House Leaders Hail 'Historic' 2007 Session

By Mark Langgin, House Dems

House leaders hailed the 2007 legislative session as 'historic' as the 2007 session came to a close on Saturday evening.

"The 2007 legislative session will be remembered for renewing our commitment to education and transforming our economy," said House Speaker Pat Murphy of Dubuque.  "We made good on our promises to improve learning from preschool to college, make Iowa 'The Green State' and reward hard work."

"We pursued and passed a mainstream agenda for Iowans," said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Des Moines.  "From preventing kids from smoking to finding new cures and treatments for disease to ending discrimination, this session has been nothing short of historic.  We've also made government more efficient, raised the minimum wage, cracked down on abusive car title loans, and helped lift hard-working families  out of poverty."

Last fall, House Democrats outlined the "Plan for Prosperity," which they used as their agenda for the 2007 legislative session.  Democrats completed 15 of the 16 pieces of their agenda.  In education, Democrats made good on their promise to expand access to preschool, keep higher education affordable and attract quality teachers to the classroom. Democrats made good on their promise to help small businesses with the high cost of health insurance and ensure Iowa has a highly-skilled workforce for today's global economy.  Democrats also approved the Iowa Power Fund with the goal making Iowa a world leader in renewable energy.

"I'm extremely proud of our work balancing the state budget and putting our state on solid financial ground.  Our budget leaves nearly $600 million in our savings accounts, the highest level ever, and phases out several of the budget gimmicks used by Republicans in previous years. While we weren't able to solve every problem this year, we made remarkable progress," added Murphy.

In addition to their Plan for Prosperity, House leaders cited significant progress in the environment with an expansion of the Resource Enhancement and Protection program and finding new strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  Other accomplishments include: expanding health care to 17,000 Iowans, same day voter registration, expanding programs to revitalize communities, better supervision of sex offenders, and enhanced drug enforcement efforts.
 
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HOUSE DEMOCRATS PLAN FOR PROSPERITY: KEEPING OUR PROMISES

* Raise Iowa teacher salaries from 42nd to 25th in the nation (SF 277)

* Insist teachers are certified in what they teach (SF 588)

* Assure school districts provide remedial assistance for students who not proficient by middle school (SF 588)

* Restore work study programs for college students (SF 588)

* Expand access to quality preschool programs (HF 877)

* Limit university tuition increases to the rate of inflation and make community colleges more affordable (SF 588)

* Provide incentives for renewable energy research & technology  (HF 918/927)

* Create public/private energy partnership (HF 918/927)

* Develop a bio-refinery using new ethanol technology (HF 918/927)

* Increase electricity generated by renewable fuel (HF 918/927)

* Secure Iowa's food supply against infectious disease, bioterrorism (HF 551)

* Lead the US in manufacturing equipment for renewable energy production (HF 918/927)

* Raise Iowa's minimum wage from $5.15/hour to $7.25 by 2008 (HF 1)

* Expand job training at community colleges to train high-tech workers (HF 927)

* Allow small businesses to pool their workforces for cheaper healthcare insurance (HF 790)