A bill that would allow state agencies to bypass the state auditor’s office by hiring private accountants to conduct annual audits was shelved Wednesday ahead of a key legislative deadline.
The House State Government Committee opted not to advance Senate File 2311, making it unlikely to become law this year. The bill last month passed the Senate, 31-16.
Rep. Jane Bloomingdale, R-Northwood, who chairs the committee, said members had too many concerns about the potential added costs created by the bill. A fiscal note from the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency found that hiring a private CPA firm could cost up to more than three times as much as using the state auditor’s staff.
"It was just something the committee couldn't get behind," Bloomingdale said, adding there's not support to move the bill forward in the House.
State Auditor Rob Sand, the lone Democrat elected to statewide office in Iowa, said in a statement the tabling “is a welcome development that respects the will of the voters and won't waste taxpayer money.”
Sand and legislative Democrats say the bill “kneecaps” Sand’s authority as auditor and opens the door to corruption by allowing government officials to bypass the state auditor for annual audits. Republican supporters argue the hiring of a private accountant to conduct a required annual audit already is allowed and widely employed by local governments and school districts.
A recent Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows a majority of Iowans oppose the measure.
Democratic lawmakers in the Iowa Senate are urging the Legislature and Gov. Kim Reynolds to take action to help residents of Perry deal with the closing of Tyson Foods’ pork plant there, which will result in the elimination of roughly 1,200 jobs.
Democrats also criticized recent, Republican-approved changes to the state’s unemployment benefits program, which reduced the amount of time that individuals can receive benefits by nearly three months.
The Perry Tyson plant will close near the end of June. The Associated Press reported that Tyson will work with state and local officials to help workers who are losing their jobs, but the company did not say what severance packages it will offer.
Multiple Iowa Senate Democrats spoke on the floor Wednesday, calling on Reynolds to release emergency funding to help the workers remain in Perry while finding a new job, and for Tyson to offer Perry workers a severance package.
Sen. Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo, criticized the reduction in state unemployment benefits that Statehouse Republicans approved in 2020. Dotzler noted that at the time, Senate Democrats offered an amendment that would have kept the longer benefits eligibility in place for workers impacted by plant closures.
“These benefits paid to workers also help the small businesses in their town. … They buy their goods, get their gas; they are the real engine of economic development in keeping small businesses alive in Perry,” Dotzler said. “And now, thanks to your actions, they’re going to lose nearly three months’ worth of benefits. That’s going to affect that community in a very negative way.”
A spokesman for Iowa Workforce Development said the state department will be working with Tyson to assist workers impacted by the Perry plant’s closure, including the deployment of the agency’s new, mobile workforce center.
In a statement, Republican Sen. Jason Schultz of Schleswig said Republicans' recent unemployment changes have been a success in getting Iowans back into the workforce. He noted that there are more than 13,000 job openings in Central Iowa.
“Plant closing and job losses are traumatic experience for employees affected by the closing, their families, and the entire community," Schultz said. "Iowa Workforce Development and Tyson are both fully engaged in finding new employment for the impacted workers in Perry."
Sales of hemp-derived CBD and THC products in Iowa could carry a 25 percent tax under a bill Senate lawmakers advanced Wednesday.
Senate Study Bill 3186 is intended to put intoxicating THC drinks and other products on the same level as alcohol, which is subject to a tax from the state’s Alcoholic Beverages Division, said Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, who led a subcommittee on the bill.
“It’s not fair in this state to have these distributors paying a 7 percent sales tax on these products, meanwhile if you’re brewing or selling beer you’ve got to run it through ABD’s state warehouse,” he said. “The tax disparity is all off on these issues.”
Products containing THC, legal under federal and state hemp regulation laws, are sold at some shops and bars across Iowa and cause similar psychoactive effects to traditional marijuana. But the bill would go beyond THC and impose the same tax rate on non-psychoactive CBD and any other “consumable hemp” product sold in Iowa.
