Purple crocus sprout from a bed of dead leaves as spring weather arrives.

These government officials did whaaaat?

What were they thinking? That is a question I ask myself a lot lately.

Those were the first words out of my mouth when the Manhattan district attorney had to postpone Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial on the alleged hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels — the delay necessitated because government lawyers had dropped the ball.

I muttered those words during several days of court hearings in Georgia into Atlanta prosecutor Fani Willis’ affair with a subordinate prosecutor — the one she chose to lead the criminal case against Trump and a dozen other defendants for trying to undo that state’s 2020 presidential election results.

And those words come to mind about bills the Iowa Legislature is considering that would affect criminal cases like those brought against state university athletes for their online wagers on sporting events.

What were these government officials thinking? That is an excellent question in these cases.

Bill restricting storm water, top soil retention resurfaces; Bettendorf senator's bill passes House

Iowa Capital Dispatch
March 11, 2024

The Iowa House passed legislation Monday on local storm water and top soil regulation after the same bill failed last week.

Senate File 455 had failed to pass with a 44-49 vote last week. House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl filed a motion for reconsideration following the vote Wednesday, and on Monday, the motion was approved. The bill then passed in a 53-46 vote.

The measure would prohibit local regulations on stormwater runoff that are more restrictive than current flow rates based on return frequencies of five years. It also would prohibit local regulations related to topsoil preservation, compaction, placement or depth that are more restrictive than requirements set by the Department of Natural Resources and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.

India online media company buys 10 percent stake in Davenport-based Lee Enterprises, Inc.

An India online media company, Quint Digital Limited of Delhi, has purchased a 10 percent stake in Lee Enterprises, Inc., owner of the Quad City Times, the Dispatch/Argus and more than 70 other media properties.

Quint Digital and three of its owners, Raghav Bahl, Ritu Kapur and Vidar Bahl, purchased a total of 614,455 shares of Lee on Feb. 8. That represents 10 percent of Lee's outstanding common shares.

Iowa House defeats bill sponsored by Bettendorf state senator that would have banned more restrictive topsoil and storm water rules

by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch
March 6, 2024

A bill prohibiting local governments from passing more restrictive topsoil and storm water regulations than those set by the Department of Natural Resources failed Wednesday in the Iowa House.

Senate File 455 failed on a 44-49 vote — an unusual event given that the majority Republicans hold 64 seats.

The bill proposed prohibiting local regulations on stormwater runoff that are more restrictive than the state’s existing flow rates based on five-year frequencies. The bill also would bar local regulations related to topsoil preservation, compaction, placement or depth that are more restrictive than those set by the DNR.

Nursing home residents’ cries fall on deaf ears

Iowa Capital Dispatch
February 28, 2024

Iowa Capital Dispatch has been reporting for four years about nursing home residents dying due to neglect, as well as the state’s backlog of inspections and its lack of staff to complete them. It was bound to get lawmakers’ attention eventually.

Deputy Editor Clark Kauffman, who writes these stories, has been reporting on similar issues for more than two decades.

I was semi-hopeful before the start of the 2024 legislative session that this would be the year the Legislature actually did something meaningful about it. I should have known better.

Long-time state education department director says governor’s consultant report does not support her proposed changes to Iowa’s AEAs

Ted Stilwill has over 40 years of education experience starting as a teacher, building administrator, and central office administrator in Council Bluffs. He worked for the Iowa Department of Education for 18 years, first in charge of elementary and secondary education and then as department director for nearly 10 years. Following his work in the Iowa Department, Ted worked for a national educational nonprofit helping school districts and state education agencies work toward better outcomes for students. He finished his education career by working locally leading an 11-district consortium of metro Omaha districts in designing and implementing early childhood education centers.

by Ted Stilwill, Iowa Capital Dispatch
February 17, 2024

Last fall, Governor Reynold’s Department of Administrative Services contracted with a business consulting firm to produce a report critical of Iowa’s Area Education Agencies (AEAs). The study was translated into a bill submitted by the governor to decimate the AEAs and weaken Iowa’s public education system.

The authors of the report are not listed. The costs are not known. The directions to the consulting firm have not been shared. The consulting firm has no apparent expertise or track record in the education world. There is no documentation in the report that a single Iowan was engaged in the preparation of the report. Most importantly, I believe the conclusions about AEAs are flawed.

Iowa Republicans and Democrats offer competing solutions to provide nursing home oversight

Iowa Capital Dispatch

Democratic state lawmakers are pushing legislation to increase state oversight of nursing homes while Republican legislators are advancing a bill that could reduce such oversight.

Both initiatives are being advanced now due to a spate of deaths and serious injuries tied to regulatory violations in Iowa nursing homes. Republican lawmakers say the situation calls for a more “collaborative” approach to enforcement, while Democrats argue the state isn’t being tough enough on violators.

