Government : Hello, Iowa House District 84 from the State Capitol!

Steve Beck, right, of Belle Plaine, and Jason Vogelgesang with the Iowa Geological Survey display results of groundwater assessments near Belle Plaine.

The Iowa Legislature completed week #9 and passed 52 bills. Almost all of these originated in the House, of which 29 were unanimous, 14 passed by at least 90%, five being bipartisan, and four by mostly party line vote.

One of the bills passed intends to keep Iowa medical and dental students in Iowa for their residency and after they complete their residency. House File 516 requires the University of Iowa medical and dental schools to have at least 80% of the students be residents of Iowa or enrolled in an Iowa community college prior to acceptance. Every state in the United States has a doctor or health care staff shortage, and data shows doctors are more likely to stay in the state they attend medical school and complete their medical residency.

We also passed HF 386, 67-28 (only three democrats voted in favor) which requires both the University of Iowa and Des Moines University to study the feasibility of transitioning a medical school program from four years to three years. Obviously, this would not work for a majority of these, but if it's possible, it could provide more physicians in less time. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges Research Institute(AAMC) (https://www.aamcresearchinstitute.org/news/closer-look/new-workforce-model-suggests), "the U.S. is facing a current shortage of 43,130 primary care physicians, and expects that shortage to increase by an additional 24,890 by 2036". Also, according to AAMC, Iowa ranks in the bottom ten states for physician shortages. This bill has the potential to help.

The Iowa House passed HF 248, which helps with adoptive parents of children ages six and younger to have the same parental policies as parents with their biological children. This ensures all parents are treated the same by their employers. HF 314 lessens certain requirements for current legal guardians to adopt. If the legal guardian has been a foster parent of the child for the previous three years, the adoption home study could be waived if it is deemed safe for the child. This could save the guardian anywhere from $1000 - $3000.

On March 11th, Belle Plaine City Administrator Steve Beck came to the Capitol to discuss several topics and promote increasing groundwater levels, and how a study by the Iowa Geological Survey (IGS) helped Belle Plaine with its aquifer. On March 12th, I also met with Benton County Auditor Hayley Rippel, Treasurer Melinda Schoettmer, Recorder Lexa Speidel, and Deputy Recorder Marla Sutton, who were attending annual meetings for the Iowa State Association of Counties.

I hope you have a safe and healthy week and support our local businesses. Happy 1st Day of Spring on March 20th!