Owners of shops that sell CBD told lawmakers Wednesday the bill would punish those stores that are selling products that are used for therapeutic reasons and do not cause intoxication. They said the bill should more narrowly target high-THC products.
Lawmakers also are looking to regulate the THC content of hemp products. House lawmakers passed a bill this week to cap the potency of hemp products at 4 milligrams of THC per serving and 10 milligrams per package.
House lawmakers passed a bill, 93-3, Tuesday aimed at reining in prescription drug pricing practices that have forced small, independent and rural pharmacies to close.
House File 2401 would prohibit pharmacy benefit managers from charging an insurer more than they pay a pharmacy to dispense a medication. The practice is refereed to as “spread pricing” — where the pharmacy benefit manager keeps the difference as profit.
Instead, the bill would require the managers to contract based on a “pass-through pricing” model — meaning they could not pay pharmacies less than they charge the insurers that contract with them.
Pharmacy benefit managers, known as PBMs, are third-party companies that function as intermediaries between insurance providers and drug manufacturers. The multibillion-dollar companies play a major role in negotiating drug prices and reimbursements for pharmacies.
Lawmakers said the bill would aid rural and independent community pharmacies that have struggled because of PBM practices. Pharmacies across Iowa have closed at an alarming rate over the past decade-plus, partly because insurance payouts don't cover drug costs. Independent pharmacies rely on pharmacy benefit managers so that they can take various insurance plans, but those companies also decide how much money the pharmacists receive when reimbursing them.
Pharmacists have said they are selling many common, brand-name prescriptions at a loss because PBMs reimburse them less than a pharmacy's cost to acquire the drug.
“At one time, Iowa counties had a minimum of two pharmacies. Now we are down to 54 (of 99) counties having at least two pharmacies,” bill manager Rep. Shannon Lundgren, R-Peosta, said in her closing comments on the House floor Tuesday. “… It’s time to take some bold action to stop the unfair treatment of our local pharmacies.”
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The House State Government Committee opted not to advance Senate File 2311, making it unlikely to become law this year. The bill last month passed the Senate, 31-16.
Rep. Jane Bloomingdale, R-Northwood, who chairs the committee, said members had too many concerns about the potential added costs created by the bill. A fiscal note from the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency found that hiring a private CPA firm could cost up to more than three times as much as using the state auditor’s staff.
"It was just something the committee couldn't get behind," Bloomingdale said, adding there's not support to move the bill forward in the House.
State Auditor Rob Sand, the lone Democrat elected to statewide office in Iowa, said in a statement the tabling “is a welcome development that respects the will of the voters and won't waste taxpayer money.”
Sand and legislative Democrats say the bill “kneecaps” Sand’s authority as auditor and opens the door to corruption by allowing government officials to bypass the state auditor for annual audits. Republican supporters argue the hiring of a private accountant to conduct a required annual audit already is allowed and widely employed by local governments and school districts.
A recent Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows a majority of Iowans oppose the measure.
Senate Democrats urge action on Perry Tyson plant closing
Democratic lawmakers in the Iowa Senate are urging the Legislature and Gov. Kim Reynolds to take action to help residents of Perry deal with the closing of Tyson Foods’ pork plant there, which will result in the elimination of roughly 1,200 jobs.
Democrats also criticized recent, Republican-approved changes to the state’s unemployment benefits program, which reduced the amount of time that individuals can receive benefits by nearly three months.
The Perry Tyson plant will close near the end of June. The Associated Press reported that Tyson will work with state and local officials to help workers who are losing their jobs, but the company did not say what severance packages it will offer.
Multiple Iowa Senate Democrats spoke on the floor Wednesday, calling on Reynolds to release emergency funding to help the workers remain in Perry while finding a new job, and for Tyson to offer Perry workers a severance package.
Sen. Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo, criticized the reduction in state unemployment benefits that Statehouse Republicans approved in 2020. Dotzler noted that at the time, Senate Democrats offered an amendment that would have kept the longer benefits eligibility in place for workers impacted by plant closures.
