Meeting Public Comments

Heidi Hassen

I work with unhoused people in Iowa. Criminalizing sleeping outside and ending housing first initiatives will NOT help the homeless in our state. What is needed is more support for housing programs and compassion. This bill would add more to the plate of local law enforcement and is against the principles of local control. NO to HSB 286!

Ellie R

As a concerned Iowan, I strongly oppose this bill because it threatens my right to access any vaccine I choose for myself and my family. Restricting vaccine access puts public health at risk by undermining proven disease prevention measures. The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program already exists to support the rare cases of vaccinerelated injuries, ensuring that safety concerns are addressed without jeopardizing widespread immunization efforts. Vaccines are safe and effective, and any attempt to limit access is both reckless and dangerous for our communities.

Jorie Hidri

Vote NO to HSB 286. People experiencing homelessness already have enough barriers to overcome. More fines and criminal charges will only make it more difficult for them to be accepted into an apartment. There are many reasons folks may not be staying in shelter. In 2022, Drake University and Homeward completed an Unsheltered Study (https://www.homewardiowa.org/informationandstatistics/unsheltered), the results of which talk about many of the reasons why people do not or cannot stay in a shelter, leaving outside as the only option for them. It would be more than worth your time to take a look at it if you have not already. This bill also does not consider the impacts of youth and family homelessness and the detrimental effect criminalization would have on those populations. I work with people experiencing homelessness at an agency in Des Moines, and the language of this bill not only targets the vulnerable population we serve but the staff who show up every day and do the hard work to serve the most vulnerable people in Iowa. It is appalling that a bill like this is even being considered. Instead of focusing efforts on criminalizing homelessness, our state should focus on the proven effectiveness of housing first initiatives and creating more affordable housing for those with extremely low income at or below 30% AMI.

Nancy Brookhart

I oppose HF 286. If the purpose is to reduce homelessness, I believe this bill would be ineffective at best and just plain meanspirited at worst. Of course, if cruelty is the goal, well, this should do the trick.But, I dont believe Iowans are mean and want to hurt others. The Iowans I know love their neighbors and want others to succeed.

Angie Arthur

Vote No on HSB286.HSB286 will divert resources from proven solutions to homelessness, focusing attention on creating designated encampments that increase the risk unhoused Iowans will be stuck in a cycle between prison and living unsheltered. This legislation, as written, creates a mandate for local governments to designate encampments while providing no funding to do so. That would be costly and could drive up property taxes. It also imposes a statewide camping ban intended to force people into the designated encampments with penalties up to misdemeanor charges. The legislation creates enhanced drug crime penalties for activities that are already illegal. It labels all areas where unhoused people receive services as Drug Free Homeless Service Zones, stigmatizing those who need help while imposing supercharged penalties on program participants as well as homeless programs and staff themselves if violations occur. The penalties for drug free zones will strongly discourage organizations from being service providers. Finally, the bill creates new reporting requirements that duplicate existing practices for many organizations, while discouraging faithbased groups, community organizations, and smaller groups from serving unhoused people. Iowa must not create a revolving door between prison and the street for people who need housing. Arresting and jailing homeless people under laws that criminalize homelessness often cost 23 times the cost of housing and services according to the Seattle University School of Law and several studies. Please vote No on HSB286!

Toni Allen

OPPOSED to HSB 286. Punishing people who have no home and little money by charging them with a misdemeanor and a fine they probably can't pay seems cruel. Homelessness is a complex and intractable issue and, should it pass, HSB 286 is likely to just make the situation worse.

Maggie Rohrbeck

As a healthcare provider, I strongly oppose HF 712 and urge legislators to do the same. This bill will create unnecessary barriers to vaccines and do irrevocable harm. It will present a significant risk to public health. I urge policymakers to listen to health care professionals, epidemiologists, immunologists, and other experts, and pursue evidencebased solutions rather than support reckless policies.

