Banner Gif

[Dome]Interim Calendar and Briefing

November 22, 1995

Contents:
CALENDAR OF SCHEDULED MEETINGS
AGENDA INFORMATION REGARDING SCHEDULED MEETINGS
BRIEFINGS - INFORMATION REGARDING RECENT MEETINGS

Calendar of Scheduled Meetings

Tuesday, November 21, 1995
Fiscal Committee of the Legislative Council
10:00 a.m., Des Moines, Exact Location to be Announced
Tuesday, November 28, 1995
Nonbusiness Taxation Study Committee
10:00 a.m., Room 22
Wednesday, November 29, 1995
Legislative Council and Council Committees
Livestock Production Study Committee
9:00 a.m., Room 116
Wednesday, December 6, 1995
Senate File 13 (Parental Notification) Conference Committee
10:00 a.m., Room 22
Friday, December 8, 1995
Iowa Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations - Tentative
10:00 a.m., Room 22
Tuesday, December 12, 1995
Administrative Rules Review Committee
10:00 a.m., Room 22
Housing Development Study Committee - Tentative
1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Room 116
Wednesday, December 13, 1995
Administrative Rules Review Committee
9:00 a.m., Room 22
Business Taxation Study Committee - Tentative
9:00 a.m., Speaker's Conference Room
Thursday, December 14, 1995
Business Taxation Study Committee - Tentative
9:00 a.m., Speaker's Conference Room
Public Retirement Systems Study Committee - Tentative
10:00 a.m., Room 22
Intermediate Criminal Sanctions Task Force
10:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Room 116

Agenda Information Regarding Scheduled Meetings

Nonbusiness Taxation Study Committee

Co-chairperson: Senator William Palmer
Co-chairperson: Representative Roger Halvorson

Legislative Council and Council Committees

Chairperson: Speaker Ron Corbett
Vice Chairperson: Senator Wally Horn

Livestock Production Study Committee

Temporary Co-chairperson: Senator Berl E. Priebe
Temporary Co-chairperson: Representative Russell Edie

Senate File 13 (Parental Notification) Conference Committee

Co-chairperson: Senator Elaine Szymoniak
Co-chairperson: Representative Dan Boddicker

Iowa Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations - TENTATIVE

Chairperson: Don Meisner
Vice Chairperson: Barry Stetzel

Administrative Rules Review Committee

Co-chairperson: Senator Berl E. Priebe
Co-chairperson: Representative Janet Metcalf

Housing Development Study Committee- TENTATIVE

Co-chairperson: Senator Michael Gronstal
Co-chairperson: Representative Libby Jacobs

Business Taxation Study Committee- TENTATIVE

Co-chairperson: Senator Tom Vilsack
Co-chairperson: Representative Roger Halvorson

Public Retirement Systems Study CommitteeTENTATIVE

Co-chairperson: Senator John P. Kibbie
Co-chairperson: Representative Mona Martin

