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Interim Calendar and Briefing
August 28, 1996
- Contents:
- Calendar of Scheduled Meetings
- Agenda Information Regarding Scheduled Meetings
- BRIEFINGS - Information Regarding Recent Meetings
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- Tuesday, September 10, 1996
- Administrative Rules Review Committee
10:00 a.m., Room 22
- Wednesday, September 11, 1996
- Administrative Rules Review Committee
9:00 a.m., Room 22
- Wednesday, September 18, 1996
- Fiscal Committee of the Legislative Council - TENTATIVE
Time to be Announced, Ames, Iowa; ISU
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Co-chairperson: Senator Berl E. Priebe
Co-chairperson: Representative Janet Metcalf
- Location: Committee Room 22, State House, Des Moines
- Date & Time: Tuesday, September 10, 1996, 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, September 11, 1996, 9:00 a.m.
- Tentative Agenda: Agenda (as Published in the Administrative Bulletin)
- Contact Person: Joe Royce, Legal Counsel, Administrative Rules
- FURTHER INFORMATION| CHARGE | MEMBERS | STAFF | HEARINGS |
Co-chairperson: Senator Larry Murphy
Co-chairperson: Representative David Millage
- Location: Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa - Exact Location to be Announced
- Date & Time: September 18, 1996, Time to be Announced
- LSB Monitor: Julie Smith
- LFB Staff: Tim Faller, Holly Lyons
- Tentative Agenda: Agenda to be Announced
- FURTHER INFORMATION| CHARGE | MEMBERS | STAFF | HEARINGS |
August 15, 1996
Highlights of the Legislative Fiscal Committee meeting include the following:
- Federal Update.
- Mr. Jon Neiderbach, Legislative Fiscal Bureau and Mr. Phil Smith, Iowa's State/Federal Office in Washington D.C. provided the Committee with updates on the latest legislative developments at the federal level including welfare reform.
- Privatization Update.
- Mr. Doug Wulf, Legislative Fiscal Bureau discussed an issue review detailing state government privatization efforts.
- Central Information Technology Entity.
- Mr. Glen Dickinson, Legislative Fiscal Bureau and Mr. Paul Carlson, Department of Management, discussed efforts to create a new executive branch entity which would include an administrative consolidation of the Department of Transportation, the Department of Workforce Development, and the Department of General Services data centers. This would include creation of an independent, interim organization that would partner with the Iowa Communications Network to reshape information technology management and would allow for the eventual creation of a Department of Technology.
- Biennial Budgeting.
- Mr. Doug Wulf, Legislative Fiscal Bureau and Mr. Dave Meyers, Department of Management provided an update on other states budgeting practices and the Governor's Committee on Government Spending Reform (known as the Fischer Commission) review of biennial budgeting.
- State Employee Wages.
- Mr. Jon Muller and Mr. Larry Sigel, Legislative Fiscal Bureau, presented information regarding state employee wages versus private employee wages and those of other states. They responded to questions raised by the Public Interest Institute at Iowa Wesleyan College.
- LSB Monitor: Julie Smith
- LFB Staff: Tim Faller, Holly Lyons
August 20, 1996
- Background.
- The first iteration of this committee operated in the summer and fall of 1991 and made a number of recommendations to the Governor concerning state and local government budget and operating practices. The Governor requested Mr. David Fisher, the original chair to again serve and many of the original members were reappointed.
- Financial World - State Rating.
- A September 1995 article in Financial World magazine rated the management practices of the 50 states in the areas of financial management, managing for results, and infrastructure maintenance. Iowa received an overall rating of 6th in the nation, up from a rating of 16th in 1993. The Committee communicated with the authors of the article, Mr. Richard Greene and Ms. Kathryn Barrett via televised satellite link. The authors noted Iowa has many practices that can be recommended as models to other states. They stressed that a long term perspective is essential for good decisionmaking suggesting that effective systems make use of quality analysis of long term effects of decisions.
- Infrastructure Maintenance.
- A large portion of the discussion with the article authors centered on infrastructure maintenance and the following points were addressed:
- Key Components of a quality infrastructure maintenance system are an accurate inventory of public facilities, condition assessments with calculations of repair costs, and an analysis of the needs versus the resources available to meet the needs.
- A rule of thumb for projecting the future cost of deferred maintenance is approximately 10 percent multiplied by the number of years deferred.
- Providing accurate information and analysis is essential for depoliticizing infrastructure spending decisions. They believe that a good management system deemphasizes politics in decisionmaking.
- They suggested the following states have implemented useful innovations for developing accurate information: Utah, Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware.
- Regents.
- Mr. Owen Newlin, President, and Mr. R. Wayne Richey, Executive Director, Board of Regents, discussed the Regents' approach to financial and infrastructure management. Mr. Newlin described the strategic planning process utilizing consultants to establish long term goals which are then made specific by the individual institutions. Mr. Richey discussed specific revenue and expenditure provisions of the annual budget of approximately $2.1 billion which is comprised of federal, state, grant, tuition, fees, and contributed revenues.
- Department of Transportation.
- Mr. Darrell Rensink, Director, Department of Transportation, described the DOT's approach to financial and infrastructure management. He explained recent spending reform initiatives to cut spending, obtain better value for expenditures, and increase spending for prudent purposes.