Megan Schroder

I am strongly opposed to HF 712. This bill would ultimately cause life saving vaccines to be unavailable to Iowans. Vaccines have been proven safe over and over, and there is already a federal process for the very rare cases where vaccine injury may occur. This bill would take away my right to make medical decisions for myself and my family. Without the availability of vaccines in Iowa, there would be preventable death, especially for the most vulnerable members of society which includes children, the elderly, and people who are immunocompromised. This would also be detrimental to the state hiring and keeping quality doctors and other medical professionals. Listen to all the medical professionals that have spoken out in opposition to this bill and vote NO.

Srishti Mathur

I oppose HF 712. I am a medical student, raised in Iowa, and I had every intention of continuing to live and work and practice in Iowa. While this sounds like a reasonable idea on the surface, this legislation would have profound consequences for the health of our children and communities. If this bill is passed, it could lead to ALL vaccines being pulled from the state entirely, creating a public health crisis. At the very least, manufacturers would face increased legal risk and costs, which would make vaccines far more expensive and less accessible. If vaccines are not available in our state, Iowa will lose health care professionals.In the 1980s, lawsuits against vaccine companies and health care providers threatened to cause vaccine shortages and reduce U.S. vaccination rates. The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Plan (VICP) was created as an alternative to the traditional legal system for resolving vaccine injury petitions. This program, which is funded through a vaccine excise tax paid by vaccine manufacturers, has paid out over $2.3 billion to those with vaccine injuries. It ensures that vaccines remain accessible as a public health priority while fairly compensating those who are injured by them.Vaccines are subject to rigorous testing and regulatory oversight by agencies like the FDA, which makes vaccinerelated injuries extremely rare. By maintaining immunity, vaccine manufacturers can continue focusing on safety and innovation rather than defending against lawsuits. Vaccine development is expensive, and without immunity from lawsuits, companies may be reluctant to invest in vaccine research due to the fear of potential litigation. Vaccines save lives. Please dont take them away.We have the privilege as a society to live without the fear of diseases that have plagued us for centuries, please dont drag us back to that. I assure you, if this bill does not die in committee, the consequences for all Iowans, regardless of political alignment, will be dire. I joined healthcare to help people, and this is in direct opposition of that. If none of this sways you, know this. This state claims that it wants to improve health outcomes (despite us consistently ranking lowest in healthcare across the country), and I believed that promise until now. I have advocated to improve physician retainment in this state, but if we continue down this line, no graduating medical student will want to work here. As a medical student, I do not think I would want to practice in a state that punishes me for doing my job. Were already facing crisis upon crisis in healthcare, do not make it worse.

Eric Stahr

I write in extreme opposition to HSB 285. This misguided attempt to gain favor with the governor, serves only to force our honest, hardworking law enforcement to violate the supreme law of the land, the US Constitution. This bill is a waste of taxpayer money and is wholly unconstitutional. Holt, find actual problems to fix for once.

