Saturday morning’s Carroll Chamber of Commerce Legislative Forum was standing room only at the Swan Lake Conservation Center for attendees, but Iowa House Representative Brian Best was the only one fielding questions as Senator Mark Segebart was unable to attend. Best started the forum with a prepared statement to address the topic that has been the most controversial since the forums began last month, changes to collective bargaining laws. He said he voted in favor of the changes because of his high-level of respect for those in his district the law affects–the teachers, emergency responders and Department of Transportation (DOT) workers to name just a few.
He said this bill actually shifts bargaining control to local authorities instead of arbitrators. He added that the employers generally do have the employees’ best interests in mind and are incentivized to hire and compensate the best people for the positions. He added another change to the laws, the option to enroll in a state insurance plan, could result in lower premiums for employees, but the employer retains the option to provide coverage as well. Cleone Hermsen with the Carroll Huddle Group wanted to know about the insurance coverage for legislators now that they have made mandates in collective bargaining for others.
Best said he was in favor of the bill and in reimbursements for insurance costs. Carroll High School Industrial Technology instructor, Doug Leiting said he has other concerns with the changes as well.
Best said the state needs to live up to whatever promises were made under the original IPERS contract. The current discussion at the statehouse is merely looking for new hires at some point to be changed to a 401K-type situation. Other members of the audience said that collective bargaining changes hurt rural Iowa as larger districts will be able to pay teachers more and could create further hardships for smaller districts that are already struggling to remain viable. An instructor from Des Moines Area Community College, Lisa Dreesman, said she is seeing this first-hand in her class that is mandatory for those considering a career in education.
She said that we talk about a coming teacher shortage, but that shortage is here and collective bargaining changes are not going to make it any more attractive to prospective employees. Best thanked all of the attendees, not only for their input, but also for the respect that they have shown in discussing these issues. He said he does respect everyone’s opinion and takes it to heart when making decisions for them on the legislative level, and he still does feel strongly that the changes made to collective bargaining, in the long-run, will be beneficial to all of the affected employees.
