

Chair: Dick Dearden was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 1992 and was just re-elected in Senate district 16, covering much of the east side of Des Moines and Pleasant Hill in Polk County.

Vice Chair: Dennis Black has served in the Senate since 1995 and now represents most of Jasper County and part of southeast Polk County. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 15, also covering most of Jasper and a large area in eastern Polk County.

Ranking member: Sandy Greiner (see above) Last year Jim Hahn was the ranking member on this committee, but he lost the GOP primary to Shawn Hamerlinck in Senate district 46.

Other members: Joe Bolkcom (D), Chris Brase (D), Rob Hogg (D), Amanda Ragan (D), Brian Schoenjahn (D), Joe Seng (D), Mike Breitbach (R), David Johnson (R), Ken Rozenboom (R), Dan Zumbach (R)

Rules and Administration

Chair: Mike Gronstal (see above)

Vice Chair: Pam Jochum (see above) Last year then Senate President Jack Kibbie was vice chair of this committee, but he retired.

Ranking member: Bill Dix (see above) Last year then Senate Minority Leader Jerry Behn was ranking member on this committee.

Other members: Tom Courtney (D), Dick Dearden (D), Bob Dvorsky (D), Amanda Ragan (D), Steve Sodders (D), Rick Bertrand (R), Joni Ernst (R), Ken Rozenboom (R)

State Government

Chair: Jeff Danielson (see above)

Vice Chair: Pam Jochum (see above)

Ranking member: Kent Sorenson was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2010. He is up for re-election 2014 in Senate district 13, covering most of Warren and Madison counties.

Other members: Dick Dearden (D), Tod Bowman (D), Tom Courtney (D), Janet Petersen (D), Wally Horn (D), Matt McCoy (D), Steve Sodders (D), Bill Anderson (R), Jake Chapman (R), Randy Feenstra (R), Roby Smith (R), Jack Whitver (R)

Transportation

Chair: Tod Bowman was first elected to the Senate in 2010 and is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 29, covering Jackson, most of Dubuque County (but not the city of Dubuque) and a large area in Jones County. Last year Tom Rielly chaired this committee, but he retired.

Vice Chair: Daryl Beall was first elected in 2002 from the old district 25, covering most of Webster County, including Fort Dodge, Greene and Calhoun Counties. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 5, covering Humboldt, Pocahontas and Calhoun counties and most of Webster County, including Fort Dodge. Last year Bowman was vice chair of this committee.

Ranking member: Tim Kapucian (see above)

Other members: Chris Brase (D), Jeff Danielson (D), Dick Dearden (D), Bob Dvorsky (D), Tom Hancock (D), Matt McCoy (D), Rich Taylor (D), Jerry Behn (R), Mike Breitbach (R), Randy Feenstra (R), Dan Zumbach (R)

Ways & Means

Chair: Joe Bolkcom (see above)

Vice Chair: Joe Seng (see above)

Ranking member: Randy Feenstra (see above)

Other members: Dennis Black (D), Bill Dotzler (D), Rob Hogg (D), Pam Jochum (D), Janet Petersen (D), Matt McCoy (D), Herman Quirmbach (D), Jerry Behn (R), Rick Bertrand (R), Jake Chapman (R), Charles Schneider (R), Roby Smith (R)

Veterans Affairs

Chair: Daryl Beall (see above)

Vice Chair: Jeff Danielson (see above)

Ranking member: Ken Rozenboom was just elected for the first time in 2012 in Senate district 40, covering Mahaska, Monroe, and Appanoose Counties, and parts of Marion and Wapello Counties. Last year James Seymour was the ranking member on this committee, but he retired.

Other members: Dennis Black (D), Wally Horn (D), Rita Hart (D), Amanda Ragan (D), Steve Sodders (D), Mark Chelgren (R), Joni Ernst (R), Charles Schneider (R)

Budget Subcommittees

Administration and Regulation

Chair: Liz Mathis was first elected in a 2011 special election and was just re-elected in Senate district 34, covering surburban areas in Linn County. Last year Pam Jochum chaired this subcommittee.

Vice Chair: Jeff Danielson (see above)

Ranking member: Dennis Guth was just elected for the first time in 2012 in Senate district 4, covering Emmet, Kossuth, Winnebago, Hancock, and Wright Counties. Last year Merlin Bartz was ranking member on this subcommittee, but he lost his re-election bid.

Other members: Chris Brase (D), Joni Ernst (R)

Agriculture/Natural Resources

Chair: Dennis Black (see above)

Vice Chair: Dick Dearden (see above)

Ranking member: Ken Rozenboom (see above) Last year Hubert Houser was the ranking member on this subcommittee.

Other members: Mary Jo Wilhelm (D), Sandy Greiner (R)

Economic Development

Chair: Bill Dotzler (see above)

Vice Chair: Rita Hart was just elected for the first time in 2012 in Senate district 49, covering all of Clinton County and part of Scott County. Last year Joe Seng was the vice chair on this subcommittee.

Ranking member: Nancy Boettger was first elected to the Senate in 1994 and is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 9, covering all of Shelby, Harrison, Monona, and Ida Counties, and part of Crawford and Woodbury Counties.

Other members: Joe Seng (D), Charles Schneider (R)

Education

Chair: Brian Schoenjahn (see above)

Vice Chair: Wally Horn (see above) Last year Herman Quirmbach was vice chair of this subcommittee.

Ranking member: Roby Smith (see above) Last year Bill Dix was the ranking member on this subcommittee.

Other members: Herman Quirmbach (D), Amy Sinclair (R)

Health and Human Services

Chair: Jack Hatch was first elected in 2002 from district 33, covering much of central Des Moines in Polk County. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 17, covering a similar area.

Vice Chair: Amanda Ragan (see above)

Ranking member: Mark Segebart was first elected in 2012 in Senate district 6, covering Buena Vista, Sac, Carroll, and Audubon Counties, and part of Crawford County. Last year David Johnson was the ranking member on this subcommittee.

Other members: Joe Bolkcom (D), David Johnson (R)

Justice Systems

Chair: Tom Courtney was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2000. He was just re-elected in Senate district 44, covering Des Moines and Louisa Counties, plus a large area in Muscatine County. Last year Tom Hancock chaired this subcommittee, but he retired.

Vice Chair: Rob Hogg (see above)

Ranking member: Jake Chapman (see above) Last year James Seymour was ranking member on this subcommittee, but he retired.

Other members: Rich Taylor (D), Brad Zaun (R)

Transportation, Infrastructure, and Capitals

Chair: Matt McCoy (see above)

Vice Chair: Daryl Beall (see above)

Ranking member: Tim Kapucian (see above)

Other members: Tod Bowman (D), Rick Bertrand (R)

Administrative Rules Review Committee

Five Iowa House and five Iowa Senate members serve on this committee. The Senate's five representatives on this committee are Tom Courtney (D), Pam Jochum (D), Wally Horn (D), Roby Smith (R), and Mark Chelgren (R). This year's House members are listed at the end of this post.

More proof smoking bans save lives

desmoinesdem — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 23:09:58 GMT

How about a little good news on a lousy day? A new study confirms previous research, which showed public smoking bans reduce hospitalizations for heart attacks and other life-threatening problems. The Iowa Smokefree Air Act, which went into effect in July 2008, has likely prevented many premature deaths.

UPDATE: The smoking ban was controversial while it was debated in 2008. Below I've listed all of the state legislators who had the courage to send that bill to Governor Chet Culver's desk.
The new study appears in the latest issue of Health Affairs, a peer-reviewed journal. Here's the abstract of "Smoking Bans Linked To Lower Hospitalizations For Heart Attacks And Lung Disease Among Medicare Beneficiaries," by Mark W. Vander Weg, Gary E. Rosenthal, and Mary Vaughan Sarrazin.

Policies limiting exposure to cigarette smoke have been associated with reduced hospitalizations for heart attacks, but little is known about the impact of smoking bans on other health conditions and whether findings from individual communities generalize to other areas. We investigated the association between smoking bans targeting workplaces, restaurants, and bars passed throughout the United States during 1991-2008 and hospital admissions for smoking-related illnesses-acute myocardial infarction and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-among Medicare beneficiaries age sixty-five or older. Risk-adjusted hospital admission rates for acute myocardial infarction fell 20-21 percent thirty-six months following implementation of new restaurant, bar, and workplace smoking bans. Admission rates for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease fell 11 percent where workplace smoking bans were in place and 15 percent where bar smoking bans were present. By contrast, very little effect was found for hospitalization for gastrointestinal hemorrhage and hip fracture-two conditions largely unrelated to smoking and examined as points of comparison. These findings provide further support for the public health benefits of laws that limit exposure to tobacco smoke.