Courtney Collier

I support HF 712 as a mom and an Iowan consumer. I have been waiting 15 years to see this common sense legislation. Every industry and business should be liable for the products they produce and sell to Iowa consumers. It should not be legal for a medical professional to offer a product to Iowans that both they and the manufacturer are 100% free from liability if it harms or kills them. This is a massive misrepresentation of safety of the product and of the medical profession oath to first do no harm. We do not allow any other businesses in Iowa to sell their products and give them 100% immunity of liability. Why are we allowing this to happen in our medical offices with vaccines? Why not allow all businesses in Iowa to operate with this model of no product liability so they too can enjoy all profit and no risk?Adding insult to injury, no pun intended, they are not required to disclose this special legal immunity they have, to the consumer. This violates a patients right to informed consent according to the Nuremberg code, and denies them their right to due process when harmed by a faulty product. If vaccines truly are safe and effective, why are they the ONLY medical product that manufacturers and medical professionals who administer them are 100% free of liability for?Id like to introduce you to Aviana. https://circleofmamas.com/?s=Aviana Avianas mother is my dear friend who is a registered nurse at downtown Des Moines hospital. The pediatrician for Aviana, like all others, did not inform her mom that the vaccinations were free of liability and therefore have no incentive to guarantee them to be safe. On May 25, 2017 Aviana received the 8 routine vaccinations for a four month old child in the United States, and 12 hours later, she was dead. I informed her mom about the vaccine injury compensation court in DC and helped her find a vaccine injury attorney. Her case took four years, in that corrupt kangaroo court that tried several times to intimidate her to drop her claim. She persisted through her grief and the court reluctantly conceded that the vaccines killed Aviana. According to the study done in 2011 by CDC and Harvard Pilgrim Health, only 1% of vax injuries get reported to VAERS and even less get to file a case in VICP. The VICP is funded by a tax on every vaccine sold. So consumers are unknowingly funding the obscure kangaroo court that will fight & deny their claim when injured or killed by a liability free product. Thats what I define as a racket! Aviana would be an eightyearold healthy little girl today if vaccine manufacturers were liable for their products, because no mother would knowingly use a product for their baby that has no liability to the manufacturer or the administrator. Aviana is one of dozens of Iowans that I know personally who died or suffered permanent injury from a vaccine. Her pediatrician didnt inform her mom about the lack of liability for vaccines, the vaccine injury court or any other facts related to the national childhood vaccine injury act. That is truly unjust. We as citizens of Iowa need our state government to protect us from these multibillion dollar corporations who get to peddle their products while at the same time they have no liability for them. Its especially egregious that we parents are coerced by pediatricians and schools. Parents need to know they can opt out with an exemption per Iowa state law. Again, IF VACCINES ARE SAFE AND EFFECTIVE, this should be a simple nonissue piece of legislation, and these MANUFACTURERS AND DOCTORS SHOULD be able to PROUDLY stand behind their products and ACCEPT FULL LIABILITY for them. If any of the committee members would like the sources for my comments, I would be happy to provide them to you. I will close with this quote from William Wilberforce :You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.

Cindy Hassen

Please reconsider the consequences of HSB 286. Penalizing the homeless and those that help them is not the answer to this growing problem. We have opened our home to homeless individuals that we we were acquainted with. There is a great need for more mental health services, along with more housing or shelters. The crisis line workers have rescued so many in this situation, it would be a shame to fine them, as well, for their great work in this area. They saved the life of our granddaughters father who was very close to death last fall. He had been living on the streets for awhile after being evicted from his apartment. After being homeless for several weeks, he became severely weak and malnourished and called the crisis line as he could not take another step. They stayed with him in the emergency room as this young man was given IV's and admitted so he could live and gain strength! Please do not punish either the homeless or those who reach out to help them. Thankyou for your reconsideration for this bill.

Robert Leonhard

Please support this bill. It will not harm pharmaceutical companies or affect the vaccines on the market at all, unless they are not currently safe. But since we know all vaccines are safe and effective all this bill will do is reduce vaccine hesitancy in Iowa.

Nichole Ingram

I strongly oppose Bill 285, it is a dangerous overreach that forces local law enforcement to act as federal immigration agents under threat of felony charges. This undermines trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement, making it harder to report crimes and protect public safety. Penalizing officers for prioritizing local needs over federal mandates is an unjust intrusion on law enforcement discretion. Additionally, mandatory revocation of certification for noncompliance could discourage good officers from serving. Immigration enforcement should remain a federal responsibility, not a burden forced upon local agencies at the expense of community trust. Iowa should focus on policies that promote public safety for all residents rather than criminalizing officers for making judgment calls. This bill is unnecessary, punitive, and harmful to both law enforcement and the communities they serve. Lawmakers should reject it in favor of policies that foster cooperation, not fear.

A Johnson

Vote no on HSB 285. Mandating that police work with ICE will only erode trust between the police and the public theyre meant to be protecting.

