Iowa Politics Today: Dems signal willigness to work with GOP on tax reform; a vote against bathroom camera; a vote for mental health flexibility

A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Wednesday, April 10, 2017:

MENTAL HEALTH COSTS:

The Iowa Senate has voted 46-4 on Wednesday to approve legislation designed to give counties more flexibility to equitably deal with regional mental health costs while holding the line on property taxes that fund vital services.

Sen. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, said SF 504, which now goes to the Iowa House, offers a 'key step” toward developing a 'permanent fix” in the delivery and support of mental health services. The bill would begin from the maximum property tax amount allowed to be levied across all counties of $114.6 million statewide and equalize mental health funding on a county basis within regions while adding a growth factor to each regional per capita amount. The proposal also requires regions to spend down fund balances but maintains the 25 percent limit on cash reserves.

'It equalizes the funding between counties within a region and reduces the growing friction that threatens to destroy the regional system of mental health,” Feenstra said. The state organized counties into 13 regional authorities in 2013 and pooled their property tax revenues with the result being some inequities because of a 1996 cap that prevents some counties from taxing residents at the same level as their partner counties.

The four 'no” votes were Democrats representing Polk County, which serves as its own mental health region and is spending $7 million more per year than it is taking in.

TAX RELIEF PLAN:

Legislative Democrats say they are willing to work with majority Republicans on a tax relief and reform plan that would shrink state income brackets from nine to three, gradually phase out federal deductibility to cut rates and provide at least $500 million in relief to Iowa taxpayers by 2022.

Sen. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, last week said he has developed the framework of a plan to reduce, reform and simplify Iowa's individual income tax code. However, he said expected federal tax changes and a tight state budget probably will push back legislative consideration of the plan to streamline Iowa's complicated income tax system until the 2018 session.

Along with revamping rates into three tiers with a top rate of 5.65 percent, Republicans would gradually phase out federal deductibility over five to seven years with proceeds plowed into lower rates as well as phase out or end some tax credits and make other tax code changes.

Sen. Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, ranking Senate Ways and Means Committee member, said the GOP plan deserves 'closer scrutiny” and she would be 'very open-minded” in considering changes that would provide a fair and balanced approach for all taxpayers.

Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, said he wanted to make sure rates would be lowered in a progressive way that would benefit working people making from $30,000 to $100,000 who carry a major burden in Iowa's current income tax system. 'I want to make sure that the people who have been the beneficiaries of this economy - the top 1 percent - are paying their fair share, and I'm not sure that under this proposal they are doing that,” Bolkcom said.

MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE:

Ocheyedan independent Sen. David Johnson tried unsuccessfully Wednesday to engage fellow senators in a floor debate over raising the state's minimum wage.

Johnson offered an amendment to an economic development budget bill seeking to boost the current statewide minimum hourly wage of $7.25 to $8 on July 1. The hourly minimum would be upped to $8.75 next Jan. 1 and then to $9.50 on Jan. 1, 2019, with an inflationary adjustment to kick in after that.

Johnson said the plan was modeled after a Polk County plan that was to take effect but was voided by a pre-emption bill passed by the GOP-led Legislature and signed by Gov. Terry Branstad that barred local governments from setting minimum wage levels higher than the statewide average.

Johnson's amendment was ruled irrelevant to the budget bill and ineligible for consideration.

BILL SIGNING:

Iowa will become the eighth state with legislation to prevent cytomegalovirus from affecting babies when Gov. Terry Branstad signs SF 51 into law Thursday. The bill will inform expecting mothers about ways to protect themselves from passing the virus to their baby, and also screen babies for CMV who have failed their newborn hearing screen.

Branstad also plans to sign HF 263, relating to domestic abuse, and HF 473, relating to high school equivalency programs and assessments and including effective date provisions.

VETO URGED

: Common Cause activists will deliver a petition Thursday urging Gov. Terry Branstad to veto a new 'voter suppression bill” approved by both chambers of the Legislature.

House File 516 requires voters to show specific forms of government-issued identification at the polls and will shorten the early voting period.

Common Cause says the legislation will make it more difficult for many Iowans to vote even though the bill states that free IDs will be provided to voters without other forms of accepted identification.

AMANA LODGING TAX:

The Senate approved legislation to allow the Amana Colonies to raise money from a hotel-motel tax 47-3 on Wednesday and sent HF 609 to the governor. Earlier, the House approved it 82-15.

Iowa law allows cities and counties to impose a hotel-motel tax of up to 7 percent on rented lodging. The bill would extend that authority to land use districts. The Amana Colonies is the state's only Land Use District.

Iowa County's 7 percent hotel-motel tax generated about $127,000 for the county in fiscal 2015 and 2016, according to the Legislative Services Agency. A portion of that was from lodging within the Amana Colonies.

POLITICAL TAX CHECKOFF:

The Iowa Senate voted 37-13 Wednesday to approve and send to Gov. Terry Branstad legislation that seeks to eliminate the optional Iowa Election Campaign Fund Income Tax Checkoff from the Iowa income tax form and the Iowa Election Campaign Fund.

If signed by the governor, House File 242 would take effect for tax year 2017 and thereafter. The bill repeals the Iowa Election Campaign Fund effective July 1, 2018.

Under current law, each taxpayer filing an individual Iowa income tax return may assign $1.50 of the taxpayer's tax liability to a qualified political party or to the Iowa Election Campaign Fund. The checkoff does not increase the amount of tax owed or decrease refunds of the filer. When taxpayers choose to participate in the checkoff, funds are transferred from the state's general fund to either the selected political party or the Iowa Election Campaign Fund.

'I've always felt that the Department of Revenue should not be in the business of collecting campaign funds for major political parties,” said Sen. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, the bill's floor manager.

The Legislative Services Agency estimates that eliminating the option for taxpayers to contribute to the Iowa Election Campaign Fund will increase annual net general fund revenue by an estimated $65,000 beginning in fiscal 2018.

RESTROOM CAMERA BAN:

The House overwhelmingly approved legislation banning cameras in public restrooms and ordered their removal where they are in use, including the Iowa City Public Library, by July 1.

'I understand the need to keep people safe, but this is going too far,” said Rep. Greg Heartsill, R-Dallas-Melcher. He said people expect a 'certain degree of privacy” when using restroom facilities.

Senate File 499, which was approved 80-14, immediately would ban government entities in Iowa from installing video and/or audio monitoring devices in public restrooms, locker rooms or showers in locations such as libraries, schools or other government offices. The Senate approved the ban 49-0.

Rep. Vicki Lensing, D-Iowa City, defended the use of the cameras in the public or common area of library restrooms as a tool to protect personal safety, and prevent theft and vandalism. The library installed the cameras in 2007 after a registered sex offender assaulted a 20-month-old child in a Des Moines Public Library in 2005.

Her amendment to allow cameras in public or common areas of restrooms, but not the toilets or baby-changing areas, was defeated on a voice vote.

An exception was made for hospitals.