That's a big drop in hospitalizations for heart attacks and serious lung ailments in communities with public smoking bans. In Iowa, the smoking rate dropped noticeably even in the first year after the Smokefree Air Act passed, and has continued to decline since. That trend benefits both people who quit smoking and those who no longer are exposed to their loved ones' or co-workers' secondhand smoke.

Lead author Mark Vander Weg is an associate professor in the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. He spoke to the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

Hospitalization for heart attack rates is on the decline in general, Vander Weg said, which could be a result of advancing medical care resulting in better identification and treatment of coronary artery disease. It also could be because fewer people are smoking, he said. COPD, on the other hand, has been increasing across the country, Vander Weg said.
Within the first three months of smoking bans being enacted, the increase in COPD admission rates was 5 percent lower in communities with bans than those without. After three years, that difference had grown to 17 percent.
Communities that had smoking bans in all three possible locations - bars, restaurants and offices - saw greater relative reductions than counties that banned smoking only in a single setting, the study found.
Areas with bans in two or three settings saw decreases in heart attack admissions of between 14 percent and 16 percent, while those with a single ban did not see as significant of decreases, Vander Weg said.
"The bottom line for that is that the more bans that there were, the greater reduction that we saw, at least in heart attacks," he said.
The admissions were only for patients age 65 and older because the study relied on Medicare data. Although research has shown that smoking is declining nationwide, it's declining at a lower rate among people age 65 and older.

The Iowa Department of Public Health has posted rules and frequently asked questions related to the Smokefree Air Act.

Because of the many health risks associated with secondhand smoke, Bleeding Heartland strongly supported the Iowa Smokefree Air Act and the Iowa Department of Public Health's decision to enforce that ban in all restaurants. I had no sympathy for smokers who whined about "Big Brother Democrats and Turncoat Republicans" and called the public smoking ban "Soviet" or "fascist."

Former Governor Chet Culver deserves credit for supporting this bill through the legislative process and signing it into law. The lawmakers who had the guts to vote for this controversial bill should feel proud too.

Here is the full list of 54 House members who voted yes on the final version of House File 2212 in 2008. I've put an asterisk next to those who still serve in the Iowa legislature. Note that while Democrats provided most of the yes votes, the bill would not have passed without some support from House Republicans.

Democrats:
Ako Abdul-Samad*
Paul Bell
Deborah Berry*
Polly Bukta
Dennis Cohoon*
Swati Dandekar
Mark Davitt
Ro Foege
Wayne Ford
Marcella Frevert
Mary Gaskill*
Elesha Gayman
Lisa Heddens*
Bruce Hunter*
Dave Jacoby*
Pam Jochum* (now in Iowa Senate)
Doris Kelley
Bob Kressig*
Mark Kuhn
Vicki Lensing*
Mary Mascher*
Kevin McCarthy*
Helen Miller*
Jo Oldson*
Donovan Olson
Rick Olson*
Tyler Olson*
Eric Palmer
Janet Petersen* (now in Iowa Senate)
Mike Reasoner
Nathan Reichert
Paul Shomshor
Mark Smith*
Art Staed (defeated in 2008 but just re-elected)
Kurt Swaim
Dick Taylor
Todd Taylor*
Roger Wendt
Beth Wessel-Kroeschell*
Mark Whitaker
Wes Whitead
Cindy Winckler*
Phil Wise
Ray Zirkelbach
Pat Murphy*

Republicans:
Rich Anderson
Clel Baudler*
Dan Clute
Libby Jacobs
Michael May
Henry Rayhons*
Bill Schickel
Walt Tomenga
Tami Wiencek

Special credit goes to Iowa senators who resisted House Democrats' attempt to weaken the bill and got a fairly strong smoking ban through the conference committee. Here's the full list of the 28 state senators who voted for the final version of the Iowa Smokefree Air Act. Again, most of the yes votes came from Democrats, but at least one Republican vote was needed for final passage. I put asterisks next to the names of those who still serve.

Democrats:
Staci Appel
Daryl Beall*
Joe Bolkcom*
Michael Connolly
Tom Courtney*
Jeff Danielson*
Dick Dearden*
Bob Dvorsky*
Gene Fraise
Mike Gronstal*
Jack Hatch*
Rob Hogg*
Wally Horn*
Jack Kibbie
Matt McCoy*
Rich Olive
Herman Quirmbach*
Amanda Ragan*
Tom Rielly
Becky Schmitz
Brian Schoenjahn*
Joe Seng*
Roger Stewart
Steve Warnstadt
Frank Wood (defeated in 2008, just elected to Iowa House)

Republicans:
Mary Lundby
Larry Noble
Pat Ward

One major loophole remains in Iowa's public smoking ban: casino floors are exempt. Democrat state senator Bill Heckroth voted for an earlier version of the smoking ban but against the final bill, I think because of the casino exemption. An Iowa Smoke-Free Gaming group is trying to rescind that loophole, but they face long odds, given the gambling industry's influence at the statehouse.

Iowa Senate Democrats announce committee chairs

desmoinesdem — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 16:20:00 GMT

One day after a special election confirmed there will be 26 Democrats and 24 Republicans in the Iowa Senate next year, Senate Democrats released updated committee assignments. After the jump I've posted the full list of committee chairs as well as the leadership team chosen a few weeks ago. Most committees have the same leaders as in 2012, but where relevant I've noted changes.
Iowa Senate Democratic leadership team

Senate President Pam Jochum represented part of Dubuque in the Iowa House from 1993 through 2008 before winning her first term in the Senate that year. She was just re-elected in Senate district 50.

President Pro Tempore Steve Sodders was first elected to the legislature in 2008 and was just re-elected in Senate district 36, covering Marshall and Tama counties and part of Black Hawk County.

Majority Whip Joe Bolkcom was first elected in 1998 from a district covering most of Iowa City in Johnson County. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 43.

Assistant majority leaders:

Wally Horn was first elected in 1978 from Cedar Rapids in Linn County. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 35.

Bill Dotzler was first elected in 2002 from a district covering a large area in Waterloo in Black Hawk County. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 31.

Leaders of standing committees

Agriculture

Joe Seng was first elected in 2002 from district 43, covering Davenport in Scott County. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 45.

Appropriations

Bob Dvorsky was first elected in a 1994 special election and currently represents parts of Johnson and Linn Counties, including Coralville. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 37, covering Coralville and a large area in Johnson County as well as Cedar County.

Commerce

Matt McCoy (see bio above)

Economic Growth

Steve Sodders (see bio above)

Education

Herman Quirmbach was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2002 from a district covering Ames and immediate surroundings in Story County, as well as a portion of eastern Boone County. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 23, covering Ames and some rural areas in Story County.

Ethics

Co-chair: Wally Horn (see bio above) Last year Jack Kibbie co-chaired this committee, but he retired.

Human Resources

Amanda Ragan (see bio above)

Judiciary

Rob Hogg was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2006 from a district covering northeast and southeast Cedar Rapids in Linn County. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 33, covering a slightly different area in Cedar Rapids. Last year Hogg was vice chair of this committee; the previous chair, Gene Fraise, retired.

Labor and Business Relations

Wally Horn (see bio above)

Local Government

Mary Jo Wilhelm was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2008 and just re-elected in Senate district 26, covering Worth, Mitchell, Howard, and Chickasaw counties, plus parts of Winneshiek and Cerro Gordo counties.

Natural Resources and Environment

Dick Dearden was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 1992 and was just re-elected in Senate district 16, covering much of the east side of Des Moines and Pleasant Hill in Polk County.

Rules and Administration

Mike Gronstal (see bio above)

State Government

Jeff Danielson was first elected in 2004 from district 10, covering Cedar Falls, part of Waterloo and some rural areas in Black Hawk County. He was just re-elected in Senate district 30, covering a similar area.

Transportation

Tod Bowman was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2010 and is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 29, covering Jackson County, most of Dubuque County (but not the city of Dubuque) and a large area in Jones County. Last year Bowman was vice chair of this committee. The previous chair, Tom Rielly, retired.