Nichole Ingram

I strongly oppose House Bill 213, it is a dangerous expansion of immunity laws that could encourage reckless use of force while making it harder to hold individuals accountable for violence. By allowing defendants to claim immunity before trial and shifting the burden to the state to prove otherwise with "clear and convincing evidence," this bill creates a legal shield that could be exploited by those who misuse force. It risks enabling violent actors to evade justice while making it more difficult for victims and their families to seek accountability.Furthermore, broad immunity provisions undermine the justice systems ability to fairly assess cases of selfdefense versus excessive force. Iowa law already allows for justified selfdefensethis bill goes too far by prioritizing immunity over due process. Instead of making communities safer, it could embolden unnecessary violence. Lawmakers should reject HSB 213 and ensure that justice is applied fairly to all.

Ashley L

Please pass HF712! This is a seriously good thing to put liability back on the manufacturers! When you remove liability, you remove all incentive to make your product better and improve it because if you find something wrong with it, you can then be held liable. The vaccine court system is a JOKE which makes a grieving, exhausted parent fight against our government when they did the very thing our government advised them to do (vaccinate) and had adverse effects. The vaccine court thinks a dead child is worth $250,000. My children are worth so much more than that. The no liability is a joke. If the products are "safe and effective" why is anyone opposed to the bill. Prove it while allowing discovery in court (which vaccine court does not do). Please pass this!

Erica Samp

Good Evening,VOTE YES ON THIS BILL TO HOLD BIG PHARMA ACCOUNTABLE NOW! As an Iowa citizen from Algona, I am not just a regular voice I am a warrior on the front lines of this battle locally & federally who has suffered unimaginable torment for 4 years due to documented Covid vaccine injuries. This is not a partisan issue, it is a moral imperative. Pharmaceutical giants are shamelessly exploiting loopholes, rushing dangerous drugs through Emergency Use Authorizations to shield themselves with PREP Act immunity while raking in BILLIONS in blood money. Safety be damned profits reign supreme! The evidence is undeniable and horrific. Standard safety checks are blatantly skipped as these untested synthetic poisons wreak havoc on our bodies in ways the manufacturers can't even be bothered to investigate. They literally skip critical safety testing! My vision is stolen from one eye, requiring monthly injections INTO MY EYEBALL. Half my hearing in BOTH ears gone. My brain swells with lesions as 12 new genetic mutations now ravage my heart. All because of zero informed consent, rendering these injections ILLEGAL and UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Yet the PREP Act protects these negligent corporations while taxpayers foot the bill as victims lose jobs, homes, and lives.Even worse, the Department of Defense owns these drugs and litigation looms showing states bear FULL LIABILITY for ensuring informed consent which NEVER HAPPENED as whistleblowers like me prove in Federal Court with mountains of evidence of hidden contaminants. The flimsy Countermeasure Injury Compensation Program denies 98% of claims with no appeals process, funded not by Big Pharma's billions but by YOUR tax dollars! This is an OUTRAGEOUS INJUSTICE that must end NOW.I SUFFER IN AGONY EVERY DAY with no help, no recourse, no cure while the federal government does nothing. I vow to lead the charge for every Iowan impacted, armed with stepbystep litigation plans if this state fails to protect us. The legal and financial ramifications will DEVASTATE Iowa if we don't act. Passing this bill is the ONLY way to shield citizens and our state NOW while forcing safer drugs nationwide. We CANNOT let Iowans keep paying the ultimate price for Big Pharma's reckless greed. If they won't stand by their own products, WE MUST STAND UP AND FIGHT! I've battled 4 years the time is NOW. VOTE YES to save lives and Iowa's future!The PREP ACT in its beginnings was meant with good intentions I feel but like most things around our country these days, profits have now become priority over safety. You have to exhaust all administrative remedies so that involves having to sue for Workers Compensation, businesses, employers or any possible third party payers. Again this will continue to increase costs for the state before even attempting to file for compensation. My claim took over 3 years to process just for a denial even with medical causation and DNA evidence. Claims have skyrocketed the past 5 years compared to all prior years because it is abundantly clear based on all of the legal evidence and proceedings that safety measures are being eliminated to save cents on the dollar per vial.That PREP ACT immunity is almost ironclad however. So the state taxpayers are left holding the bag when people can no longer work, lose their homes because of medical treatments that cost tens of thousands of dollars a month, and have to survive solely on state assistance.The EUA they are giving out like lollipops these days flips these drugs into a program called CICP. Countermeasure Injury Compensation Program. This program does not even have an injury table after FIVE YEARS since covid stating what injuries will be covered. Therefore 99% of claims are denied. There is no appeals process for this program. It is NOT funded like VICP is for standard fully approved vaccines with a few cents from manufacturers. It is money that comes directly from tax paying citizens. This is something that desperately needs to be changed. These manufacturers are raking in billions upon billions of dollars in profit, some off the back of us injured such as myself & the dead just so they can save a few dollars by not running safety testing. If they cannot stand by THEIR OWN products then why on Earth should we stand by and do NOTHING while they make us pay for their negligence on top of it. I suffer every single day. There is zero help and zero recourse or cure for this. NONE. Right now the Federal Government is doing nothing about this. I have cases going in Federal Court and I vow that I am going to lead the charge for every single person who is impacted by this in Iowa with all the information and step by step instructions to litigate here as well if this state will not stand up to protect its citizens. I will be forced to fight back here when I have no desire to because I have been sounding the alarm for years now to our state officials and am being ignored. The legal ramifications will be huge. Read up on the Common Law and the Belmont Report about how the STATE becomes responsible for making sure that every single citizen was given true informed consent when the drugs are owned by the Dept of Defense. I can send you a copy of that as well. All of Congress has copies as well. Hence the slow walking. I can also give everyone in the state proof that NOBODY receives informed consent because I have all of this federal evidence of what was hidden and omitted. The legal ramifications will be insurmountable.The state cannot afford to make this egregious error for one and secondly our citizens NEED you to protect us. I need you. My children need you. Your grandchildren and all future Iowans need you. We MUST pass a bill protecting people now, protecting the state now and this will lead the country and will help push the manufacturers to create safer drugs. We cannot allow people to suffer and Iowans to pay so Big Pharma can line their pockets with billions. If they do not trust their own products then how can we? I am proof that we cannot. I have been fighting for 4 years. I urge you to not listen to opposition made by those who themselves benefit off of the Big Pharma companies kickbacks. It is horrifying that even in our beautiful state that there are people who will stand and oppose safe drugs for our citizens just because they count on the big pharma paycheck & bonus payments. People over Profit!I apologize that this is long and please reach out with any questions you have. I would love to just speak to anyone who has questions or worries. Thank you truly for being on this committee

