When you live in Des Moines and follow politics you trust two sources completely, Iowa Starting Line and Bleeding Heartland. Okay, maybe the Des Moines Register but it does little for me. I mean it’s part of the USA Today network and it provides fine hotel morning ready content. So I came across this from the Matt Chapman at Bleeding Heartland.
Over the past week, Iowa Senate subcommittees considered five bills drafted to address fraud in Iowa public assistance programs. Each bill would direct revenue generated by Iowa taxpayers to private vendors, who are charged with finding fraudulent claims. If investigation supports the claims of fraud, those funds could be recovered, and criminal charges filed.
It sounds like a simple solution, but these complex programs combat poverty in the areas of healthcare, disability and food insecurity. Other states have implemented all these proposals in one form or another. A bill that requires a percentage of those on Medicaid to work in Kentucky was stayed by the D.C. Circuit Court, and in Arkansas and Maine similar legislation caused eligible beneficiaries losing coverage, due to confusing and tangled re-certification rules.
Consider the Source (of the bills)
Four of these five bills were the brain (dead) children of the Opportunity Solutions Project, a right wing “policy advocacy organization” that eventually traces its way back to the Koch brothers and Americans for Prosperity. Among their greatest hits are efforts to divert public money to private schools and breaking up public unions.
Bill 1
I don’t know. Something about a legislator proposing a bill that violated federal law and then looking “reasonable” by spiking it. The idea was to make EBT cards have photo id’s,
Bill 2
Senate Study Bill 1131 is supposed to strengthen oversight of public assistance programs.This is one of the GOP’s favorite themes. Basically the bill would require Medicaid and Medicare to perform more reviews of recipients, 4 times compared to 1 or 2 currently. If you follow the playbook then you can read this properly as “let’s just make it too hard to get and keep benefits”.
Oh, and the same guy who spiked his photo id EBT mentioned that to point out how this is more reasonable than his own bill that he already spiked. Circular rationale but cute.
Bill 3
Senate Study Bill 1109: “An Act relating to eligibility for the supplemental nutrition assistance program and cooperation regarding a child support order”. This one boils down to booting “deadbeat parents” from the assistance program. Unless you have ever needed to live on these programs you have no idea how hand to mouth this existence is. To make it harder is unconsionable.
Bill 4
Senate Study Bill 1108 ties SNAP benefits to “workfare”. You know that old chestnut about bootstraps and such?
Bill 5
Senate Study Bill 1134 is another Opportunity Solutions Project special, modeled on a law enacted in Kentucky, which was later struck down in federal court.
So there you have it. Folks, we are drowning here in Iowa and the Koch’s just keep on pouring money into our elected officials’ pockets. These bills are ridiculous, inhumane. and draconian. And some of them affect me personally. The poor are under attack here in Iowa and they are treating this as so much of a test lab for broken Republican policies.
Send help!