Around Des Moines

While Gov. Chet Culver’s professional youth commission talked at Drake University on September 25 about student debt and jobs, the Older Iowans Legislature (OIL) was debating legislative priorities for seniors at the state Capitol.

OIL was started in 1978 by the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs and the Area Agencies on Aging. A few years ago state funding for OIL was cut. Membership dues and corporate sponsorships support the organization but delegates to the annual legislature have to pay their own way to participate. As a result, even though 100 delegates from nine districts are allowed, there were fewer than 70 at this year’s legislature. (The meeting is held in the House chambers at the Capitol, which seats 100.)

The OIL delegates met in four committees (ways and means, state government, appropriations, and health care) to hear testimony and to discuss the proposed legislation. Bills voted out of committees on Monday the 24th were voted on by the full legislature on Tuesday the 25th. The delegates then ranked the bills that passed to select those that would be presented to the General Assembly in 2008. The 5 bills given priority out of 22 originally filed were: (1) to restore the Senior Living Trust Fund, (2) to expand the elder abuse program, (3) to establish parity on reimbursement for home- and community-based care, (4) to standardize long-term care insurance policies, and (5) to tax Internet sales.

Taxing Internet sales was the only bill identified as inter-generational that was passed by the OIL delegates. Even then floor discussion drifted towards how the estimated $50 million that would be raised from the taxes could benefit elder programs.

Students from Norwalk High School in Warren County served as pages. Justin McClure was the speaker’s page. A senior in high school, McClure participated in OIL last year. He volunteered for the event because he will receive credits needed to complete a class. He is not sure what his future interests are other than to attend DMACC next year. He described the senior legislatures as opinionated and said it is “good to hear all the views.” Other pages I talked with were juniors who were volunteering because it would look good on their college applications. Business was the expected career of several pages, although one said she wanted to be an architect..

Debate on some of the bills was more than a formality. A bill to give property tax relief to low-income elderly homeowners saw an objection from one delegate who opined that anyone with an income less than $18,000 was living in subsidized rental housing, not owning a home. Delegates from Polk County and the Sioux City area responded that they knew of several people who would benefit. A delegate from the North District questioned the need for tax relief because he sees numerous elderly people gambling and buying cigarettes.

One very noticeable difference between the Older Iowans Legislature and the General Assembly was that the seniors finished their session well ahead of schedule.

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.