Caitlin Atkins

I oppose this bill. If the state is concerned about the homeless population, then the solution is housing. This is cruel and will do nothing. There are proven and affective ways to end homelessness through the Housing First Approach.

Kelsey Leahy

I strongly oppose this bill and urge you to vote NO. This does nothing to address the root causes of homelessness and punishes our most vulnerable citizens. It is cruel and will just create a lasting cycle of living on the streets to jail to back on the streets. With the arrest on their records, people will have an even harder time finding employment or housing that would allow them to get out of the homelessness cycle. I urge you in the strongest possible terms to find your humanity and vote NO on this bill. Let us find solutions that will actually address the causes of the problem and create opportunities for our fellow Iowans.

Ben Brustkern

I oppose HSB 286 that would lead to the arrest of people experiencing homelessness on public land. This bill will not help move the state forward towards solving the homeless issue. it will put domestic violence survivors at further risk and create unpayable fines for those who are arrested. The homeless drug free zone signage will put confidentiality at risk for those fleeing into a shelter and potentially burden underpaid staff with potential jail time and fines. If we invest more money in the Iowa homeless system, it should go towards current shelters and permanent housing options for people.The reporting burdens on homeless programs are unnecessary. Programs already meet federal and state reporting requirements, and this is well above and beyond and takes away from the actual work done by programs. Please look for better interventions to help Iowans experience homelessness find a home.

Cady B

I oppose this bill. If the state is concerned about the homeless population, then the solution is housing. This is cruel and will do nothing. There are proven and affective ways to end homelessness through the Housing First Approach.