On Tuesday, the House Subcommittee on Health and Human Services reviewed a GOP-backed bill, House Study Bill 691, that would revise the state law that requires the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing to make a preliminary review of a nursing home complaint and, unless DIAL concludes the complaint is intended to harass a facility, make an on-site inspection.

The bill would add new exceptions to the requirement for on-site inspections, allowing DIAL to forgo an on-site visit if the agency concludes the complaint involves an issue that was already the subject of a complaint or a self-report from the facility itself within the previous 90 days. So, for example, if a facility self-reported an incident tied to insufficient staffing or a failure to monitor residents, it might not face another on-site inspection if a resident complained of the same issue two months later.

Lee reports drop in print, digital ad revenue; maintains digital transition strategy will succeed

Lee Enterprises – owner of the Quad City Times, Dispatch/Argus and 70+ other news publications and web sites – reported first quarter earnings of $1.2 million, a 32 percent decrease from the same period a year ago.

Lee executives again boasted of its growth in digital subscriptions (up 58 percent from the first quarter of 2022), but overall subscription revenue fell 10.5 percent compared with the same period last year.

"Our first quarter results demonstrate our confidence in Lee's digital transformation," Kevin Mowbray, Lee's President and Chief Executive Officer, stated in its earnings news release issued Feb. 1. "We are on a clear path to becoming sustainable solely from the revenue and cash flow from our digital products."

While the company has been pushing aggressively to move print subscribers to digital subscribers, the overall impact has been a steady decrease in total operating revenues.

Lawmakers discuss reducing inspections of hotels, asbestos removal – the move led by Bettendorf's Republican State Senator Scott Webster

by Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch
January 23, 2024

An Iowa Senate subcommittee advanced legislation Tuesday to cut back on the law’s requirement for hotel inspections and asbestos-related inspections at construction sites.

The three members of the Senate State Government Subcommittee expressed reservations with various elements of the bill, Senate Study Bill 3064, but the two Republican members said they intended to forward it to the full committee on the theory that there will be more discussion about the bill’s merits and any potential drawbacks.

Currently, state law requires that the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing inspect hotels and motels at least once every two years. However, the department has not complied with that law for several years and has instead inspected hotels largely on a complaint-only basis with some inspections being performed on a prioritized, risk-based assessment.

The department now hopes to have the law changed so that it essentially legalizes DIAL’s current practice.

Nursing homes invest in lobbying, campaign contributions; reap millions in taxpayer money

by Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch
December 22, 2023

Editor’s note: Shortly after this story was published, the Iowa Health Care Association removed from its website the publicly accessible audio recordings of IHCA lobbyists and members. As a result, the links in this story to those recordings may not work.

It was early on a Monday afternoon in September 2022, and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds was at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Des Moines, delivering a speech to a group of nursing home executives gathered for their annual convention.

It was a friendly and receptive audience – as evidenced by the donations the Reynolds campaign had collected in the previous four weeks from some of those in attendance.

The political action committee that represents Iowa’s nursing home industry had donated $30,000 to Reynolds’ 2022 reelection effort. David Chensvold, nursing home consultant and president of HealthCARE of Iowa, gave $20,000. Ted LeNeave, CEO of Accura Healthcare, gave $10,000, as did Lisa Toti, president of Accura Healthcare. Richard Allbee, CEO of the ABCM nursing home chain, gave $5,000, as did Douglas Johnson, CEO of Blue Stone Therapy.

In her prepared remarks, Reynolds reminded industry officials of her efforts to loosen “regulatory barriers” and shield the companies from legal liability resulting from wrongful death claims and other lawsuits. She also spoke of her successful efforts to increase Medicaid funding for the industry by $23 million in 2019, and again by $19 million in 2021.

“You’re not getting much help from the federal government, which apparently has never seen something it doesn’t like to regulate or mandate,” she said. “I can’t control Washington’s approach, but I can promise this: In Iowa, you’ll continue to get the support you’re being denied in Washington.”

The same day Reynolds spoke, a group of state lawmakers assembled on the stage at the Marriott and posed with plaques in appreciation of their efforts on behalf of the industry during the 2022 legislative session.

Standing shoulder to shoulder were seven legislators — all Republicans, like the governor: Speaker of the House Pat Grassley, Senate President Jake Chapman, House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl, Rep. Joel Fry, Rep. Ann Meyer, Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, and Sen. Mark Costello.

An Iowa Capital Dispatch review of legislation, campaign contributions, federal tax returns, inspection reports and audio recordings of industry lobbyists reveals the extent to which money influences critical public policy decisions related to the protection of Iowa’s elderly and people with disabilities.

Pages

Subscribe to Bettendorf.com RSS
Go to top