2013 Legislative Agenda

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Our 2013 Legislative Agenda identifies the areas and issues that need addressed and the legislative priorities we'll be pushing this session.Soon after the sessions starts we'll keep you up-to-date on both good and bad bills we're monitoring.Sign up for our E-Mail Action list to get the latest updates and know when your call or email can have the biggest impact. 

Our Money, Our Priorities - A Budget That Puts People First

 Hardworking Iowans have weathered the national recession better than most states, and we are fortunate to have nearly $1 billion in rainy day funds. Rather than turn around and hand out even more unnecessary tax cuts to big corporations, we expect state leaders to reinvest in programs and state agencies that have faced cuts over the last four years. We need a budget that closes corporate tax loopholes rather than opening them up wider. By bringing in more revenue, we can afford to reinvest in infrastructure, vital public services, and programs that everyday Iowans and hardworking families depend on.

 

Our Farms, Our Air, Our Water – Environmental Policy That Puts People Before Polluters

 Here in Iowa, we’re good neighbors. But factory farms just aren’t. They build without consideration for our quality of life, property values or environment. Factory farms don’t “smell like money” – they reek of corporate greed.  Last summer, Iowa CCI members fought factory farms in 30 different counties, and stopped a dozen from being built. Sixty percent of Iowans believe we need stronger laws to stop factory farms from polluting our air and water.

 

Our Wages, Our Work – Labor Policy That Puts People Before Profits

 A fair day’s work deserves a fair days pay. But some Iowans are being treated unfairly and cheated out of wages owed to them.  Iowa CCI members have recovered more than $150,000 in stolen wages for workers since 2010. And, a recently released report shows that Iowans lose up to $600 million a year from wage theft and the state misses out on more than $60 million in lost tax revenue. Cracking down on wage theft means holding employers accountable for breaking the law and stealing wages from hard working Iowans.

 

Our Paychecks, Our Security – Financial Policy That Puts People Before Profits

 In Iowa, when someone is in a time of need, we help them. Payday lenders, on the other hand, use that time to trap individuals into a cycle of predatory payday lending. Cracking down on predatory lending would keep as much as $36 million of our money from leaving the state of Iowa every year.  That is money that some of Iowa’s largest cities have already been trying to keep in their communities by limiting the industry’s growth through local zoning ordinances.

 

Our Lives, Our Schools – Education Policy That Puts People Before Politics

 Many hardworking young Iowans don’t have American citizenship, but that shouldn’t stop them from pursuing their dream of higher education. The federal government has instituted a program of deferred action for young people who came to states, like Iowa, as children, have grown up here, and who want to live and work here. It is time for Iowa to extend that dream to more students by passing the IOWA Act. This would allow children who have lived in Iowa for five years and graduated from our high schools to attend Iowa Universities by paying in-state tuition rates.

 

Our Government, Our Voice – Electoral Policy That Puts People Before Politics

 Iowa is fortunate to have some of the highest voter registration and voter turnout rates in the country. Our voting and redistricting system are considered models for the country. But there have been recent attacks on our voting system – both from government officials and from big money corporate attack groups. VOICE would help stop the corrosive influence that big money is trying to wield in our elections, and return the power of the vote to everyday Iowans. And universal voter registration would officially register every Iowan of legal voting age to vote, ensuring we are opening our voting process to more Iowans, not trying to restrict it to fewer.

 

 Our Health, Our Future - Expanding Medicaid Makes Moral, Fiscal Sense

 Medicaid is the second largest health care payer in Iowa. Medicaid provides much needed health insurance to the nation's most vulnerable, and has been expanded to cover the mentally and physically disabled, some children and pregnant mothers. With the passage of the Affordable Care Act, states have the opportunity to expand Medicaid to cover even more of the nation's uninsured. Governor Branstad has opposed Medicaid expansion for Iowans, even though it will save the state money into the foreseeable future. It's time to provide much needed health insurance for those on the margins.

Take action

Sign the petition calling on Branstad to push a budget that puts people first and then RSVP to let us know you’ll join us at the statehouse on Jan. 15.    

Join the fight

  • Contact us for more information
  • Join as an Iowa CCI Action Fund member today or chip in $10 to support our organizing on this issue.
  • Sign up for our E-Mail Action list to get the latest updates
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