Ways & Means

Joe Bolkcom (see bio above)

Veterans Affairs

Daryl Beall was first elected in 2002 from the old district 25, covering most of Webster County, including Fort Dodge, Greene and Calhoun Counties. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 5, covering Humboldt, Pocahontas and Calhoun counties and most of Webster County, including Fort Dodge.

Leaders of budget subcommittees

Administration and Regulation

Liz Mathis was first elected in a 2011 special election in Senate district 18 and just re-elected in Senate district 34, covering suburban areas in Linn County. Last year Jochum chairs this subcommittee, but she is now Senate president.

Agriculture/Natural Resources

Dennis Black has served in the Senate since 1995 and now represents most of Jasper County and part of southeast Polk County. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 15, also covering most of Jasper and a large area in eastern Polk County.

Economic Development

Bill Dotzler (see bio above)

Education

Brian Schoenjahn was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2004 and was just re-elected in Senate district 32, covering Bremer County and parts of Fayette, Buchanan and Black Hawk.

Health and Human Services

Jack Hatch was first elected in 2002 from district 33, covering much of central Des Moines in Polk County. He is up for re-election in 2014 in Senate district 17, covering a similar area.

Justice Systems

Tom Courtney was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2000. He was just re-elected in Senate district 44, covering Des Moines and Louisa Counties, plus a large area in Muscatine County. Last year Tom Hancock chaired this subcommittee, but he retired.

Transportation, Infrastructure, and Capitals

Matt McCoy (see bio above)

Government Oversight

Janet Petersen served in the Iowa House for 12 years and was just elected to the Iowa Senate for the first time from Senate district 18, covering parts of northern and eastern Des Moines. Last year Tom Courtney chaired this subcommittee.

Democrats have failed to convey the importance of the Iowa Senate

desmoinesdem — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:41:11 GMT

On one level, yesterday's special election in Iowa Senate district 22 was no surprise. One would expect a Republican victory in a district with a large GOP voter registration advantage, where Republicans spent far more money and only the Republican candidate ran television commercials.

On the other hand, the special election loss is a big red flag that Iowa Democrats have failed to communicate how crucial it is to hold their narrow Senate majority.
The western suburbs of Des Moines are not promising territory for Democrats, but in Desmund Adams, Democrats had a hard-working candidate with a compelling personal story. Adams knocked on nearly 8,000 doors and appeared at countless public events around the district during the past two years. Anything can happen in a special election, and turnout was poor yesterday on both sides. Charles Schneider defeated Adams by 5,371 votes to 4,117.

That's barely 20 percent turnout in a district with 12,926 registered Democrats, 17,392 Republicans, and 15,996 no-party voters as of December 2012 (pdf).

More than 23,000 voters cast ballots in the 2011 special election to represent Iowa Senate district 18. The early vote alone in that election nearly matched total participation in yesterday's election.

The early vote in Senate district 22 was lower than I expected. As of December 11, 1,723 Democrats in Senate district 22 had returned ballots, compared to 2,236 Republicans, 455 no-party voters, and one voter with another party registration.

Iowa Senate Democrats did at least two district-wide mailings of absentee ballot requests to Democrats, but the return rate was extremely low. Volunteers including myself made follow-up phone calls and knocked on doors. Some labor unions also had people out on the doors, at least in Polk County precincts. It was hard to catch people at home during the holiday season, and hard to get people interested in a special election so soon after the marathon presidential race. "We're just so over the elections," one registered Democrat told me at the door.

Talking about this race with many friends and acquaintances, I realized that even highly engaged Democrats do not always know how much is riding on the narrow Iowa Senate majority. Name almost any government service that's important to Democrats (early childhood education, K-12 education, higher education, health care, transportation). Without the Senate majority, Iowa would be spending less on that priority. Name any right that's important to Democrats (pro-choice, marriage equality, collective bargaining). Those rights would have been eroded without the Senate majority.

Senate district 22 was always a long-shot but should have been achievable, especially since the Republican candidate only managed to garner 5,371 votes--nothing to brag about given the money they spent.

Perhaps it's unfair to compare this special election to Senate district 18, when control of the Senate was riding on the outcome. In this case, we already knew Democrats would retain a majority for the next two years. The question was whether that majority would grow from 26-24 to 27-23. Also, the Senate district 18 special didn't happen in the context of election fatigue and the holiday season.

Still, a top priority for whoever will lead the Iowa Democratic Party into the next election cycle must be educating Democrats about the state legislature's importance. In many ways, state lawmakers influence our daily lives more than whether the president is a Democrat or a Republican.

There will be no Obama for America machine working Iowa in 2014. Governor Terry Branstad is guaranteed to have more campaign funds than his Democratic opponent. The Iowa Democratic Party's "coordinated campaign" for GOTV may not be able to match Republican spending, even if Senator Tom Harkin seeks a sixth term and especially if he retires.

Prospects for holding the Iowa Senate majority appear strong, since Republicans have fewer targets than they had in 2012. Looking ahead to the 2014 elections, Democrats will hold fourteen of the 25 Iowa Senate districts on the ballot. But only a few of the Democratic-held seats look potentially competitive, especially if any of the following incumbents retire: Daryl Beall (Senate district 5), Dennis Black (district 15), Amanda Ragan (district 27), and Rita Hart (district 49). Just-defeated Republican Merlin Bartz may be setting himself up to run against Ragan.

Democrats should take nothing for granted looking to 2014. Another GOP landslide like 2010 (mediocre economy, "Obamacare" not perceived to be working, low turnout among Democratic-leaning groups) could easily claim the political lives of incumbent senators who appear "safe" now.

Democrats don't have many promising Iowa Senate targets in 2014. Of the eleven Republicans up for re-election, only two represent districts with a significant Democratic voter registration advantage: Rick Bertrand (Senate district 7, Sioux City) and Mark Chelgren (district 41, including Ottumwa and Fairfield). Sandy Greiner's district 39 is relatively balanced in terms of voter registration, but if she runs for re-election, this well-known incumbent will have a big advantage. Greiner can raise as much money as she needs, given her long previous incumbency and her involvement with the 501(c)4 group American Future Fund.

Any relevant comments are welcome in this thread.

Where are they now? Merlin Bartz and Annette Sweeney edition

desmoinesdem — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 22:35:00 GMT

Losing a re-election contest is no fun for any state legislator, but defeated incumbents often land on their feet. Such is the case with outgoing State Senator Merlin Bartz and State Representative Annette Sweeney.
Last month Democratic State Senator Mary Jo Wilhelm defeated Bartz in Iowa Senate district 26 by just 126 votes. Today U.S. Representative Steve King announced three new hires, including Bartz to run King's new office in Mason City.

Elected in 2008, Merlin Bartz is currently the Iowa State Senator from the 6th District. From 2002-2004 he served as the Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of Natural Resources and Environment and the Midwest Regional Assistant Chief at National Resources Conservation Service from 2004-2007. He previously served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1991-1993 and the Iowa Senate from 1993-2002. Bartz was also Senate Assistant Majority Leader in the 77th, 78th and 79th General Assemblies. He attended school at Luther College and received a Bachelor of Arts in music and political science.

Bartz and King served together in the Iowa Senate from 1997 through 2002. They see eye to eye on many issues and both have been among the most vocal opponents of marriage equality. Shortly after the Iowa Supreme Court issued its Varnum v Brien ruling on marriage in April 2009, King expressed concern about Iowa becoming "the gay marriage Mecca." Meanwhile, Bartz used his official Iowa Senate website to promote a petition drive urging county recorders not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Undeterred by his lack of success on that front, Bartz remained vigilant about all signs of equality for same-sex couples in Iowa, such as changing rules at state-run campsites. Both King and Bartz actively campaigned against retaining Iowa Supreme Court justices who concurred in the marriage ruling.

UPDATE: Handling constituent service for King in the Mason City area could be an asset to Bartz if he plans to challenge three-term Democratic State Senator Amanda Ragan in Iowa Senate district 27 in 2014. Bartz would have to buy or rent a residence in that district, because his Worth County farm is in Senate district 26. Senate district 27 covers most of Cerro Gordo County (including Mason City and Clear Lake), all of Franklin County, and most of Butler County.

Annette Sweeney had been a rising star in the Iowa House Republican caucus. She was named to chair the House Agriculture Committee in 2011 with only two years of legislative experience. The redistricting plan adopted the same year paired her with State Representative Pat Grassley in House district 50. Despite significant financial support from the Team Iowa PAC (funded largely by Sweeney's childhood friend Bruce Rastetter), she lost the GOP primary to Grassley by 61 percent to 39 percent.

