Following up on my post below about the cost of implementing the VOICE legislation (HF 805), I just spoke a bit with Adam Mason of Voter-Owned Iowa to clear up and talk about a few things. Nothing specifically quotable, but just some discussion. Clearly, the cost is an issue with the legislation — but let’s put it into perspective. When considering the overall budget of the state, $10 million is 1/10 of 1% of the total budget. That’s a mere drop in the bucket.
Of course, we have to take into account that spending that will be limited in other fields that are critical to successful legislating and policy implementation. But, if CityView’s Civic Skinny column from last week is right, then we’re doing just fine when it comes to state revenue and the ability to pay for things that both Gov. Culver and the Legislature want:
“But money lets a governor do almost anything, and the state is suddenly rolling in it. Net taxes in February were $44.5 million higher than taxes collected in February 2006, and net taxes collected in the past 12 months were $383.9 million higher than in the year-earlier period, according to a little-noted new state report. Income taxes and gambling taxes account for most of the gains. Whatever the cause, Culver can easily give nearly every agency almost everything it wants, thanks to a compliant Democratic legislature.”
Don’t believe Skinny or think they got something wrong? Check out the memo from the LSA here (PDF). We’re going to have the revenue and the ability to make this work. The sections of the bill allow for public funding don’t take effect until 2010, allow for a build-up in the fund to make sure that everyone using the system can remain competitive and create the appropriate transition time to create the implementation mechanisms necessary in IECDB and other areas. And trust me, I’ve got no qualms with giving IECDB the money they need to improve their services and transparency — which the electronic filing and other requirements of VOICE would help do. Wanna know more about VOICE? Check out an FAQ here.
Basically, here are the few other things that I know. The bill is funnel-proof. It has been passed out of both the state government committees in the House and the Senate, at least as a study bill. But Rep. Jo Oldson is the Chair of the full Appropriations Committee and has basically said she’s taking her cues for the bill from the leadership. Their goal isn’t necessarily to kill the bill, but it doesn’t seem like they’re ready for it to come to the floor. So, the plan seems that they’re going to stifle the bill and keep it from coming to the floor until the end of the session — effectively killing it, but not doing it so bluntly. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but let’s keep pushing forward. This fight doesn’t end any time soon.
Well, as far as I can tell, there has yet to be a subcommittee meeting on VOICE. What does that mean? I don’t know, to be honest. Clearly, I’d like to think that it means the lobbying efforts of folks like I’m For Iowa, ICCI, Voter-Owned Iowa, labor groups, and the Iowa netroots are having an impact on either the leadership or the appropriations subcommittee dealing with the bill. On March 25, the Fiscal Services Division of the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) issued a Fiscal Note on HF 805, the VOICE legislation. You can view the PDF of the Fiscal Note here.
The Fiscal Note from the LSA explains a bit why Subcommittee Chair Dave Jacoby has been discussing the “$10 million price tag” for VOICE. According the calculations and work of the LSA, VOICE — as currently written — would decrease revenue in the General Fund by $5 million in FY 2008 and $10 million in FY 2009. Part of those costs arise out of an annual deposit from the State Treasurer of $10 million into the VOICE Fund from the profit gained from selling unclaimed property. According to other states and from Iowa’s tax filing check-off for the parties, there would be a very high threshold of check-offs at the beginning, and then would diminish. If 240,000 tax-filing Iowans chose to check the box, currently that would only generate about $1.2 million for the VOICE fund, at least according to my calculation. They also estimate that the income tax return check-off will only generate approximately $100k to $150k annually.
Anyway, I’d like to hear from you folks as to what you’ve heard. I’ve also emailed Adam Mason at Voter-Owned Iowa to get some more information and a response to the Fiscal Note. What are your thoughts? At present, we’ve still got a shot to get VOICE out of subcommittee. Let’s make it happen.
