ISAC Update: 3.25.16
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86th Iowa General Assembly, Second Session, Week 11
This week brought resolution to another important piece to the formulation of the 2017 state budget with an agreement between the House and Senate for 2.25% increase in state aid for schools for the 2016-17 school year. This with the final Revenue Estimating Conference projection along with agreement on federal tax coupling last week, puts the final pieces in place to wrap things up for the budget target of the 2017 session.
· NEW Mental Health and Disability Services Funding
· NEW E-911 Funding
· NEW Land Surveying
· NEW Iowa Public Agency Investment Trust
· NEW Closed Session
· NEW Meeting Notice
· NEW Competitive Bid Notices
· Weekly Legislative Forums
New and Noteworthy
· NEW April ISAC Educational Webinars: Retirement and Leadership
· NEW ISAC NACo Board Representative
· NEW Health Care Providers in Rural Areas Workshops
· NEW Interpretive and Translation Services Contract
· ISAC Leadership Institute – District Seminars
· Smart Connections Conference
· Rural Impact County Challenge: A National Effort to Combat Rural Child Poverty
· Iowa Employment Conference
Mental Health and Disability Services Funding
On Wednesday, HSB 650, a House Ways and Means committee bill was introduced that would extend the current funding method for mental health and disability services for the next fiscal year. This funding method maintains both the $47.28 per capita ceiling and 1996 levy caps which will place a tremendous financial burden on a short term basis for a few regions and a total destabilization of the entire regional mental health and disability services (MH/DS) system in the long term. While this system worked with $30 million from the state to equalize the levies statewide, by not including this state funding last year and again this year will cause a disparity of levies between counties in the regions. ISAC continues to support the approach in SF 2236, a bill in the Senate Ways and Means committee that lifts the 1996 levy caps but maintains the $47.28 per capita restriction. This would allow the counties the ability to provide levy equity within the regions that currently isn’t permitted under the 1996 caps. This is a legislative priority for ISAC and we encourage all members to contact their legislators and tell them how important a long term funding solution is to the future of the MH/DS system in Iowa.
Click here to comment on MH/DS funding.
E-911 Funding
On Wednesday, the House approved HF 2439 out of the full chamber. As outlined last week, this bill increases the percentage of the E-911 surcharge fund going back to local public safety answering points (psap) from 46% to 60%. It also includes $200,000 for each psap that would voluntarily decide to consolidate with another psap. Any additional amount left over would be appropriated at a pro rata level to all psaps that would apply for grants up to $100,000. It now moves to the Senate where a similar bill, SF 2218 is being considered in the Senate Appropriations committee. As this is another ISAC legislative priority, we ask members to continue to advocate for this increase in funding for local law enforcement and emergency management.
Click here to comment on E-911 funding.
Land Surveying
SF 2276 passed the House on Tuesday. The bill puts in place formatting requirements for land survey documents to be filed with the county recorder. It also requires a land surveyor to be hired for the purpose of locating and preserving survey monuments if they are likely to be removed or destroyed during a public improvement project. ISAC is registered Undecided on SF 2276 which now goes to the Governor for final approval.
Click here to comment on land surveying.
Iowa Public Agency Investment Trust
HF 2261, ISAC’s objective addressing the Iowa Public Agency Investment Trust (IPAIT), passed the Senate on Tuesday. The bill would allow a joint investment trust like IPAIT to be operated in accordance with the requirements of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). This change is necessary because of recent changes to SEC Rule 2a-7 that will affect the way money market funds are required to value the securities in their portfolios. If IPAIT is able to be regulated by GASB it would be able to continue with the same valuation methods and types of investments as current. Click here for a more in-depth explanation of the IPAIT legislative objective. ISAC is registered For HF 2261, which now goes to the Governor for final approval.
Click here to comment on IPAIT.