Sweeney raises cattle in Hardin County and was one of corporate agriculture's greatest friends in the legislature. For example, she was wrote the so-called "ag gag" bill and was its floor manager in 2011 and 2012. That legislation sought to criminalize whistleblowing about animal abuse at agricultural facilities.

The Des Moines Register reported on November 30 that Sweeney has landed an advocacy job.

Sweeney will become president of Iowa Agri-Women, a public policy group affiliated with the education group Iowa Women in Agriculture. Agri-Women's goal is to provide a voice for agriculture in policy and rule-making.
Sweeney won't be roaming the halls of the Iowa Legislature as a lobbyist come January. State law forbids a former legislator from lobbying for at least two years. [...]
"We need to reach out to all women in different sectors of agriculture," Sweeney said. "That includes the organic and sustainable agriculture groups, as well as the different livestock organizations."

I really did laugh out loud. Somehow I don't see a lot of women in organic and sustainable agriculture knocking on Sweeney's door. They will be better served by Practical Farmers of Iowa, the Iowa Network for Community Agriculture, and the Women, Food and Agriculture Network.

The Register's Dan Piller also reported,

Sweeney said she'll watch carefully the administrative rule-making that follows passage of legislation. The rules, she said, frequently have more impact than the laws themselves.
Two examples she cited are tax policies, where tiny details involving estates can make huge differences in farm property transactions, and rules governing environmental laws that focus on discharge and runoff issues.

I agree with Sweeney 100 percent: administrative rule-making is crucial. I expect that Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey and Department of Natural Resources Director Chuck Gipp will listen to her feedback on rules, such as a new strategy for reducing nutrients from Iowa farms to waterways.

Huge experience gap between Iowa Senate Democrats and Republicans

desmoinesdem — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:55:00 GMT

Democrats will hold a slim majority in the next Iowa Senate: most likely 26-24 or 27-23, depending on the outcome of one recount and one special election in December. But the experience gap between the two parties' caucuses is wider than I've ever seen, and perhaps unprecedented.

Only five Republicans who will serve in the next Iowa Senate have more than four years experience in the legislature's upper chamber. Most of the old hands aren't on the GOP leadership team. By comparison, eighteen Senate Democrats have held that office for more than four years. Thirteen of those have served in the upper chamber for at least a decade.

Many newcomers to the Iowa Senate have helped oversee public-sector budgets and programs as county supervisors, mayors, or members of city councils and school boards. Nevertheless, new legislators have a steep learning curve because state government is more complex than local government, and Iowa House and Senate members consider a wider range of issues during a typical legislative session. Whereas eleven Senate Democrats previously served in the Iowa House, only three sitting Republicans came to the Senate with that background. If the GOP had gained control of the upper chamber in this year's elections, they would have been forced to put quite a few rookies in charge of standing committees.

After the jump I've posted details on the tenure of all incoming Iowa Senate members, indicating members of each party's leadership team and past service in the Iowa House.
Senate Republicans

First elected in 1994: Nancy Boettger

First elected in 1996: Jerry Behn

First elected in a 2001 special election: Hubert Houser

First elected in 2002: Assistant Minority Leader David Johnson

First elected in 2004: Brad Zaun

First elected in 2008: Assistant Minority Leader Randy Feenstra, Assistant Minority Leader Tim Kapucian

First elected in 2010: Minority Leader Bill Dix (ten years service in Iowa House), Minority Whip Rick Bertrand, Assistant Minority Leader Roby Smith, Bill Anderson, Mark Chelgren, Kent Sorenson (two years service in Iowa House), Sandy Greiner (two years service in Iowa Senate, fourteen years in Iowa House)

First elected in a 2010 special election: Assistant Minority Leader Joni Ernst

First elected in 2011 special election: Jack Whitver

First elected in 2012: Dennis Guth, Mark Segebart, Jake Chapman, Amy Sinclair, Ken Rozenboom, Dan Zumbach, Mike Breitbach (if his small lead holds in Senate district 28)

LATE UPDATE: First elected in a 2012 special election: Charles Schneider

Senate Democrats

First elected in 1982: Wally Horn (10 years previous service in Iowa House)

First elected in 1984: Majority Leader Mike Gronstal (two years in Iowa House)

First elected in 1994 special election: Bob Dvorsky (eight years in Iowa House)

First elected in 1994: Dennis Black (twelve years in Iowa House), Dick Dearden

First elected in 1996: Assistant Majority Leader Matt McCoy (four years in Iowa House)

First elected in 1998: Majority Whip Joe Bolkcom

First elected in a 2002 special election: Assistant Majority Leader Amanda Ragan

First elected in 2002: Assistant Majority Leader Bill Dotzler (six years in Iowa House), Daryl Beall, Herman Quirmbach, Jack Hatch (ten years in Iowa House), Joe Seng (two years in Iowa House), Tom Courtney

First elected in 2004: Jeff Danielson, Brian Schoenjahn

First elected in 2006: Rob Hogg (four years in Iowa House)

First elected in 2008: Senate President Pam Jochum (sixteen years in Iowa House), Senate President Pro Tempore Steve Sodders, Mary Jo Wilhelm

First elected in 2010: Tod Bowman

First elected in a 2011 special election: Liz Mathis

First elected in 2012: Janet Petersen (twelve years in Iowa House), Chris Brase, Rita Hart, Rich Taylor

Gronstal, Jochum to lead Iowa Senate Democrats

desmoinesdem — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 13:39:16 GMT

Iowa Senate Democrats caucused at the state capitol yesterday to choose their leaders for the next legislative session. As expected, Mike Gronstal remains Senate majority leader. The big change will be Pam Jochum of Dubuque as Senate president to replace Jack Kibbie, who retired last year.

After the jump I've enclosed background on Jochum and details on the rest of the Iowa Senate leadership team. Republicans elected leaders of their Senate caucus last week. Both parties will announce committee assignments before the end of the year.
Majority Leader Gronstal was first elected to the Iowa House in 1982 and won his first Senate election in 1984. He was just re-elected in Senate district 8, covering most of Council Bluffs in Pottawattamie County.

Jochum is the first Democratic woman chosen as Iowa Senate president. She represented part of Dubuque in the Iowa House from 1993 through 2008 before winning her first term in the Senate that year. Last year she chaired the Administration & Regulation Budget Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee and was vice chair of the Labor & Business Relations Committee. Jochum has been among the more progressive House and Senate Democrats. For instance, she voted against the "ag gag" bill designed to stifle whistleblowers. She was among the leading voices against the bad legislation that would promote nuclear power at the expense of Iowa consumers. Jochum was floor manager for a major tax reform bill in 2011, which would have raised the refundable earned income tax credit for more than 200,000 taxpayers making less than $45,000 per year.

Former legislator Ed Fallon noted in an e-mail to supporters last night,

[Pam's] top priority for as long as I can remember has been campaign finance reform. No other [Iowa] lawmaker (and few anywhere in the country) understand this issue as thoroughly as Pam. And never has Iowa elected a leader in either chamber who is so strongly committed to curbing the abuse of money in politics.
The Iowa Senate has seen weak presidents in recent years. There's no reason that needs to be the case. In the Iowa House, the Speaker and Majority Leader share power equally. That's how it should work in the Senate as well.

Fallon called on Senate Democrats to pass "meaningful" campaign finance reform quickly during the 2013 legislative session. Although Gronstal supported tougher campaign finance disclosure requirements for Iowa, he has shown zero interest in in passing limits on individual campaign contributions, let alone an optional public financing system like those used in Maine and Arizona.

Jochum has strongly supported the "VOICE" (Voter-Owned Iowa Clean Elections) legislation in the past. If she can get the majority leader behind real campaign finance reform, more power to her.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Gronstal and Jochum indicated that promoting job creation and economic growth will be the top priorities for Senate Democrats moving forward. A Senate press release pointed to education legislation as part of that equation:

"Democratic Senators will continue to focus on improving the economy," Gronstal said. "That's got to include helping Iowa workers gain the skills need to fill jobs that are already available here in Iowa." [...]
"As President, I'll do my best to help the Iowa Senate effectively respond to the most pressing issues Iowans face: growing our economy and expanding educational opportunities," Jochum said.

