2009 End of Session Update

A Report by Keith Saunders
State Relations Officer

Printable version

The 2009 Session of the 83rd General Assembly adjourned on Sunday, April 26, 2009.  Governor Culver by law had thirty days following the close of the legislative session to sign, item-veto, or veto legislation passed by the General Assembly at the end of the legislative session.  That period has now ended. 

Below is a list of appropriations funded in the budget passed this year, as well as several significant policy bills passed by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor.

Appropriations

Education Appropriations-SF 470

Oakdale Campus: $2,521,028 – Represents a $200,436 reduction.

State Hygienic Laboratory: $4,077,715 – Represents a $324,201 reduction.

Family Practice Program: $2,061,809 – Represents a $163,926 reduction.

Child Health Care Services: $760,330 – Represents a $60,450 reduction.

Statewide Cancer Registry: $171,851 – Represents a $13,663 reduction.

Substance Abuse Consortium: $64,023 – Represents a $5,090 reduction.

Center for Biocatalysis: $834,433 – Represents a $66,342 reduction.

Primary Health Care Initiative: $748,195 – Represents a $59,485 reduction.

Birth Defects Registry: $44,145 – Represents a $3,511 reduction.

Larned A. Waterman Iowa Nonprofit Resource Center: $187,402 – Represents a $14,899 reduction.

Agriculture and Health Safety Program: The Fiscal Year 2010 appropriation to the UI that passed through to the Easter Seals Program was moved
 to the Department of Rehabilitation.

Other Items of Note:

• $328,000 decrease for the Board of Regents’ Iowa Mathematics and Science Education Partnership
• $41,000 decrease to Iowa Public Radio

Transcript fees for defunct institutions of higher education maintained by the University of Iowa not limited to $5, but to a nominal fee to cover 
actual costs of preparation.

• All reports required to be submitted to the legislature will be done so electronically – no paper copies.
• Develop and implement procedures for cost savings in office supplies, service contracts, professional services, video conferencing, use of Iowa teleconferencing network, equipment purchases, inter- and intra-state travel

• Prepare a report by October 1 containing:
  • Unduplicated headcount of high school students enrolled in courses under the postsecondary enrollment options program at
    the institutions of higher learning under the board's control.
  • Total credits earned by high school students enrolled in courses under the postsecondary enrollment options program at the
    institutions of higher learning under the board's control, broken down by degree program.
  • The compensation and benefits paid to the members of the Board of Regents pursuant to section 7E.6.
  • The contracted salary and benefits and any other expenses related to support for governmental affairs efforts, including expenditures
    for liaisons and lobbying activities for the board and its institutions.
  • The contracted salaries, including but not limited to bonus wages and benefits, including but not limited to annuity payments or any other benefit covered using state funds of any kind for administrators of the institutions governed by the board.           
• Repealed the statutory language and appropriation for the Institute for Tomorrow’s Workforce

Standings Bill – SF 478 

• To help make up for financial losses due to Medicaid rebasing, an additional $5,475,483 was appropriated to the UIHC.  The additional funding
  is a mix of state and federal funds. 
• Dept. of Administrative Services to work with Regents, among other agencies, to advance as a goal the aggregate ratio of employees to supervisor
  to be 14:1.  Progress reports due Jan. 2010 and Jan. 2011. 

Health and Human Services Appropriations-HF 811

• IowaCare – University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics: FY2010 Total $74,304,715

The following appropriations are to the Department of Human Services but will pass through to the UIHC: 

$ 90,000 for Child Vision Screening (down from $100,000).

$143,254 for Mental Health Treatment and Services (down from $159,700). 

The following appropriations are to the Department of Public Health but will impact the University of Iowa:

• $383,271 for the Department of Public Health Child Health Specialty Clinics

• $346,224 for the Iowa Consortium for Comprehensive Cancer (down from $500k)

• $161,724 for Cervical and Colon Cancer Screening (down from $200k)
• No funds for the Milk Bank (down from $100k)
• Creates a Public Health Advisory Council and a Public Health Evaluation Committee.  The director of the Hygienic Laboratory will be a member
  on both.
• Creates a study committee on inappropriate medication use in the health care system; UI College of Public Health to be member of the study. 
  The report is to be submitted to the 2010 General Assembly.

Economic Development Appropriations- SF 469

• UI Economic Development Programs (UI Research Park and the Advanced Drug Development Program): $247,080
  (this is a decrease of $17,245).

Bonding – SF 474

• Provides $100 million in bonding authority to the Board of Regents to help finance flood repair, restoration, replacement, and mitigation at the University of Iowa.

 Federal Stimulus – HF 820

• Federal Stimulus funds of $80,280,000 for the five Regent institutions.  The University of Iowa’s share is estimated to be $35,393,382.

 Infrastructure/Grow Iowa Values Fund (GIVF) – HF 822

• The Iowa Flood Center was established at the UI— $1,300,000 
• GIVF funds to Regents reduced to $4.5M (a decrease of $500,000).  The UI’s share of this funding is $1.8 million.

 I-JOBS I – SF 376

• The designated use of $25 million in previously approved bonding authority was changed to allow it to be used for flood recovery.
• The bonding procedure for the UIHC was changed to remove from the approval process the requirement that the General Assembly and
  Governor approve bonding resolutions concerning the UIHC. 

 
Major Policy Legislation

 Private Cause of Action – HF 712

The bill creates a private cause of action to allow consumers to sue to enforce the Consumer Fraud Statute.  The bill provides a defense for businesses if the violation was unintentional, made in good faith, and if reasonable steps were taken to avoid the error.  Many businesses, including fundraisers,
regulated by the state were exempted.

Flood Plain Management – HF 756

The Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Iowa, or his designee, was added to Water Resources Coordinating Council.

Health Care Modernization – HF 811

This bill established a voluntary accreditation of public health agencies and an adoption of standards. A new Governmental Public Health Advisory
Council is established to propose standards that will be used as the basis for voluntary accreditation. In addition, a new Governmental Public Health
Evaluation Committee is established to collect data to find gaps in service delivery effectiveness and needs.

 Articulation – HF 815

This bill formalizes additional transfer and articulation practices between the Regent universities and the community colleges.  Specifically the bill calls
for a statewide Associate of Science articulation agreement, requiring more faculty to faculty meetings between community college faculty and Regent
faculty and the development of a process to examine a minimum of eight new Associate of Applied Science degree programs for articulation into the
Regent system.

Health Care Reform – SF 389

 This bill creates expansion and retention programs to increase health care coverage of children, including a dental only plan for hawk-I members. 
It also requires the Department of Human Services to provide coverage under Medicaid or hawk-I to eligible children.  The bill also created a Medical
workforce shortage initiative (although not funded) and it directed the Legislative Health Care Commission to develop a health care reform strategic
plan including recommendations.

 Resident Veteran Tuition – SF 451

This bill requires the Regent universities to adopt rules to classify qualified veterans and qualified military persons and their spouses and dependent
children as residents for undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees.

Emergency Bidding – SF 457

Similar to other state agencies, a provision was included in the Regents’ Iowa Code section granting the Board the ability to forgo normal bidding
procedures when doing so might cause serious loss or injury at a Regent institution.