Closed Session
The House concurred with the Senate amendment and passed HF 2363 on Wednesday. The bill would prohibit a governmental body from excluding a member of the body from closed session unless there was a conflict of interest and the member did not voluntarily recuse themselves from the closed session. The Senate amendment struck a provision that would have provided penalties for the disclosure of information exchanged during a closed session. ISAC is registered Undecided on the bill, which now goes to the Governor for final approval.
Click here to comment on closed session.
Meeting Notice
The Governor signed HF 2364 on Wednesday. The bill will allow an exception to the 24-hour meeting notice requirement if a governmental body is prevented from meeting at the posted time and location due to circumstances outside of its control. The body must post an updated notice of the meeting, but would not be required to publish notice. ISAC supported this legislation.
Click here to comment on meeting notice.
Competitive Bid Notices
The Governor signed SF 2170 on Wednesday. Currently, if the cost of a public improvement project exceeds the competitive bid threshold, the county has to advertise the project to bidders no fewer than four and no more than 45 days before the bid letting. The county also has to publish notice no fewer than four and no more than 20 days before the public hearing. The bill removes the requirement to advertise for bidders and instead requires the notice to bidders to be published in contractor organization publications, a statewide contractor plan room service, and on either the governmental entity’s website or a statewide association representing the governmental entity. The requirement for the notice of public hearing is amended to include not only the time and place, but also a description and the location of the project.
Click here to comment on competitive bid notices.
Weekly Legislative Forums
Most legislators conduct forums back in their home districts on Fridays and the weekends to seek constituent feedback on a variety of topics. These can be an effective tool to advance and address issues that are vital to counties. A link to these forums can be found here:
http://www.iowahouserepublicans.com/forums
http://iowahouse.org/events/
http://www.iowasenatedemocrats.com/events
http://www.iowasenaterepublicans.com/events/
April ISAC Educational Webinars: Retirement and Leadership
Retirement: Social Security and Medicare
Thursday, April 7
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
Join us from 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm on Thursday, April 7 for an educational webinar “Retirement: Social Security and Medicare. Representatives from Nationwide Retirement Solutions (NRS) will briefly cover the basics of Social Security eligibility with a majority of their conversation centering on changes to Social Security brought forth by the Bi-Partisan Budget Act. Lastly, NRS will be discussing the tools available through the Nationwide Financial Retirement Institute, an NRS and NACO program that assists employees with"how" to make the decision of "when" to start Social Security benefits. Presenters will include Wade Sunderman, Senior Nationwide Retirement Specialist, Dave Harris, Nationwide Financial Retirement Institute Vice President, and Matt Ring, Retirement Specialist.
The second portion of the webinar will be a “Welcome to Medicare” – an introduction to the key items you need to know about Medicare as you look forward to retirement. Kris Gross, Iowa Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) Director, will explore Medicare enrollment and eligibility; the four parts of Medicare A, B, C and D; and coverage choices. Time will be left at the conclusion of the presentation for questions and answers.
Effective Leadership – It’s Not Just Bossing Anymore!
Wednesday, April 20
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
Join us from 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm on Wednesday, April 20 for this special edition educational webinar that will give you a sneak peak of the ISAC Leadership Institute and its presentation of “Effective Leadership – It’s Not Just Bossing Anymore!” This session is a must for those in any type of leadership role as it discusses effective leadership and defines the role of the supervisor or manager as a leader in the organization – not just a “boss.” It stresses the leader’s responsibility to grow and nurture employees and teaches effective practices for ensuring a leader gets the most from employees. This class pays particular attention to the element of developing a relationship of trust and respect between the leader and team members and provides strategies for INSPIRING employees to be effective and productive in their jobs. Please click here to view more information about the full class including dates and locations.
ISAC NACo Board Representative
NOTICE: Pursuant to the ISAC bylaws, notice is hereby given that ISAC is accepting applications for the position of ISAC NACo (National Association of Counties) representative. The ISAC NACo representative is selected by the ISAC Board of Directors.
The duties of the ISAC NACo representative include attending four NACo Board of Directors meetings a year around the country and representing Iowa on the NACo Board of Directors.
