27
Nov
2001
• Cuts in Iowa's state budget have affected many programs and state agencies, but those to the Department of Human Services (DHS) could be devastating to the most vulnerable families in the state. Cuts in staff at DHS will result in an increased workload for remaining personnel, which will affect services to families. Some of its regulatory duties will be switched to other departments, which will delay processing payments to child-care providers for people on welfare who are attending school or work. Other supportive services such as Promise Jobs and Family Development & Self-Sufficiency (FaDSS) will be adversely affected. When Governor Tom Vilsack was in Davenport for a town meeting last week, he stated that there was $400 million in a reserve fund that could be used to reduce these cuts, but legislators were not interested in tapping into the fund.
• The City of Bettendorf Park's Department has received a $116,000 grant for additional improvements at Pigeon Creek Park. The grant will fund the development of additional trails, including a bridge across Crow Creek. Additionally, observation decks and new interpretive signage and native plantings will be part of the improvements. Plans should be completed over the winter, with construction to begin in spring and expected completion by the end of summer 2002.
• Buried in the more than 300 pages of the USA Patriot Act, signed into law by President Bush in late October, is a provision that will require businesses to monitor their customers and report "suspicious transactions" to the Treasury Department. In the new law is a provision that "any person engaged in a trade or business" has to file a government report if a customer spends $10,000 or more in cash. The threshold is cumulative and applies to multiple purchases if they're somehow related; three $4,000 pieces of furniture, for example, might trigger a filing. Until now, only banks, thrifts, and credit unions have been required to report cash transactions to the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network under the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970.
• Iowa Governor Vilsack in a recent town meeting in Davenport proposed increasing the state's minimum wage. Vilsack said 103,000 people currently earn $5.15 to $6.14 an hour, and another 91,000 earn less than $7.15 an hour. The Governor's proposal is to raise the state's minimum wage by $1 an hour over the next two years, from $5.15 to $6.15. Republicans counter that raising the minimum wage will make Iowa's small businesses less competitive with those in other states, and that the answer for growing Iowa's economy lies in targeted tax breaks for businesses and venture capital.
• Nancy Glawe, a retired North Scott Community School District kindergarten teacher and Davenport resident, has announced that she is running for the Iowa House of Representatives in the newly re-drawn District 85. Retired Representative Mona Martin, her honorary campaign chairperson, previously held the seat for eight years. Glawe says education will be her top priority, along with seeking a balanced budget.
• The American Cancer Society will receive an estimated $90,000 from Eagle Food Centers through the "Two Cents for Breast Cancer" campaign held October 2001 through December 2001. Eagle Food Centers is donating two cents to the Society when customers purchase Top Crest, Lady Lee, Food Club, Pet Club, and Marquee products. All Eagle Food Center locations in Iowa and Illinois are participating in the program. Last year, Eagle Food Centers raised $84,000 for the American Cancer Society.
• Iowa East Central TRAIN is now accepting applications for the 2001-2002 Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program in Scott, Clinton, Cedar, and Muscatine counties. The program is funded through the Iowa Department of Human Rights and is designed to help qualified low-income homeowners and renters pay a portion of their winter heating bills. Since October 1, more than 3,700 households have applied for assistance, a 22 percent increase over last year. For more information, get in touch with Iowa East Central TRAIN at 2804 Eastern Avenue, Cottage 7, in Davenport, or phone (563)324-8239.
• Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), America's largest taxpayer watchdog group, has released its annual compendium of what it considers wasteful and inefficient programs in the federal budget. The report, Prime Cuts 2001: A Commonsense Guide to Leaner Government, is a collection of 543 budget-cutting recommendations throughout government that if enacted could save taxpayers $159 billion in fiscal 2002 and $1.27 trillion over the next five years. Prime Cuts features some long-standing proposals, such as terminating the Americorps program (saving $2.2 billion over five years), reforming milk-marketing orders (saving $669 million over five years), and eliminating the Advanced Technology Program (saving $480 million over five years). New recommendations include opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling, saving $1.5 billion over five years. Other recommendations include ending the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program (saving $2.5 billion over five years) and reducing drug-elimination grants by 25 percent (saving $133 million over five years). You can find a copy of this report for yourself on CAGW's Web site at (http://www.cagw.org).
• The Genesis Heart Institute is providing Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) to law-enforcement officers in Blue Grass, Buffalo, Eldridge, LeClaire, Long Grove, McCausland, and Walcott in cooperation with Medtronic, makers of the LIFEPACK 500 AED. The donations are part of a community-wide effort that started in September with the Bettendorf Police Department. Every minute after a heart attack, the chance of survival without treatment decreases by approximately 10 percent. AEDs provide an electrical shock that can restore the heart's normal rhythm, increasing the victim's chance of survival by more than 90 percent. Genesis Heart Institute is working through the American Heart Association's "Operation Heartbeat" initiative to place AEDs in businesses, community organizations, and public venues throughout the Quad Cities.