Candi Lanning

Please vote NO to HSB 286. People experiencing homelessness already have enough barriers to overcome. Criminal charges will only make it more difficult for them to be accepted into an apartment or find a job. There are many reasons people don't want to stay in a shelter. In 2022, Drake University and Homeward completed an Unsheltered Study (https://www.homewardiowa.org/informationandstatistics/unsheltered), the results of which talk about many of the reasons why people do not or cannot stay in a shelter, leaving outside as the only option for them. The requirement for cities and counties to create, maintain and police encampment areas adds an undue burden to their already overworked and undermanned staff. This bill also does not consider the impacts of youth and family homelessness, and the detrimental effect criminalization would have on those populations. How do the police arrest a family with young children for staying outside? I work with people experiencing homelessness at an agency in Northeast Iowa, and the language of this bill not only targets the vulnerable population we serve but the staff who show up every day and do the hard work to serve the most vulnerable people in Iowa. It will make it impossible to operate our shelter. Instead of focusing efforts on criminalizing homelessness, our state should focus on the proven effectiveness of housing first initiatives and creating more affordable housing.

Lindsay Maher

Support hf712 and put accountability back where it belongs! It is time for the states to assert their authority over the federal government when the government impedes on the right to justice of an Iowan. VICP has failed. The state, insurance companies, and employers should not be the ones on the hook if a product injures someone. Restore that liability to the rightful place, an industry set to exceed $95 billion market share in 2029. The adult vaccines excluding flu and covid do not have this shield, its time the childhood schedule doesnt either.

Amela Moeller

I am writing to ask that you do not advance HSB286.This bill will only do more harm than good. Punishment and fines are not the solution to the problem that you are attempting to solve. The only way to break the cycle of homelessness is by providing solutions such as affordable housing and wrap around services.

Caitlyn Kupka

This bill is inhumane and will not solve homelessness. Vote no.

Emma Wendel

VOTE NO on this bill, those experiencing homelessness are not criminals. We should be focusing on bills that support housing first as a way to support our unhoused communities. Putting our time and money to give these people the care and compassion that every person deserves.

Amy Croll

Senator Holt referred to SLC efforts yesterday. In doing some preliminary research, it highlighted that "there are still not enough beds available and this enforcement really harms a very, very vulnerable population. Enforcement is not the answer. Housing and shelters are the answer." It seems like SLC's experiment isn't as glowing as one would like to think. We know in Iowa, there is not enough affordable housing with supportive services. We know there isn't enough shelter beds. This legislation only eliminates evidencebased services. People need affordable and safe housing. Until everyone has access to the services and housing they deserve, we should not even consider camping bans which push people further in debt, unsafe environments, and criminalize them for not having access to systemdenied services. Increase service capacity and increase affordable housing. Once everyone has access to shelter, then we can go through draconian measures such as this. As Salt Lake City providers stated, "actions like this will only push tents and people into other neighborhoods."As a city council member for Urbandale and a social worker, I implore you to listen to the experts. We don't ask accountants or farmers to design roads. Please don't look to external financial policy wonks to design homeless best practices. We have people for that and they do a damn good job of it. Now, just fund the best practices (permanent supportive housing, supportive services, deeply affordable housing) that work.

Sarah Panther

I strongly support HF 712. When the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act happened the vaccine schedule for our children skyrocketed. No coincidence there. Why would vaccine makers not be liable? This is common sense. MAKE PHARMA LIABLE AGAIN!!

Christine Hayes

I commend the states attention to the serious concerns that accompany unsheltered homelessness; however, this bill will not advance those concerns. This bill imposes extraordinary burdens of both time and financial resources on local law enforcement, municipalities, and county attorneys. The cost of acquiring or repurposing land, installing the statutorily outlined infrastructure, and both operating and policing proposed encampments is astronomical in already lean budgetary times. Furthermore, the bill speaks only of relocating those experiencing unsheltered homelessness, neither prioritizing nor allocating financial resources to the only proven solution to homelessness: housing. I urge you not to advance this bill and to turn your attention to evidencebased, fiscally responsible solutions that acknowledge the needs for different solutions in different communities in the upcoming legislative session.