“These benefits paid to workers also help the small businesses in their town. … They buy their goods, get their gas; they are the real engine of economic development in keeping small businesses alive in Perry,” Dotzler said. “And now, thanks to your actions, they’re going to lose nearly three months’ worth of benefits. That’s going to affect that community in a very negative way.”
A spokesman for Iowa Workforce Development said the state department will be working with Tyson to assist workers impacted by the Perry plant’s closure, including the deployment of the agency’s new, mobile workforce center.
In a statement, Republican Sen. Jason Schultz of Schleswig said Republicans' recent unemployment changes have been a success in getting Iowans back into the workforce. He noted that there are more than 13,000 job openings in Central Iowa.
“Plant closing and job losses are traumatic experience for employees affected by the closing, their families, and the entire community," Schultz said. "Iowa Workforce Development and Tyson are both fully engaged in finding new employment for the impacted workers in Perry."
Tax on hemp products proposed
Sales of hemp-derived CBD and THC products in Iowa could carry a 25 percent tax under a bill Senate lawmakers advanced Wednesday.
Senate Study Bill 3186 is intended to put intoxicating THC drinks and other products on the same level as alcohol, which is subject to a tax from the state’s Alcoholic Beverages Division, said Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, who led a subcommittee on the bill.
“It’s not fair in this state to have these distributors paying a 7 percent sales tax on these products, meanwhile if you’re brewing or selling beer you’ve got to run it through ABD’s state warehouse,” he said. “The tax disparity is all off on these issues.”
Products containing THC, legal under federal and state hemp regulation laws, are sold at some shops and bars across Iowa and cause similar psychoactive effects to traditional marijuana. But the bill would go beyond THC and impose the same tax rate on non-psychoactive CBD and any other “consumable hemp” product sold in Iowa.
Owners of shops that sell CBD told lawmakers Wednesday the bill would punish those stores that are selling products that are used for therapeutic reasons and do not cause intoxication. They said the bill should more narrowly target high-THC products.
Lawmakers also are looking to regulate the THC content of hemp products. House lawmakers passed a bill this week to cap the potency of hemp products at 4 milligrams of THC per serving and 10 milligrams per package.
Iowa House passes drug pricing bill
House lawmakers passed a bill, 93-3, Tuesday aimed at reining in prescription drug pricing practices that have forced small, independent and rural pharmacies to close.
House File 2401 would prohibit pharmacy benefit managers from charging an insurer more than they pay a pharmacy to dispense a medication. The practice is refereed to as “spread pricing” — where the pharmacy benefit manager keeps the difference as profit.
Instead, the bill would require the managers to contract based on a “pass-through pricing” model — meaning they could not pay pharmacies less than they charge the insurers that contract with them.
Pharmacy benefit managers, known as PBMs, are third-party companies that function as intermediaries between insurance providers and drug manufacturers. The multibillion-dollar companies play a major role in negotiating drug prices and reimbursements for pharmacies.
Lawmakers said the bill would aid rural and independent community pharmacies that have struggled because of PBM practices. Pharmacies across Iowa have closed at an alarming rate over the past decade-plus, partly because insurance payouts don't cover drug costs. Independent pharmacies rely on pharmacy benefit managers so that they can take various insurance plans, but those companies also decide how much money the pharmacists receive when reimbursing them.
Pharmacists have said they are selling many common, brand-name prescriptions at a loss because PBMs reimburse them less than a pharmacy's cost to acquire the drug.
“At one time, Iowa counties had a minimum of two pharmacies. Now we are down to 54 (of 99) counties having at least two pharmacies,” bill manager Rep. Shannon Lundgren, R-Peosta, said in her closing comments on the House floor Tuesday. “… It’s time to take some bold action to stop the unfair treatment of our local pharmacies.”
Capitol Notebook: Iowa bill to allow bypassing state auditor shelved in committee
Also: Democrats decry jobless aid cuts as Perry meatpacking plant closure looms.
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