• The City of Bettendorf Park's Department has received a $116,000 grant for additional improvements at Pigeon Creek Park. The grant will fund the development of additional trails, including a bridge across Crow Creek. Additionally, observation decks and new interpretive signage and native plantings will be part of the improvements. Plans should be completed over the winter, with construction to begin in spring and expected completion by the end of summer 2002.
• Buried in the more than 300 pages of the USA Patriot Act, signed into law by President Bush in late October, is a provision that will require businesses to monitor their customers and report "suspicious transactions" to the Treasury Department. In the new law is a provision that "any person engaged in a trade or business" has to file a government report if a customer spends $10,000 or more in cash. The threshold is cumulative and applies to multiple purchases if they're somehow related; three $4,000 pieces of furniture, for example, might trigger a filing. Until now, only banks, thrifts, and credit unions have been required to report cash transactions to the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network under the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970.
• Iowa Governor Vilsack in a recent town meeting in Davenport proposed increasing the state's minimum wage. Vilsack said 103,000 people currently earn $5.15 to $6.14 an hour, and another 91,000 earn less than $7.15 an hour. The Governor's proposal is to raise the state's minimum wage by $1 an hour over the next two years, from $5.15 to $6.15. Republicans counter that raising the minimum wage will make Iowa's small businesses less competitive with those in other states, and that the answer for growing Iowa's economy lies in targeted tax breaks for businesses and venture capital.
• Nancy Glawe, a retired North Scott Community School District kindergarten teacher and Davenport resident, has announced that she is running for the Iowa House of Representatives in the newly re-drawn District 85. Retired Representative Mona Martin, her honorary campaign chairperson, previously held the seat for eight years. Glawe says education will be her top priority, along with seeking a balanced budget.
• The American Cancer Society will receive an estimated $90,000 from Eagle Food Centers through the "Two Cents for Breast Cancer" campaign held October 2001 through December 2001. Eagle Food Centers is donating two cents to the Society when customers purchase Top Crest, Lady Lee, Food Club, Pet Club, and Marquee products. All Eagle Food Center locations in Iowa and Illinois are participating in the program. Last year, Eagle Food Centers raised $84,000 for the American Cancer Society.
• Iowa East Central TRAIN is now accepting applications for the 2001-2002 Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program in Scott, Clinton, Cedar, and Muscatine counties. The program is funded through the Iowa Department of Human Rights and is designed to help qualified low-income homeowners and renters pay a portion of their winter heating bills. Since October 1, more than 3,700 households have applied for assistance, a 22 percent increase over last year. For more information, get in touch with Iowa East Central TRAIN at 2804 Eastern Avenue, Cottage 7, in Davenport, or phone (563)324-8239.
• Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), America's largest taxpayer watchdog group, has released its annual compendium of what it considers wasteful and inefficient programs in the federal budget. The report, Prime Cuts 2001: A Commonsense Guide to Leaner Government, is a collection of 543 budget-cutting recommendations throughout government that if enacted could save taxpayers $159 billion in fiscal 2002 and $1.27 trillion over the next five years. Prime Cuts features some long-standing proposals, such as terminating the Americorps program (saving $2.2 billion over five years), reforming milk-marketing orders (saving $669 million over five years), and eliminating the Advanced Technology Program (saving $480 million over five years). New recommendations include opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling, saving $1.5 billion over five years. Other recommendations include ending the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program (saving $2.5 billion over five years) and reducing drug-elimination grants by 25 percent (saving $133 million over five years). You can find a copy of this report for yourself on CAGW's Web site at (http://www.cagw.org).
• The Genesis Heart Institute is providing Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) to law-enforcement officers in Blue Grass, Buffalo, Eldridge, LeClaire, Long Grove, McCausland, and Walcott in cooperation with Medtronic, makers of the LIFEPACK 500 AED. The donations are part of a community-wide effort that started in September with the Bettendorf Police Department. Every minute after a heart attack, the chance of survival without treatment decreases by approximately 10 percent. AEDs provide an electrical shock that can restore the heart's normal rhythm, increasing the victim's chance of survival by more than 90 percent. Genesis Heart Institute is working through the American Heart Association's "Operation Heartbeat" initiative to place AEDs in businesses, community organizations, and public venues throughout the Quad Cities.