- Next Meetings.
- The next meetings are scheduled for Thursday, September 26 and Thursday, October 17, both from 1 to 4 PM.
- Staff Contact: Ms. Patti Schroeder, Department of Management
- LSB Monitor: John Pollak
August 21, 1996
- Background.
- The Iowa Health Regulation Task Force was established by the Iowa Department of Public Health to review health regulation in Iowa and to make recommendations to the Governor by December 1996 for appropriate changes to improve health care access, cost, and delivery. The Task Force grew out of a health care regulation conference sponsored by state government and private sector organizations held in August 1995. The Task Force membership includes legislators, and representatives of business, labor, health care industry, interest groups, and health care regulators.
- Meeting.
- Following a plenary session the members of the Task Force convened subcommittees for the remainder of the day. The subcommittees include the Health Facilities/Long Term Care System Committee, the Health Professions Committee, and the Health Systems and Plans Committee.
- Future Meetings:
- The Task Force has scheduled monthly meetings through December 1996. The next meeting of the Task Force will be held on September 18, 1996.
- Staff Contact: Gerd Clabaugh, Iowa Department of Public Health
- LSB Monitor: Patty Funaro
August 22, 1996
- Background.
- The Purple Ribbon Property Tax Reform Committee, established and staffed by the Iowa League of Cities, conducted its third and final meeting on Thursday, August 22, 1996.
- Fundamental Principles.
- The committee identified four fundamental principles to guide local government property taxation policy-making:
- The property tax base needs to be predictable, but also flexible enough to adapt to economic and demographic changes. Safeguards should be established to protect the property tax base from external factors that erode stability.
- The property tax structure should equitably distribute the burden of the services it supports.
- The relationship of services to tax sources should be preserved where possible. Accountability for taxation must be clearly defined, and unfunded mandates compromising accountability should be avoided.
- The property tax system should be easy to administer and easy to understand.
- Recommendations
- The committee endorsed the Home Rule philosophy of placing financial decision-making at the local government level, but also recognized the long-standing integration of state and local decision-making. The following specific recommendations, balancing these two perspectives, were made:
- Uncouple residential property values from agricultural property values, but maintain the annual growth limit of 4 percent. Coupling the residential market value approach with the agricultural productivity formula valuation approach creates an artificial suppression of residential taxable values.
- Tighten the definition of entities eligible for property tax exemption. A local board of review should review information regarding qualification for tax exemption, with appeal to a statewide board.
- Grant cities authority to charge user fees for public safety services to tax-exempt entities without payment in lieu of tax agreements (except churches and governmental property).
- Provide full state funding of property tax credits or pro rate any amount that is not fully funded by the state, so that local government is not subsidizing credits if the state fails to provide full funding. The Iowa General Assembly should review the property tax credit system.
- Encourage diversification of revenue by easing restrictive implementation requirements for the local option sales tax. Compared to other states, the implementation of the local option sales tax is fairly difficult in Iowa.
- Encourage diversification of revenue by allowing cities to impose a local option income tax, not to exceed one percent.
- While specific recommendations regarding the $8.10 general fund levy limit were not made, the committee determined that the levy limit should be reexamined.
- LSB Monitor: Richard Nelson
August 22, 1996
- Background Information.
- The Committee was created in the 1994 Session in H.F. 2430 (1994 Iowa Acts, Chapter 1163) as a permanent committee responsible for making recommendations for joint state and county planning, implementing, and funding of mental health, mental retardation, and developmental disabilities (MH/MR/DD) services. The Committee includes state, county, and Governor's appointees, as well as nonvoting legislative members. It is jointly staffed by the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC).
- Overview.
- The Committee has created work groups to develop draft recommendations on the various items assigned in legislation enacted in the 1996 Legislative Session. Reports were made by the various work groups and administrative business was considered.
- Code Work Group.
- One of the new requirements from the 1996 legislation is for clerks of court to provide information to a county single entry point process or central point of coordination concerning an individual for which costs associated with hospitalization may be charged to a county. The work group submitted a draft form which was accepted by the Committee. The work group is reviewing rules and provisions of the Iowa Code for possible modifications.
- County MH Plan.
- Mr. Charles Palmer, Director, Department of Human Services and Committee Co-Chair, noted that the Jasper county mental health plan includes provisions to limit payment for services to individuals with legal settlement in Jasper county. He noted that there are legal issues with the provisions and that discussions continue between representatives of the county and the Office of the Attorney General.
- ISAC Update.
- Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) representatives described upcoming training events, plans for county representatives to meet in a retreat setting to address legal settlement issues, and recent study of alternatives to replace the county practice of contracting based on the DHS purchase of service system for services to adults which is being phased out by the Department.
- State Update.
- Members of the State County Assistance Team (SCAT), DHS's technical assistance staff to counties for mental health and developmental disabilities policy and services, provided an update. Surveys of county satisfaction with SCAT services are upcoming. A compilation of policy goals listed in state plans was distributed.
- LSB Monitor: John Pollak
- Contact Persons: Harold Templeman, DHS; Deb Westvold, ISAC
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