Senate Democrats chose a new President Pro Tempore yesterday: Steve Sodders. He was first elected to the legislature in 2008 and was just re-elected in Senate district 36, covering Marshall and Tama counties and part of Black Hawk County. For the last two years, Sodders has chaired the Senate Economic Growth Committee and served as assistant majority leader. Jeff Danielson, who just won his third term in the Iowa Senate, had served as pro tem from 2007 through 2012.

Senate Democrats elected Joe Bolkcom majority whip yesterday. He previously chaired the Senate Ways and Means Committee and served as an assistant majority leader.

The Senate caucus will have four assistant majority leaders during the next session: Wally Horn, Amanda Ragan, Matt McCoy, and Bill Dotzler. Horn, Ragan, and Dotzler were all assistant leaders last session as well. Horn chaired the Labor and Business Relations Committee. Ragan chaired the Human Resources Committee. Dotzler chaired the Economic Development Committee. McCoy chaired the Commerce Committee in 2012, following the resignation of Swati Dandekar.

The following members of the Democratic leadership team will be up for re-election in 2014: Bolkcom (district 43, Iowa City), Horn (district 35, part of Cedar Rapids), Ragan (district 27, most of Cerro Gordo County, Franklin County, and Butler County), McCoy (district 21, parts of Des Moines and West Des Moines), and Dotzler (district 31, much of Waterloo). Only Ragan's seat appears likely to be competitive.

Bill Dix is the new Iowa Senate minority leader

desmoinesdem — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 14:10:00 GMT

After another disappointing election cycle, Iowa Senate Republicans chose Bill Dix to be the new leader of their caucus yesterday.
A year ago, Dix failed to oust minority leader Paul McKinley. Jerry Behn, chosen by his colleagues to lead Senate Republicans during the 2012 legislative session, said in a written statement yesterday that he did not seek re-election to the position. That's just as well, because his colleagues are surely frustrated that they will be in the minority for another two years. Republicans will have at most 24 seats in the upper chamber, if the GOP candidate's small lead in Senate district 28 holds and if the Republican wins the December 11 special election in Senate district 22.

First-term Senator Rick Bertrand will be the new minority whip in the upper chamber, replacing Brad Zaun.

Three of the five assistant minority leaders chosen last year remain in that position: Roby Smith, David Johnson, and Tim Kapucian. Senate Republicans also chose two new assistant minority leaders yesterday: Randy Feenstra and Joni Ernst. They replace Pat Ward, who passed away last month, and Merlin Bartz, who lost his re-election bid.

Dix is a first-term senator, having beaten a Democratic incumbent in 2010. He previously served five terms in the Iowa House, rising to the position of Appropriations Committee chair. Among Iowa Republican lawmakers, Dix is one of the strongest fundraisers. This year Behn and outgoing minority whip Brad Zaun underperformed in that department, relying on Governor Terry Branstad and others to raise money for the competitive Senate races.

Dix will be the sixth leader of Iowa Senate Republicans since 2006, when they shared power with Democrats in a 25-25 chamber.

Looking ahead to the 2014 elections, Democrats will hold fourteen of the 25 Iowa Senate districts on the ballot. Republicans tend to run challengers everywhere, but only a few of the Democratic-held seats look potentially competitive, especially if any of the following incumbents retire: Daryl Beall (Senate district 5), Dennis Black (district 15), Amanda Ragan (district 27), and Rita Hart (district 49).

Of the eleven Senate Republicans up for re-election in 2014, only two represent districts with a significant Democratic voter registration advantage: Bertrand (Senate district 7, Sioux City) and Mark Chelgren (district 41, including Ottumwa and Fairfield). Sandy Greiner's district 39 is relatively balanced in terms of voter registration, but the incumbent is well-known and can raise tons of money thanks to her long previous incumbency and involvement with the 501(c)4 group American Future Fund.

The latest voter registration totals for all Iowa Senate districts are here (pdf), but those do not reflect people who registered to vote on election day. All of the odd-numbered districts will be on the ballot in 2014.

LATE UPDATE: Radio Iowa's O.Kay Henderson pointed out some interesting trivia.

Dix, at the age of 49, is the youngest senator to win a top leadership spot in the senate since November of 1996, when Mike Gronstal was elected Senate Democratic Leader. Gronstal, who was 46 years old back then, was re-elected Senate Democratic Leader this past Sunday. Senator Dix, who is from Shell Rock, was elected Senate Republican leader last week. Dix turns 50 November 28.

New Iowa House and Senate will include more women

desmoinesdem — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 17:12:41 GMT

Americans elected record numbers of women to Congress on Tuesday. Beginning in January, 20 women will serve in the U.S. Senate, and 78 women will serve in the U.S. House. During the past two years, seventeen U.S. senators and 73 U.S. representatives were women.

Although Iowans continued our streak of not sending women to Congress, we did elect some new women to the state legislature, producing a slight gain in the total number of female lawmakers.
Since 2011, the Iowa Senate has included eight women and 42 men. Three women were not up for re-election this year: Republicans Nancy Boettger and Sandy Greiner, and Democrat Amanda Ragan.

Four female incumbents were re-elected on Tuesday: Republican Joni Ernst and Democrats Liz Mathis, Mary Jo Wilhelm, and Pam Jochum.

Democrats Janet Petersen and Rita Hart won open-seat Senate races, bringing the number of women who'll serve in the upper chamber next year to ~~nine~~. CORRECTION: I omitted Amy Sinclair, a Republican who won an open seat. That makes ten women in the upper chamber.

Senator Pat Ward passed away last month. A special election to fill her seat will take place on December 11. Republicans are unlikely to nominate a woman to run against Democrat Desmund Adams. UPDATE: Charles Schneider is the GOP candidate in Senate district 22, so there is no chance of electing another woman to the Senate this cycle.

Since 2011, the Iowa House has included 24 women and 76 men. Three retired before this year's election: Republicans Kim Pearson and Betty De Boef, and Democrat Janet Petersen (to run for the state Senate).

Two Republican women lost their re-election bids: Annette Sweeney was defeated in a GOP primary, and Renee Schulte lost on Tuesday.

That leaves 19 women who were re-elected to the Iowa House: Democrats Deborah Berry, Ruth Ann Gaines, Mary Gaskill, Lisa Heddens, Anesa Kajtazovic, Vicki Lensing, Mary Mascher, Helen Miller, Jo Oldson, Kirsten Running-Marquardt, Sharon Steckman, Phyllis Thede, Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, Cindy Winckler, and Mary Wolfe, and Republicans Mary Ann Hanusa, Linda Miller, Dawn Pettengill, and Linda Upmeyer.

Five women won open-seat Iowa House races on Tuesday: Democrats Marti Anderson, Nancy Dunkel, and Sally Stutsman, and Republicans Megan Hess and Sandy Salmon.

Patti Ruff defeated a Republican incumbent, which makes 25 women elected to the next Iowa House.

To sum up, the next Iowa House will have 53 Republicans (47 men, six women) and 47 Democrats (28 men, 19 women).

For now I am assuming Susan Judkins will fall just short against Republican incumbent Chris Hagenow in House district 43. If a recount changes the outcome of that race, we'll have 26 women in the Iowa House next year. UPDATE: After counting absentee and provisional ballots, Hagenow leads by 22 votes. That margin is likely to hold, but I expect a recount after the results are certified next week.

Iowa is decades away from anything like gender parity in our state legislature, but we are taking baby steps in the right direction.

IA-04: Republican businessman co-chairing Vilsack campaign

desmoinesdem — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:54:19 GMT

Christie Vilsack's Congressional campaign announced its three co-chairs today: State Senator Amanda Ragan of Mason City, former Story County Supervisor Jane Halliburton of Ames, and Sioux City businessman Irving Jensen, Jr. Normally this kind of press release wouldn't be newsworthy, but it's not every day that a Republican businessman leads a campaign against an entrenched GOP incumbent.
The Sioux City Journal's Bret Hayworth posted the scoop at his Politically Speaking blog:

"The new 4th District deserves a representative who puts Iowa jobs first. I am supporting Vilsack because she will go to Washington to fight everyday to ensure the best policies, not politics, are put in place so future generations can work and raise a family in North Central and Northwest Iowa," Jensen said in a press release.
Periodically, I've heard but never been able to confirm on the record that business-type Northwest Iowa Republicans get tired of King's penchant for making controversial comments and failure to produce legislative results. Jensen's "policies, not politics" phrase seems to point to that.
Vilsack said she was honored to have a Republican in the team of "strong leaders" aiding her campaign.

