Childcare, mental health, the flat tax bill and bottle bill were the big topics at the Saturday, Feb. 19, League of Women Voters forum, held virtually on the Zoom platform.
Tracy Ehlert (D-House District 70) spoke in opposition to the changes to childcare proposed by the state legislature.
She noted that the bill, while it does expand the number of children daycares can operate with by reducing the number of adults to children ratios, is a solution that doesn’t address problems faced in the childcare industry.
“It’s clear legislators didn’t reach out to families or people who work at these facilities for what is really needed,” Ehlert said. “While allowing more children into classrooms with fewer staff will help centers save costs, those savings will most likely go to the other expenses of running a childcare center instead.”
Another bill which would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to be the sole childcare provider in a childcare room was one Ehlert said decreases the lack of safety for these centers by decreasing the number of adults to kid ratios.
Ehlert said she was also afraid that, even though parents will have to sign off to say they are okay with these changes, many are put in situations where there are no alternatives for childcare on the market aside from not working, which contributes to the workforce shortage in Iowa.
When it came to the flat tax rate issue, most of the Democratic lawmakers noted that the legislation is not a true 4 percent tax rate, as it maintains many of the loopholes for the wealthy to reduce their own tax burden while hitting those who need more money.
“It’s really the biggest issue we’re talking about at today’s forum, because it impacts everything we’ve previously discussed,” said Todd Taylor (D-Senate District 35). “Anything we want to do; this will take money off the table in the future. If you ask people if they want to lower taxes, they’re always going to answer absolutely. But when you press them on if they want good childcare, safe streets and support for workforce, they want those things, too. The only thing this flat tax is good for is that it’s simple. It shifts the burden and tax increases to the working class while cutting benefits.”
Molly Donahue (D-House District 68) noted the impact of the reduction will hit cities as well, lowering the revenues they can expect.
“This tax rate is helping very few people who could use help,” Donahue said. “We should be doing better for people who could really use the relief as opposed to pandering to big donors.”
Charlie McClintock (R-House District 95) said that he did vote in favor of the bill, noting it was something his constituents were wanting to see go through. He said that the state’s surplus funds made going to a lower tax rate a priority, and that having a surplus showed the state was currently fiscally responsible.
Many of the legislators noted that they wanted to see the bottle bill changed in the state, whether working to establish more redemption centers or increase costs on the deposits for bottles to encourage more people to recycle.
Rob Hogg (D-Senate District 33) said he felt it should go up to a dime per bottle for deposits to encourage more recycling.
Art Staed (D-House District 66) noted the bill is popular with most Iowans, but the issues have been with grocers and others who have to accept the bottles.
During COVID, grocers asked to not handle the deposits, citing public safety. As things are returning to normal, those grocers are asking for redemption centers accept the bottles.
McClintock noted many of his constituents just send cans or bottles to recycling as opposed to stores or redemption centers.
“My concern is if recycling rates continue to freefall and we see more stop offering recycling, that will lead to more bottles or cans ending up in streams or littered instead,” McClintock said. “That’s not what I want to see.”
Kirsten Running-Marquardt (D-House District 69) said she is on the committee working on the bottle bill, and some of the changes they are looking at include increasing redemption centers or allowing redemption centers to set up in grocery stores once a month or so to collect cans if people live more than 10 miles from the nearest redemption center. The bill would remove grocery stores as redemption centers.
“There’s still a bunch of details we’re working on, but we hope to get this bill through this year,” Running-Marquardt said.
Other issues discussed included mental health care for homeless and how the bills targeting protected classes like transgender people could contribute to the workforce crisis in the state.
The next legislative forum is set for March 19.