Capitol Update Week Fifteen

Brian Best COMMITTEES STATE REPRESENTATIVE Transportation, Vice Chair Economic Growth Human Resources Natural Resourc...

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Brian Best

COMMITTEES

STATE REPRESENTATIVE

Transportation, Vice Chair Economic Growth Human Resources Natural Resources

Twelfth District Statehouse: (515) 281-3221 e-mail – [email protected]

HOME ADDRESS P.O. Box 450 Glidden, Iowa 51443 Home: (712) 830-1844

House of Representatives State of Iowa Eighty-Sixth General Assembly

APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE

Health and Human Services, Vice Chair

STATEHOUSE

Des Moines, Iowa 50319

Welcome to week 15! This is our final scheduled week here at the Statehouse. Bird Flu Outbreak April 14th was the anniversary of the bird flu outbreak from last year. The Secretary of Ag, Bill Northey, called it a “good sign” that the upper Midwest has been free of the disease so far this year. Last year’s outbreak resulted in the deaths of more than 31.5 million Iowa laying hens and turkeys and cost producers more than 1 billion dollars. All poultry farms are now required to have a biosecurity plan to qualify for USDA funds to pay for poultry killed to prevent spread of infection. Experts concur that poultry farmers need to respond within 24 hours of infestation to help control the disease and limit the spread. The USDA has called the 2015 outbreak, which affected 48 million birds in 21 states, the largest animal health emergency in US history. Iowa was by far the hardest hit state. Adjournment The Iowa House is working to finalize a 7.35 billion dollar spending plan that begins July 1st. Last week the House passed measures seeking to fund long term water quality improvements. That must pass the Senate before it can to before the Governor to sign into law. Employment in Iowa More than 100,000 Iowans will retire in the next 5 years. According to the Iowa Business Council, which is an organization of Iowa employers, Iowa has 35,000 job vacancies and more than 72,000 workers over age 64. The largest vacancies will be in healthcare, technical services, sales, administrative support, and transportation. A good thing about this is that we know where the jobs are going to be. This will give our young people advance notice as to where the job market is going. One source of our new workers could be veterans. Thanks to Home Base Iowa, our state has a 1.9 percent unemployment rate within the veteran population. According to national statistics, more than 200,000 veterans leave military service each year and 83 percent have skills that would transfer to private sector jobs. Home Base Iowa encourages veterans to move to our state and join our workforce through various financial incentives. More than 80 percent of veterans have said they would be willing to relocate to obtain a good job. Home Base Iowa achieves two worthy goals. First, it aims to assist those who risked their lives for our country by providing them meaningful employment. Secondly, it helps to address an employment gap in Iowa.