I've heard plenty of grumbling about King in central Iowa, but prominent business Republicans rarely take a public role on a Democratic campaign. Jensen runs a successful general contracting firm in Sioux City. Both he and his late father have been inducted into the Associated General Contractors of Iowa's hall of fame.

Looking up Jensen's record of campaign contributions on the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board's website, he seems to be a pragmatist. In the past decade, he has given far more to Republican candidates than to Democrats, but he has donated to several Democratic incumbents. For instance, during the 2008 election cycle Jensen donated $1,800 to the campaign of Sioux City's GOP State Representative Chris Rants. The two Iowa House Democratic incumbents from Sioux City at that time, Wes Whitead and Roger Wendt, received $300 and $200 from Jensen, respectively. During the 2010 gubernatorial race, Jensen gave a total of $8,500 to Terry Branstad's campaign but made two $1,000 donations to Governor Chet Culver's re-election effort (one of his checks to Culver came after Branstad entered the race).

Other than Vilsack, I don't see any sign of Jensen giving money to a Democratic challenger to a GOP incumbent, but last year he donated to Representative Leonard Boswell's campaign as well as to Vilsack's.

Vilsack presents herself as a non-ideological problem-solver. Having a Republican co-chair may help her build a narrative against King as a divisive and ineffective partisan warrior. Other King challengers have taken that approach, but they didn't have $751,000 in the bank to spread that message.

King did his part to support Vilsack's narrative late last week, when he gave his usual over-the-top performance at the CPAC conference while all the other Iowans in Congress tried to save the Air National Guard's F16 fighter unit in Des Moines. The Vilsack campaign immediately jumped on the list-building opportunity:

Tell Steve King He's Wrong
February 10, 2012
Steve King once again showed he puts Washington over the priorities of Iowans. King chose to attend the CPAC conference in Washington instead of a meeting to keep the F16 fighter unit in Iowa. 500 Iowa jobs are at stake if Iowa loses the F16 fighter unit.
All of the Iowa Delegation attended the meeting, except for Steve King. Instead, King chose to attend the conference and again make comments that are out of touch with the priorities of Iowans.
Sign the petition below and tell Steve King he's wrong!
Instead of fighting for Iowa jobs, King made a series of extreme statements, none of which addressed jobs and the economy. King even called janitors "Stasi Troops" for installing energy efficient light bulbs in the Speaker's office.
Christie is running for Congress for one reason, and that is to work to create a new prosperity for the 39 counties of the new 4th District. When she goes to Congress, she wants to work be an advocate for all of our economic interests.
Being a representative is about priorities, and once again, Steve King has chosen to put Washington over what is best for Iowa.
Sign the petition below and tell Steve King that he was wrong to choose to go to a conference and seek the limelight while 500 Iowa jobs are at stake.

Incidentally, longtime Republican columnist Chuck Offenburger announced at his blog today that he is resigning from the Greene County Republican Central Committee and changing his registration to "no-party."

Meantime, I'll now be free to support the candidates and causes that I really believe in, and I intend to do that with new zeal.
You'll see me taking stronger stands for Vilsack.
I'll probably continue to stand with Republican Mitt Romney for president.
I'll be supporting a mix of candidates up and down the ballot.

The central committee was due to consider a motion to remove Offenburger tonight for the heresy of publicly endorsing Vilsack's Congressional bid.

Any comments about the IA-04 race are welcome in this thread.

P.S.: I double-dog dare King to face a group of people vicitmized by Communist governments and whine about Nancy Pelosi's "Stasi troops." When East German dissidents got a knock on the door in the middle of the night, it wasn't to change their light bulbs. It meant their families might never see them again.

UPDATE: Here's the full Vilsack campaign press release from February 16.

VILSACK FOR CONGRESS ANNOUNCES CAMPAIGN CO-CHAIRS, TREASURER
Bi-Partisan Leaders to Help Vilsack Bring Prosperity to New 4th District
Ames, IA - Christie Vilsack, candidate for Congress in Iowa's 4th District, today announced her campaign co-chairs: State Senator Amanda Ragan of Mason City ,Irving Jensen Jr. of Sioux City, and former Story County Supervisor Jane Halliburton. Vilsack also announced State Senator Jack Kibbie of Emmetsburg as her campaign treasurer.
"I am honored to have strong leaders, both Democrats and a Republican, support my campaign to bring a new economic prosperity to the 39 counties of the new 4th District," said Christie Vilsack. "The support Iowans from across the district have shown my campaign is truly humbling."
State Senator Amanda Ragan is serving her third term in the Iowa Senate representing parts of Mitchell, Floyd, Cerro Gordo, and Howard counties. She serves as Assistant Majority Leader in the Senate and is also the executive director of Meals on Wheels and Community Kitchen of North Iowa in Mason City.
"When Christie Vilsack goes to Congress, she will work be an advocate for all of our economic interests," said Senator Ragan. "Being a representative is about priorities, and I am supporting Vilsack because her priority will be what is best for Iowa, not Washington."
Irving Jensen, Jr. served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and a captain in the Air Force Reserves. Following his service, he joined the family construction business in Sioux City, which was started by his grandfather in 1896, building highways, bridges, airport runways, culverts, small dams, and apartment complexes. Irving is a registered Republican.
"The new 4th District deserves a representative who puts Iowa jobs first," said Irving Jensen. "I am supporting Vilsack because she will go to Washington to fight everyday to ensure the best policies, not politics, are put in place so future generations can work and raise a family in North Central and Northwest Iowa."
State Senator Jack Kibbie is serving his seventh term in the Iowa Senate representing parts of Emmet, Kossuth, Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Humboldt, and Webster counties. He is President of the Iowa Senate and also operates a family livestock and grain farm with his wife, Kay, and two sons. Jack served in Korea as a tank commander during the Korean War and was awarded the Bronze Star.
"I am supporting Christie Vilsack because she is announcing detailed policy proposals to improve our state including doubling apprenticeships for Iowans, advancing economic development and job creation by investing in infrastructure and advocating for Missouri River flood relief," said Senator Kibbie.
Jane Halliburton is a former teacher, Story County Supervisor and previously chaired of the Board of Supervisors. She currently resides in Ames with her husband Calvin.
"Christie will bring real representation to Iowa's new fourth district," Halliburton said. "She is a problem solver committed to fighting for Iowa's working families, not a partisan warrior looking out for Washington special interests."

Who's who in the Iowa Senate for 2012

desmoinesdem — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:41:20 GMT

The November special election in Iowa Senate district 18 confirmed that Democrats will maintain a 26 to 24 majority in the upper chamber during the legislature's 2012 session, set to begin on January 9.

Senate Democrats and Republicans recently announced updated committee assignments. Majority and minority leadership teams are after the jump, along with all members of standing committees. I've also noted which senators are up for re-election in 2012 and which are retiring next year.
Iowa Senate Democratic leadership team

Majority Leader Mike Gronstal (bio) was first elected in 1984 from a district covering most of Council Bluffs in Pottawattamie County. Gronstal is up for re-election in the new Senate district 8; his likely Republican opponent is Al Ringgenberg.

Senate President Jack Kibbie (bio) served a term in the Iowa Senate during the 1960s and was later elected six times, beginning in 1988. He represents the "old" district 4, covering Emmet, Kossuth, Palo Alto, Pocahontas and Humboldt Counties, plus part of Webster County. The new map of political boundaries put Kibbie in a much more Republican area of northwest Iowa; he is retiring after the 2012 legislative session.

Assistant majority leaders:

Joe Bolkcom (bio) was first elected in 1998 from a district covering most of Iowa City in Johnson County. He holds over until 2014 in the new Senate district 43.

Bill Dotzler (bio) was first elected in 2002 from a district covering a large area in Waterloo in Black Hawk County. He holds over until 2014 in the new Senate district 31.

Wally Horn (bio) was first elected in 1978 from Cedar Rapids in Linn County. He holds over until 2014 in the new Senate district 35.

Amanda Ragan (bio) was first elected in 2002 from the "old" district 7, covering Floyd and Mitchell counties and part of Cerro Gordo, including Mason City. She holds over until 2014 in the new Senate district 27, which still includes Mason City and most of Cerro Gordo but now covers Franklin and most of Butler County instead of Floyd and Mitchell.

