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House
Approves Medicaid Bill
Thursday,
February 7th, the House of Representatives approved the
‘Medicaid Bill’ -- otherwise known as House File 2245.
Since
this past July, Iowa’s Medicaid program has faced a dramatic
increase in its funding shortfall.
The shortfall that the Department of Human Services
promised would be no more than $25 million has now grown to a
whopping $40 million. Several
factors have led Iowa into this predicament.
Among the list of causes are the rising costs of
prescription drugs and the increasing number of Iowans eligible
for Medicaid. Yet,
the major reason for Medicaid’s fall in Iowa appears to be in
the mismanagement of funds and services on the part of DHS
leadership.
Rather
than continue to wait longer for any sort of executive branch
action, House and Senate Republicans announced this past Tuesday
their plan to fix the shortfall in Iowa’s Medicaid program and
to implement the 4.3% across-the-board cut.
Among
the proposed changes is a transfer of unused monies from the
Assisted Living Conversion Fund, Senior Living Trust Fund, and the
Tobacco Settlement Fund, among others.
Other proposed changes include an increase in the co-pay
required on brand-name prescription drugs, as well as a
re-implementation of clients’ monthly income reporting for
Medicaid eligibility.
Originally,
Governor Vilsack’s Council on Human Investment advocated a 13.2%
cut to providers to help solve the budget problems facing the DHS.
After several discussions between Republican leadership and
the Governor, the potential cut to providers was reduced to around
3 - 4%. The
Republican plan, however, does not include any cuts in provider
reimbursement rates.
House
File 2245 is currently awaiting Governor Vilsack’s approval and
signature.
Historic
Rehabilitation Tax
Credit
Passes Ways and
Means
House
File 2035 -- a bill allowing for the historic property
rehabilitation tax credit to be applied against insurance premium
taxes -- was unanimously approved by the House Ways and Means
Committee on Monday, February the Fourth.
Under
current law, the historic tax credit is only available for the
purposes of individual and corporate income taxes.
Additionally,
HF 2035 provides that the increase in the basis of the
rehabilitated property, which would otherwise result from the
rehabilitation costs, will be reduced by the amount of the credit.
This step is mainly for the purpose of individual and
corporate income taxes, as well as with franchise taxes.
Present
law prohibits the deduction of all rehabilitation expenses.
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Defendants
May Soon Be Required to Hear
Victim
Impact Statements
Legislation
passed through the House that will require defendants to remain
present in the courtroom during the presentation of a Victim’s
Impact Statement. Victim
Impact Statements are used not only to help the court in determining
the appropriate sentence, but also to provide some relief to the
victims by presenting how the crime has affected them.
Currently,
Iowa law allows a victim or victim’s representative to present
such a statement during the sentencing of a defendant.
Nothing, however, requires a defendant to remain in the
courtroom during this presentation.
This law was put to the test recently in the Iowa City murder
case involving Jonathan Memmer.
At sentencing, the judge allowed Memmer to leave the
courtroom before the victims’ families were able to present their
statements. This was
extremely distressful to the families and no doubt violated the
spirit of the law.
House
File 2153 -- which passed the House of Representatives with a vote
of 94 ayes, 0 nays – will close an unfair loophole in criminal law
while reinforcing victims’ rights.
Ways
& Means Update
Bills
Passed in the Ways & Means Committee this week:
HF 2035
A bill relating to the state historic property rehabilitation
tax credit and including effective and retroactive applicability
date provisions.
HSB
625 A bill that creates a tax credit for investments in
qualifying businesses and community-based seed capital funds.
SF
335
A bill relating to
species of animals by classifying certain species as livestock and
providing exemptions from the sales and use tax for feed used to
support the species
Bills
Assigned in the Ways & means Committee This Week:
HF
2006 A bill relating to
the abatement of state sales and use taxes and local sales and
service taxes of purchasers of certain access to on-line computer
services and providing refunds.
HF
2018 A bill relating to the abatement of interest on state
sales and use taxes and local sales and service taxes of purchasers
of certain access to on-line computer services and providing
refunds.
HF
2068
A bill relating to assessment of certain vineyards for purposes of
property taxation and providing a retroactive applicability date.
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Week
in Review Archives