From all of my investigating this morning, it looks like HF 805, the VOICE legislation, will be coming before the Appropriations Subcommittee tomorrow. The prediction last week was that bill would come before the subcommittee sometime either today or tomorrow. On today’s House schedule, the Appropriations Subcommittee is not scheduled to meet, likely meaning the bill will be considered tomorrow sometime. That still gives us another 24 hours to keep the push going for Voter-Owned Iowa Clean Elections! Remember, the three members of the Appropriations Subcommittee that you should contact are:
- Rep. Dave Jacoby (D) — Chair of the Subcommittee
House District 30 — Johnson County
David.Jacoby@legis.state.ia.us
- Rep. Jo Oldson (D)
House District 61 — Polk County
Jo.Oldson@legis.state.ia.us
- Rep. Rod Roberts (R)
House District 51 — Carroll County
Rod.Roberts@legis.state.ia.us
Remember, if you’re not hearing back via email, call the House Switchboard at (515) 281-3221 and ask to be connected to any of those representatives. Check out a VOICE Brochure here via the VoterOwnedIowa.org site (PDF). Keep letting us know how things are going!
Ed. Note: Cross-posted at Bleeding Heartland.
So, I’m not sure how many folks have emailed or called their Representatives, but I know we’re being heard or read, just maybe not responded to. After posting my original post both here and on Bleeding Heartland as well as forwarding an email out to the Iowa Rapid Response email list, I know many other activists around Iowa have sought to contact Representatives in the Iowa House. Jerry Depew of IowaVoters.org has been a leading voice on voting reform efforts in Iowa and has gotten the same standard response from Dave Jacoby that T.M. Lindsey received. I emailed Reps. Jo Oldson, Dave Jacoby, Dwayne Alons, Pat Murphy, and Kevin McCarthy. So far I haven’t received any responses. DesMoinesDem called Jo Oldson and left a message, and as far I as I know has not heard back.
Meanwhile, I have a correction to report. Dwayne Alons is not the Republican member of the subcommittee, but Rod Roberts is. Here is his contact information:
- Rep. Rod Roberts (R)
House District 51 — Carroll County
Rod.Roberts@legis.state.ia.us
Sorry about the original confusion. Please make sure to contact Rep. Roberts and find out where he stands on VOICE, HF 805.
Even if folks aren’t responding to your calls and emails, keep following up and putting the pressure on them to support the bill. There may be concerns about funding and implementation, but that doesn’t mean the bill should be killed: It means the democratic process should be implemented, there should be a subcommittee hearing on the bill that is open to the public and that they should consider the problems with the bill there and work to improve it, not just kill it and put it aside for next year. Iowans shouldn’t have to wait for the necessary reforms to our campaign finance system.
One final update, the calendar for tomorrow in the House has not yet been released. As soon as I know if the House Appropriations Subcommittee plans on meeting, I’ll let you know. We’ve got to get calls and emails (and follow-ups) in ASAP. Keep up the hard work.
Ed. Note: Cross-posted at Bleeding Heartland.
Today, we need action at the grassroots and netroots level to the bring Voter-Owned Iowa Clean Elections law out of subcommittee, to the full House Appropriations Committee, and then to the floor for debate in the Iowa House. Ed Fallon (and his group I’m For Iowa) and former Governor Tom Vilsack both support HF 805 and right now the bill is in an appropriations subcommittee with instructions to kill the bill.
Members of that subcommittee include:
- Rep. Dave Jacoby (D)
House District 30 — Johnson County
David.Jacoby@legis.state.ia.us
- Rep. Jo Oldson (D)
House District 61 — Polk County
Jo.Oldson@legis.state.ia.us
- Rep. Dwayne Alons (R)
House District 4 — Sioux County
Dwayne.Alons@legis.state.ia.us
Please email them or call the House Switchboard at (515) 281-3221 to get a hold of them and ask them to support HF 805, the VOICE legislation. The subcommittee is expected to meet either tomorrow or Wednesday — without large citizen support and efforts to communicate that support to them, they’ll kill the bill. We cannot allow that to happen. If the bill comes out of the subcommittee, it essentially becomes “funnel-proof” and must then be considered before the full House Appropriations Committee and would likely make it to the floor of the House for consideration.
When you contact your legislators, use this email from T.M. Lindsey as an example — and remember, be POLITE! Also, include in your email if they plan on voting for the bill or against the bill, both in subcommittee and in further debate. If they email you back, please post the response in the comments section and we can work to further inquire about the bill and where its going. From these responses, we’ll start to put a list together of where each Representative stands and we can put the pressure on them.