Steve Sodders (bio) was first elected in 2008 from the old district 22, covering Hardin and Marshall Counties. He is up for re-election in 2012 in the new district 36, covering Marshall and Tama Counties and part of Black Hawk.

Iowa Senate Republican leadership team

Minority leader Jerry Behn (bio) was first elected in 1996 and currently represents most of Boone and Dallas counties. Behn is up for re-election in 2012 in the new district 24, covering all of Boone, Hamilton, and Greene counties and part of Webster.

Minority whip Brad Zaun (bio) was first elected in 2004 from the old district 32, covering Urbandale and part of Des Moines in Polk County. He is up for re-election in 2012 in the new Senate district 20, covering Urbandale, Johnston and Grimes.

Assistant minority leaders:

Merlin Bartz (bio) served for 10 years in the Iowa Senate, left elected office for seven years, then won the 2008 election in district 6, covering Winnebago, Worth, Hancock, Franklin and much of Cerro Gordo County outside Mason City. In 2012 he will face Democratic State Senator Mary Jo Wilhelm in the new district 26, covering Worth, Mitchell, Floyd, Howard and Chickasaw counties, part of Cerro Gordo (but not Mason City or Clear Lake) and part of Winneshiek (but not Decorah).

David Johnson (bio) was first elected in 2002 from a district covering Osceola, Dickinson, Clay and O'Brien Counties, plus part of Sioux. He holds over until 2014 in the new district 1, covering Lyon, Osceola, Dickinson, Clay and Palo Alto counties.

Tim Kapucian (bio) was first elected in 2008 from a district covering Benton and Grundy counties, most of Tama and part of Iowa County. He is up for re-election in 2012 in the new district 38, covering all of Benton, Iowa and Poweshiek counties.

Roby Smith was first elected in 2010 from a district centered in Bettendorf and Davenport in Scott County. He holds over until 2014 in the new district 47, which hasn't changed much. His official bio page on the Senate Republicans' website contains no background information.

Pat Ward (bio), first elected in 2004 from district 30, covering Clive, Windsor Heights and most of West Des Moines in Polk County. The redistricting plan put her in the new district 21, paired with Democratic State Senator Matt McCoy. Ward has said she will move to a different West Des Moines neighborhood and run for re-election in the new district 22 next year. A more conservative Republican, Jeff Mullen, has also announced his candidacy in Senate district 22.

Iowa Senate Standing Commitees

Agriculture

Chair: Joe Seng (bio) was first elected in 2002 from district 43, covering Davenport in Scott County. He holds over until 2014 in the new district 45.

Vice Chair: Gene Fraise (bio) has served in the Iowa Senate since 1984 and is retiring after the 2012 session.

Ranking member: David Johnson (see bio above)

Other members: Dennis Black (D), Tod Bowman (D), Tom Courtney (D), Tom Hancock (D), Jack Kibbie (D), Tom Rielly (D), Sandy Greiner (R), Jim Hahn (R), Hubert Houser (R), Tim Kapucian (R)

Appropriations

Chair: Bob Dvorsky (bio) was first elected in 1994 and currently represents district 15, covering parts of Johnson and Linn Counties, including Coralville. He holds over until 2014 in the new district 37, covering Coralvill e and a large area in Johnson County as well as Cedar County. He is married to Iowa Democratic Party Chair Sue Dvorsky.

Vice Chair: Matt McCoy (bio) has represented parts of Des Moines in the Iowa Senate since 1994. He holds over until 2014 in the new district 21, covering much of the south side of Des Moines and part of West Des Moines in Polk County.

Ranking member: Bill Dix (bio) was just elected to his first term in the Iowa Senate in 2010. He previously served in the Iowa House for ten years, rising to the position of House Appropriations Committee chair. He lost the November 2011 Senate Republican leadership election to Jerry Behn.

Other members: Dennis Black (D), Joe Bolkcom (D), Jeff Danielson (D), Bill Dotzler (D), Gene Fraise (D), Tom Hancock (D), Jack Hatch (D), Rob Hogg (D), Pam Jochum (D), Amanda Ragan (D), Brian Schoenjahn (D), Merlin Bartz (R), Nancy Boettger (R), Hubert Houser (R), David Johnson (R), Tim Kapucian (R), Steve Kettering (R), Jim Seymour (R)

Commerce

Chair: Matt McCoy moved up to this position after Swati Dandekar resigned from the Iowa Senate to accept a spot on the Iowa Utilities Board.

Vice Chair: Tom Rielly (bio)was first elected in 2004 from the old district 38. He is up for re-election in 2012 in the much more conservative-leaning district 40, covering Mahaska, Monroe and Appanoose counties and parts of Wapello and Marion.

Ranking member: Bill Anderson (bio) was just elected to the Iowa Senate in 2010 from the old district 27. He holds over until 2014 in the new district 3, covering much of Woodbury County (including southern neighborhoods in Sioux City) and most of Plymouth County.

Other members: Daryl Beall (D), Joe Bolkcom (D), Tom Courtney (D), Liz Mathis (D), Brian Schoenjahn (D), Joe Seng (D), Mary Jo Wilhelm (D), Rick Bertrand (R), Randy Feenstra (R), Steve Kettering (R), Pat Ward (R), Brad Zaun (R)

Economic Growth

Chair: Steve Sodders (see bio above)

Vice Chair: Bill Dotzler (see bio above)

Ranking member: Sandy Greiner (bio) served in the Iowa House from 1993-2000 and from 2003-2008, and spent two years in the Iowa Senate in 2001 and 2002. She came out of political retirement to defeat Democratic State Senator Becky Schmitz in 2010 from the old district 45. She holds over until 2014 in the new district 39, covering part of Johnson County, most of Washington County and all of Keokuk County. Greiner is also board president of the American Future Fund, a 501(c)4 organization that has spent heavily in elections in Iowa and around the country.

Other members: Tod Bowman (D), Jeff Danielson (D), Jack Hatch (D), Wally Horn (D), Liz Mathis (D), Tom Rielly (D), Mary Jo Wilhelm (D), Rob Bacon (R), Rick Bertrand (R), Mark Chelgren (R), Pat Ward (R), Jack Whitver (R)

Education

Chair: Herman Quirmbach (bio) was first elected in 2002 from the old district 23, covering Ames and immediate surroundings in Story County and a portion of eastern Boone County. He holds over until 2014 in the new district 23, covering Ames and some rural areas in Story County.

Vice Chair: Brian Schoenjahn (bio) was first elected in 2004 from the old district 12, covering Clayton County and parts of Delaware and Fayette Counties. He is up for re-election in 2012 in the new district 32, covering Bremer County and parts of Fayette, Buchanan and Black Hawk.

Ranking member: Shawn Hamerlinck (bio) was first elected in 2008 from district 42, covering most of Scott County outside the Quad Cities and part of Clinton County. He is up for re-election in 2012 but hasn't made clear whether he intends to seek another term. The new map paired him with Republican State Senator Jim Hahn in the new district 46.

Other members: Tod Bowman (D), Daryl Beall (D), Bob Dvorsky (D), Rob Hogg (D), Steve Sodders (D), Mary Jo Wilhelm (D), Nancy Boettger (R), Randy Feenstra (R), David Johnson (R), Roby Smith (R)

Ethics

This committee has three members from each party in accordance with Iowa law.

Co-chair: Jack Kibbie (see bio above)

Co-chair: Paul McKinley (bio) was first elected in 2000 from the old district 36, covering Marion, Lucas and Monroe Counties, plus the western portion of Mahaska. McKinley resigned as Senate Republican leader in November and announced that he will retire after the 2012 legislative session.

Other members: Gene Fraise (D), Joe Seng (D), Jerry Behn (R), Steve Kettering (R)

Human Resources

Chair: Amanda Ragan (see bio above)

Vice Chair: Mary Jo Wilhelm (bio) was first elected in 2008 from the old district 8, covering Allamakee, Winneshiek, Howard and Chickasaw Counties. She is up for re-election next year and will face GOP Senator Merlin Bartz in the new district 26.

Ranking member: Jim Seymour (bio) was first elected to the Senate in 2002. It's not clear whether he will be on the ballot in 2012. The new map paired him with fellow Republican Nancy Boettger in the new district 9, covering Harrison, Shelby, Ida, and Monona counties, plus parts of Crawford and Woodbury. If Boettger retires, Seymour would hold over until 2014. If he retires, Boettger holds over, and if both run, they will face off in the June 2012 Republican primary.

