This last week, the Iowa House Appropriations Committee passed the Health & Human Services budget with a bipartisan vote that addressed several issues. Among them are:

-Mental Health providers and families receiving $33.5 million in rate increases through Medicaid. This includes the Psychiatric Medical Institutions for Children (PMICs) receiving a $10.3 million increase ($3.9 million in state funding).

-Home-Based Habilitation, which helps keep high-needs individuals with mental health conditions out of the hospital or jail, receiving a $20.5 million increase ($7.1 million state funding).

-It also includes a $2.7 million buydown to reduce the children's mental health waiver waitlist ($1 million state funding).

-Rural psychiatric residency funding is increased by $200,000 (total $600,000) to continue expanding the number of psychiatrists in rural Iowa.

-It increases funding to nursing homes by $52.7 million ($20 million in state funding) for the 444 nursing homes in Iowa that protected some of the most vulnerable people to the Covid-19 virus.

-This budget also includes helping Iowans affected with the childcare "cliff effect", more money to the State Medical Examiner to hire another forensic pathologist, the Telehealth (HF 294) bill, funds to high 53 full time employees in the DHS field operations for cases of child abuse, and $1 million to help Iowans move off welfare programs and into the workforce.

We didn't pass a lot but did pass some important bills. House File 889: An act prohibiting the mandatory disclosure of whether a person has received a vaccination for COVID19, disqualifying certain entities from receiving state grants or contracts, and including effective date provisions. HF 889 addresses Covid-19 vaccine passports. It prohibits the government from creating these passports and prohibits governmental entities from requiring a person to provide their vaccination status.  This bill is a good start and the best we could do at this time. If the bill needs any changes, we will do so next January or February.

This was a really important bill for the State of Iowa. We are only in session for a few months a year, so it was important we acted fast to ensure both the freedom and privacy of receiving or not receiving the COVID19 vaccine. This bill accomplished the following issues:

- Outright ban of vaccine passports.

- Prohibited state and local government from issuing any sort of identification on a person's vaccine status.

- Businesses that require proof of vaccination will be ineligible for state contracts or grants while allowing exceptions for health and long-term care facilities.

- Ensures privacy for health care information.

- Protects Iowans' freedoms to make their own health care decisions.

This bill helps protect Iowans and their individual rights, and even in public health crises, that is still vitally important. We trust Iowans to make the right decisions, but we also want to ensure Iowans' rights and freedoms are protected.

This bill now heads to the Senate.

Senate File 356 passed the House by party lines which limits civil liabilities for persons engaged in agricultural tourism, such as pumpkin farms.

House File 848: An act relating to broadband service, including matters under the purview of the Office of the Chief Information Officer, the Empower Rural Iowa Broadband Grant Fund, and including effective date and applicability provisions.

This is an excellent bill for Iowa. Since before the pandemic, expanding broadband has always been a priority for House Republicans. It essential for business, industry, and the growth of any community. However, it also goes beyond that, it also helps better outcomes of our agriculture industry, through precision agriculture, general crop production, and being up to date on market information. Along with the general need, growing broadband is vital to the health and growth of our rural communities. We will continue to work to make sure we continue to advance and expand broadband across the state.

This bill was signed by Governor Reynolds.

We are still in session even though April 30th is the 110th day and the end of a per diem stipend. The leadership of the House and Senate are still negotiating the final costs of the budgets, and I'm confident they will come to a mutual agreement shortly.

If you need anything or have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Thomas Gerhold
Representative of House District 75
Vice-Chair of Economic Development
(515) 281-3221

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