Intermediate Criminal Sanctions Task Force

BRIEFINGS - Information Regarding Recent Meetings

BUSINESS TAXATION STUDY COMMITTEE

November 17, 1995, Second of Four meetings

Credit Unions.
Pat Jury, Vice President, Iowa Credit Union League, reviewed the tax status of credit unions, their make up, and the difference between credit unions and banks.
Alcoholic Beverages.
Claudia Brewington, Area Director, Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., compared the retail price of alcoholic beverages sold in Iowa and surrounding states, speculated on the amount of purchases of the beverages outside of Iowa and the resulting loss in state revenues, and discussed what the effects would be if the state mandatory markup on alcoholic beverages were to be reduced.
Telephone Companies.
Chris Zamora, Property Tax Manager, U.S. West, discussed disadvantage and unfairness of the present method of assessing local telephone companies in comparison with the assessment method for other telecommunications companies. The emphasis was on the impact of the rapid change in the telecommunications industry and lack of corresponding change in the method of valuing property for property taxation
Unemployment Compensation.
Pat Sampson, Legislative Liaison, Department of Employment Services, updated the Committee on the positive fiscal status of Iowa's unemployment compensation fund.
Machinery and Equipment Taxation.
David Lyons Director, Department of Economic Development, distributed and commented briefly on proposed changes to legislation enacted in the 1995 Session, providing for full or partial exemption from property taxation of machinery, equipment and computers. The language changes were developed by the Departments of Economic Development and Revenue and Finance, bond counsels, and local units of government.
Venture Capital.
Gregg Barcus, Iowa Seed Capital Corporation; Holmes Foster, representing a proposed qualified venture capital company; and Kent Sovern, Greater Des Moines Chamber of Commerce, discussed the need for venture capital in the state especially for the early phases of a company's start e.g. its inception and first two years. Comment was made on the workings of the Iowa Seed Capital Co. and a qualified venture capital company as envisioned in SF 156 passed by the Senate in 1995 and now in the House Ways and Means Committee.
Federal Changes.
Representatives of the Department of Revenue and Finance provided a federal tax update with emphasis on business tax changes, reported on the recent decline in franchise tax revenues, and reviewed subchapter S corporation changes proposed by the U.S. Congress.
Subchapter S Corporations.
John Lisle, Lisle Corporation; Ike Leighty, Engineered Products Co.; Tom Seiders, McGladrey and Pullen; Dave Mulcahy, a private investor; and Fred Weitz, Des Moines Development Corp., individually discussed the disincentives and hardships that subchapter S companies located in Iowa incur. It was explained that the state taxes the shareholder's share of the profits, whether those profits are distributed to the shareholders or are invested in the company. It was suggested a better approach would be to apportion shareholder income subject to immediate tax the same as regular corporations. This would result in a deferral of state tax until the time the profits are actually distributed, provided the shareholder is still an Iowa resident.
Next Meetings.
Committee's next two meetings are tentatively scheduled for December 13 and 14. The last meeting will be for purposes of making recommendations.

EDUCATION TELECOMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL (ETC)

November 20, 1995

Background.
The Education Telecommunications Council is established in Section 8D.5 of the Iowa Code. The Council's responsibilities are to establish scheduling and site usage policies for educational users of the Iowa Communications Network (ICN), coordinate the activities of the regional telecommunications councils, develop proposed rules and changes to rules for recommendation to the commission, and recommend long-range plans for enhancements needed for educational applications.
Internet Update.
The Council was informed that cost is one of the big issues facing K-12 schools concerning the use of the Internet. Costs vary greatly for urban and rural schools and an effort is being made to equitably distribute the costs of access among schools. The area education agencies (AEAs) have agreed to operate as hubs for their areas and provide a link to the ICN hub which will be providing access to the Internet. It is anticipated that the AEAs will pay the $4,000 annual fee for the their Internet connection, and the costs associated with their connection to the ICN hub. Other costs incurred through the use of the Internet will be the responsibility of the individual schools.
Department of Education Office of Technology Update.
Rich Gross, Kirkwood Community College, indicated that the Office of Technology is involved with four primary initiatives at the present time:
  1. Determination of how technology is being used throughout the state. This determination is being completed in conjunction with the University of Northern Iowa.
  2. Creation of a statewide business advisory council to augment existing local and regional business advisory councils. The local and regional councils consist of groups of individuals representing K-12 schools and business.
  3. Encouraging collaborative efforts in the design of curriculum utilizing technology and providing cash awards for innovative uses of technology that can be shared with other educators.
  4. Development of a school improvement technology bill.
Issue Discussion.
Issues discussed by the Council:
Next Meeting:
December 18, 1995.

LEAD POISONING COALITION

Date Correction

Meeting Date Correction.
Due to the availability of the Iowa Communications Network (ICN), the fourth meeting of the Lead Poisoning Coalition was rescheduled from December 4th to December 11th, 9:30 a.m. - noon. The origination site will be the ICN studio at the Iowa Department of Public Health, Lucas State Office Building, Des Moines. Additional sites which have been scheduled include:

Back to top of Interim Information

Return To HomeIowa General Assembly

Site index Index

Comments? webmaster@legis.iowa.gov

Last update: Sun Dec 24 22:52:03 CST 1995
URL: /DOCS/GA/76GA/Interim/1995/calendar/951122.htm
sw