Other members: Joe Bolkcom (D), Bill Dotzler (D), Jack Hatch (D), Pam Jochum (D), Liz Mathis (D), Herman Quirmbach (D), Rob Bacon (R), Nancy Boettger (R), David Johnson (R), Jack Whitver (R)

Judiciary

Chair: Gene Fraise (see bio above)

Vice Chair: Rob Hogg (bio) was first elected in 2006 from the old district 19, covering northeast and southeast Cedar Rapids in Linn County. He holds over until 2014 in the new district 33, covering a slightly different area in Cedar Rapids.

Ranking member: Nancy Boettger (bio) has served in the Iowa Senate since 1995. She may be on the ballot in the new district 9 in 2012, if both she and Republican Senator Jim Seymour run for re-election. If he retires, she would hold over until 2014.

Other members: Bob Dvorsky (D), Tom Hancock (D), Wally Horn (D), Pam Jochum (D), Herman Quirmbach (D), Steve Sodders (D), Bill Dix (R), Kent Sorenson (R), Pat Ward (R), Jack Whitver (R)

Labor and Business Relations

Chair: Wally Horn (see bio above)

Vice Chair: Pam Jochum (bio) was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2008 from district 14, covering the city of Dubuque in Dubuque County. She is up for re-election in the new district 50, covering largely the same area.

Ranking member: Pat Ward (see bio above)

Other members: Tom Courtney (D), Dick Dearden (D), Bill Dotzler (D), Gene Fraise (D), Jack Hatch (D), Bill Anderson (R), Rick Bertrand (R), Mark Chelgren (R)

Local Government

Chair: Mary Jo Wilhelm (see bio above)

Vice Chair: Daryl Beall (bio) was first elected in 2002 from the old district 25, covering most of Webster County, including Fort Dodge, Greene and Calhoun Counties. He holds over until 2014 in the new district 5, covering Humboldt, Pocahontas and Calhoun counties and most of Webster County, including Fort Dodge.

Ranking member: Merlin Bartz (see bio above)

Other members: Tod Bowman (D), Tom Courtney (D), Tom Rielly (D), Herman Quirmbach (D), Brian Schoenjahn (D), Rob Bacon (R), Joni Ernst (R), Shawn Hamerlinck (R)

Natural Resources and Environment

Chair: Dick Dearden (bio) was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 1992 and currently represents district 34, covering much of the east side of Des Moines and Pleasant Hill in Polk County. He is up for re-election in 2012 in the new district 16, covering a similar area in Polk County.

Vice Chair: Dennis Black (bio) has served in the Senate since 1995 and now represents most of Jasper County and part of southeast Polk County. He holds over until 2014 in the new district 15, also covering most of Jasper and a large area in eastern Polk County.

Ranking member: Jim Hahn (bio) was first elected in 2004 from district 40, covering Cedar County, most of Muscatine County and a small part of Johnson County. He is up for re-election in 2012 in the new district 46.

Other members: Joe Bolkcom (D), Tom Hancock (D), Rob Hogg (D), Amanda Ragan (D), Brian Schoenjahn (D), Joe Seng (D), Joni Ernst (R), Jim Hahn (R), Shawn Hamerlinck (R), Tim Kapucian (R)

Rules and Administration

Chair: Mike Gronstal (see bio above)

Vice Chair: Jack Kibbie (see bio above)

Ranking member: Jerry Behn (see bio above)

Other members: Tom Courtney (D), Jeff Danielson (D), Dick Dearden (D), Bob Dvorsky (D), Amanda Ragan (D), Merlin Bartz (R), Paul McKinley (R), Brad Zaun (R)

State Government

Chair: Jeff Danielson (bio) was first elected in 2004 from district 10, covering Cedar Falls, part of Waterloo and some rural areas in Black Hawk County. He is up for re-election in 2012 in the new district 30, covering a similar area.

Vice Chair: Jack Kibbie (see bio above)

Ranking member: Kent Sorenson (bio) was just elected to the Iowa Senate in 2010 from the old district 37. He holds over until 2014 in the new district 13, covering a similar area in Warren and Madison counties.

Other members: Dick Dearden (D), Gene Fraise (D), Pam Jochum (D), Jack Hatch (D), Wally Horn (D), Matt McCoy (D), Steve Sodders (D), Rick Bertrand (R), Mark Chelgren (R), Bill Dix (R), Randy Feenstra (R), Roby Smith (R)

Transportation

Chair: Tom Rielly (see bio above)

Vice Chair: Tod Bowman (bio) was narrowly elected to the Iowa Senate in 2010, representing the old district 13 in Jackson and Clinton counties. Thanks to fellow Senate Democrat Tom Hancock's decision to retire, Bowman holds over until 2014 in the new district 29, covering Jackson, most of Dubuque County (but not the city of Dubuque) and a large area in Jones County.

Ranking member: Tim Kapucian (see bio above)

Other members: Daryl Beall (D), Jeff Danielson (D), Dick Dearden (D), Bob Dvorsky (D), Tom Hancock (D), Matt McCoy (D), Joni Ernst (R), Jim Hahn (R), Hubert Houser (R), Brad Zaun (R)

Ways & Means

Chair: Joe Bolkcom (see bio above)

Vice Chair: Joe Seng (see bio above)

Ranking member: Randy Feenstra (bio) was first elected to the Senate in 2008 from district 2, covering Lyon County, most of Sioux and Plymouth Counties. He is up for re-election in 2012 from the new district 2, covering Sioux, O'Brien and Cherokee counties.

Other members: Dennis Black (D), Bill Dotzler (D), Rob Hogg (D), Pam Jochum (D), Liz Mathis (D), Matt McCoy (D), Herman Quirmbach (D), Bill Anderson (R), Merlin Bartz (R), Mark Chelgren (R), Roby Smith (R), Brad Zaun (R)

Veterans Affairs

Chair: Daryl Beall (see bio above)

Vice Chair: Jeff Danielson (see bio above)

Ranking member: Jim Seymour (see bio above)

Other members: Dennis Black (D), Wally Horn (D), Jack Kibbie (D), Amanda Ragan (D), Steve Sodders (D), Rob Bacon (R), Joni Ernst (R), Sandy Greiner (R)

Budget Subcommittees

Administration and Regulation

Chair: Pam Jochum (see bio above)

Vice Chair: Jeff Danielson (see bio above)

Ranking member: Merlin Bartz (see bio above)

Agriculture/Natural Resources

Chair: Dennis Black (see bio above)

Vice Chair: Dick Dearden (see bio above)

Ranking member: Hubert Houser (see bio above)

Economic Development

Chair: Bill Dotzler (see bio above)

Vice Chair: Joe Seng (see bio above)

Ranking member: Nancy Boettger (see bio above)

Education

Chair: Brian Schoenjahn (see bio above)

Vice Chair: Herman Quirmbach (see bio above)

Ranking member: Bill Dix (see bio above)

Health and Human Services

Chair: Jack Hatch (bio) was first elected in 2002 from district 33, covering much of central Des Moines in Polk County. He holds over until 2014 in the new district 17, covering a similar area.

Vice Chair: Amanda Ragan (see bio above)

Ranking member: David Johnson (see bio above)

Justice Systems

Chair: Tom Hancock (bio) was first elected in 2004 from the old district 16, covering Jones County, most of Delaware County and most of Dubuque County outside the city of Dubuque. He opted to retire next year after the redistricting plan paired him with fellow Democrat Tod Bowman in the new district 29.

Vice Chair: Rob Hogg (see bio above)

Ranking member: Jim Seymour (see bio above)

Transportation, Infrastructure, and Capitals

Chair: Matt McCoy (see bio above)

Vice Chair: Daryl Beall (see bio above)

Ranking member: Tim Kapucian (see bio above)

Government Oversight

Chair: Tom Courtney (bio) was first elected to the Iowa Senate in 2000. He currently represents district 44, covering Des Moines and Louisa Counties, plus a sliver of Muscatine County. He is up for re-election in 2012 in the new district 44, covering Des Moines and Louisa Counties, plus a larger area in Muscatine.

Vice Chair: Steve Sodders (see bio above)

Ranking member: Kent Sorenson (see bio above)

UPDATE: The full list of Senate Republican committee assignments by member is here (pdf).

The Democratic committee assignments are here.