Jack Ohringer

As a medical student committed to the health and wellbeing of our communities across Iowa, I am deeply concerned about the proposed bill (HF 712) that seeks to remove legal protections for all vaccine manufacturers in our state. Plainly, this legislation will have profound consequences for the health of our children, neighbors, and friends. This legislation would open the floodgates for unfounded vaccination injury claims and would likely lead to vaccine manufacturers either making vaccines more expensive or pulling them out of our state entirely. This legislation could affect access to ALL vaccines. A major landmark study published by The Lancet (one of the most highly vetted, world renowned medical journals) revealed that since 1974 global immunization efforts have saved an estimated 154 million lives or the equivalent of 6 lives every minute of every year. The vast majority of these lives saved are children under the age of 5. To restrict (and potentially eliminate) access to vaccinations in our state WILL KILL PEOPLE.In the 1980s lawsuits against vaccine companies and health care providers threatened to cause vaccine shortages and reduce U.S vaccination rates. The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Plan (VICP) was created as a nofault alternative to the traditional legal system for resolving vaccine injury petitions. This program has paid out over $2.35 billion to those with proven vaccine injuries. This program keeps vaccines accessible to all while fairly compensating those who are injured by them. On Monday, the senate heard an antivaccine bill (SF 360) proposed by Senator Doug Campbell. He is a pharmacist who owns a wellness company creating unregulated supplements. He brought 5 Special Speakers who were allowed to spew misinformation before anyone else was allowed to speak. These experts included a chiropractor advertising himself as a doctor and most speakers were employed by Dr. Peter McCollough, a disgraced cardiologist from Texas who had his board certification revoked by the American Board Internal Medicine (due to spreading the same COVID19 misinformation that was shared at the subcommittee). Currently, he runs a massive wellness organization, again selling unregulated supplements as vaccine detoxes and alternatives. In medicine, we call this a conflict of interest, and legally information like this has to be disclosed before giving presentations in a medical setting.Let me make it simple for you to understand. Listen to the experts, not the conartists. I love Iowa but if you dont let me take care of my future patients the best way I know how, I wont practice in this state. This entire bill is an insult to the healthcare community and I urge you to vote against its passage.

Ashley Shewmaker

I am writing to ask that you do not advance HSB286. This bill does nothing to help solve homelessness in any community. Relocating unhoused, vulnerable populations is not helpful. Rather, time and resources should be focused on real solutions like affordable housing. Thank you for your consideration.

Teresa Galluzzo

This bill would harm some of the states most vulnerable people, please do not pass it.

Anne Rizor

I am writing against HF712. The federal Childhood Vaccine Injury Act was established in 1986 in order to ensure that Americans have an adequate supply of vaccines, to stabilize vaccine costs, and to establish and maintain an accessible and efficient forum for individuals found to be injured by certain vaccines. The Vaccine Injury Compensation Trust Fund provides funding for the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program to compensate vaccinerelated injury or death petitions for covered vaccines administered on or after October 1, 1988.Funded by a $.75 excise tax on vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for routine administration to children, the excise tax is imposed on each dose (i.e., disease that is prevented) of a vaccine. Trivalent influenza vaccine for example, is taxed $.75 because it prevents one disease; measlesmumpsrubella vaccine, which prevents three diseases, is taxed $2.25. One might consider this similar to insurance. The Department of Treasury collects the excise taxes and manages the Funds investments and produces Vaccine Injury Compensation Trust Fund Monthly Reports.HF712 threatens to disrupt vaccine supplies to Iowans. The bill should not be passed.

Rebekah Jacobs

Please vote OPPOSED to HSB 286. Every person deserves basic human dignity, including access to shelter, food, and safety. Criminalizing homelessness undermines these fundamental rights and treats individuals as criminals for simply needing a place to live. Additionally, having a criminal record creates further obstacles for individuals trying to secure housing prolonging a persons homelessness; therefore this bill would only increase the problem and not reduce it. I have attached a PDF containing research on the ineffectiveness of criminalizing homelessness.