This coming Friday, April 4, is the second legislative “funnel” deadline. A bill is required to have passed one chamber and through a committee in the other chamber to remain eligible for further consideration. The deadline does not apply to appropriations or tax legislation.
We invite you to compose a message to your state senator in opposition to HF 572. The bill is unnecessary as it already against federal law to harbor immigrants without papers, and it is already against federal and state law to traffic in humans. The ICC is concerned the bill could be interpreted to criminalize providing basic charity to immigrants.
The ICC also has an action alert regarding HF 775. The bill is eligible for debate on the House floor but would have to be passed this week. The proposal requires abortion facilities to post information on the possibility of reversing the effects of a medication abortion. The bill further requires that a doctor cannot dispense the drug unless it is in a healthcare setting.
Last week at the State Capitol
By a vote of 64-32, the House passed HF 571. The bill allows a medical professional or health care institution to refuse to perform a medical service (not including emergencies) for reasons of conscience. The ICC has been working in support of the legislation for several years but this is the first time it has passed a chamber. The bill goes to the Senate.
The Senate passed SF 473 on a bi-partisan vote of 35-14 and sent the bill to the House. The ICC supports the proposal. It stops HHS from rejecting prospective foster care/adoptive parents based on their beliefs related to sexual orientation or identity. Placements must still be made in the best interests of the child.
A bill adding a requirement of 80 hours of work per month for the 180,000 people on the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan has passed both chambers. The Plan offers health insurance coverage through Medicaid for adults who make less than 133% of the federal poverty level. While the Catholic Church values the dignity of work, these reporting requirements have shown clear evidence of creating barriers to health care while doing little to support people looking for work. The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency projects that around 32,000 Iowans would lose benefits. Thanks to the many of you who contacted your legislators in opposition to the bill.
It appears we have an uphill battle to pass HF 570 this year. The legislation offers discharge credits, educational credits, and workforce credits that reduce an individual’s term of probation. The purpose of the bill is to help offenders reintegrate into society sooner without undermining public safety. The bill passed the House unanimously, but we don’t think it’s going to be taken up by the Senate Judiciary Committee this week.
HF 970, which ties a $1 million appropriation for the Double Up Food Bucks program to a new list of food and beverage restrictions for SNAP (food stamps), passed the House by a vote of 56-40. There was bipartisan opposition to the legislation, which now goes to the Senate. The ICC’s advice is to approve the Double Up Food Bucks money on its own rather than making it contingent on federal approval of a new food list. Double Up Food Bucks provides matching funds for purchase of fruits and vegetables by SNAP recipients.
HF 807 passed the House 95-0. The bill requires HHS to create a webpage listing the perinatal hospice services available in Iowa and nationally. We’ll be working to get the bill out of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
The House unanimously approved HF 926.. The bill allows human trafficking victims to expunge their records of any crimes that they were forced to commit. The bill heads to the Senate.
Rep. Blaine Watkins of Lee County has been sworn in as the new member of the Iowa House for District 100. He won a special election following the death of Martin Graber.
USCCB President Urges Congress to uphold life and dignity in its work
In a letter to members of Congress, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, urges members to "keep forefront in mind the sacredness of human life and the inherent, God-given dignity of every person," and urged members to consider the following in their work:
Support and strengthen families, by providing meaningful support for pregnant mothers, parents, and their children, so every family has the support to choose life for their baby; enacting protections for the preborn; enhancing the Child Tax Credit to help families flourish; and allowing parents to choose the best education for their children.
Protect poor and vulnerable people at home and abroad, such as by maintaining safety net programs such as Medicaid and SNAP that provide life-changing and life-saving support for those in need; ensuring that tax reform makes poor families better off, not worse; providing essential assistance to our most vulnerable brothers and sisters struggling in the most dire conditions around the world; and ensuring good environmental stewardship.
Support an immigration system that furthers the common good, with targeted, proportionate, and humane immigration enforcement that safeguards our borders and communities, while providing legal pathways to immigrants, respect for due process, access to humanitarian protections such as refugee resettlement, compassion to people on the move, and accommodations for family unity.
Defend religious liberty by protecting faith communities around the world from discrimination and respecting the religious nature of faith-providers’ charitable and social service work.
You can find the USCCB’s action alerts here, as well as a flier on contacting Congress about international aid. Unfortunately, 69 out of Catholic Relief Services’ 150 awards have been terminated by the administration, affecting 20 million people. Catholic Relief Services is planning a “Week of Action” for contacts to Congress about international aid on April 6-12.
And finally,
In addition to the Iowa Religious Freedom Day breakfast at the Capitol on April 10, the ICC is co-sponsoring a presentation by Dr. David Cochran, professor of politics at Loras College, on the role of religious liberty in building peace in the world. It will be held on Thursday, April 10 at noon in the Maucker Union on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa. The event is being hosted by St. Stephen the Witness Catholic Student Center. Free pizza!
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