The ISAC NACo representative is automatically a member of the ISAC Board of Directors as well. The ISAC NACo representative will be required to attend nine ISAC Board meetings annually and report to the ISAC Board regarding NACo.
Applicants must be either county officials or county employees. Applicants must be from a county that is a member of NACo.
The term of the ISAC NACo representative is three years, and commences in July 2016 at the conclusion of the NACo Annual Conference. A person may serve a maximum of three terms.
This is an unpaid position. ISAC will reimburse the ISAC NACo representative for all reasonable travel expenses to attend the NACo Board of Directors meetings and ISAC Board of Directors meetings.
Applications are available on the ISAC website at www.iowacounties.org or by calling the ISAC office at 515.244.7181.
Applications must be received by 4:30 pm on April 25, 2016 at the following address or by email:
Iowa State Association of Counties
Attn: William R. Peterson, Executive Director
5500 Westown Parkway, Suite 190
West Des Moines, Iowa 50266
Email:
Heath Care Providers in Rural Areas Workshops
The Iowa Rural Health Association is excited to announce two workshops entitled Addressing Iowa’s Critical Need for Health Care Providers in Rural Areaswhich will be presented free of charge to anyone interested in attending. The workshop will be offered on April 29 in Ottumwa and again on May 3 in Harlan. These workshops are intended to bring together a variety of stakeholders from the local communities as this challenge is most successfully addressed when the entire community gets involved. There is no fee to participate, but registration is required. Click here todownload a flyerwith more information about the workshops and a registration form, or click hereto be directed to the online registration form.
Interpretive and Translation Services Contract
U.S. Communities has signed a multi-year contract with Language Select to provide interpretation and translation services and related services and solutions. Through this contract counties will have access to a unique business solutions provided by an elite group of language professionals that help agencies: facilitate clear communication eliminating any language or cultural barriers; access high-quality interpretation and translation services at competitive rates; assist with communication in a life threatening emergency; and help agencies to complete a business transaction without translation difficulties. Click here to register for the informational webinars will be held on April 5 and 7.
ISAC Leadership Institute – District Seminars
Join us in each of ISAC’s six districts for the ISAC Leadership Institute. Effective Leadership – It’s Not Just Bossing Anymore! will be presented in the following dates and locations.
· District 1 – May 11 – Des Moines
· District 2 – May 12 – Mason City
· District 6 – May 13 – Cedar Rapids
· District 5 – May 25 – Ottumwa
· District 4 – June 1 – Atlantic
· District 3 – June 2 – Storm Lake
Registration is limited to 30 seats per district and is open to all ISAC members in any district. The Institute has been approved for Recorder Certification Program and Iowa Certified Treasurer Program credit hours. Click here for more information, a detailed class description and to register. Contact Brad Holtan, or 515.244.7181, with any questions.
Smart Connections Conference
ISAC, the Iowa League of Cities, and County Strategic Technology Advisory Resource (CoSTAR) in cooperation with the Iowa Communities Assurance Pool (ICAP) wish to announce the 2016 Smart Connections Conference being held on April 28, 2016 at the Holiday Inn Airport in Des Moines. This one-day conference is meant for all local government officials who want to learn to become secure and safe at home and in the workplace while using email, mobile devices and more. The conference will feature Keynote Speaker Bryan Seely. Please click here for more information and to register. Due to limited seating, pre-registration is required for a minimal $75 fee that includes all materials, lunch and morning refreshments.
Rural Impact County Challenge: A National Effort to Combat Rural Child Poverty
Recognizing the critical role local officials play in supporting innovation and change, the National Association of Counties (NACo) and the White House Rural Council have come together on a national initiative to help advance counties’ efforts to reduce the number of rural children and families living in poverty. The Rural Impact County Challenge (RICC) seeks to recognize and support counties making real difference in the lives of children in rural communities. Click here for more information, a sample resolution and to sign up.