| February 6, 2025
This past Friday we lost a great member of the Iowa Legislature, Representative Martin Graber, a devoted husband, father, and community leader in Fort Madison. Martin was a native Iowan and served for over 30 years in the Iowa Army National Guard, achieving the rank of Brigadier General. He was also a financial advisor in the Fort Madison area, and spent time both in his personal life and in the legislature working to improve the lives of those around him. Martin was not only a great and dedicated public servant, but he was also an amazing friend and family man, and he will be missed by all whom he had an impact on. The issue I’d like to discuss this week is an one that I know was important to Rep. Graber and a recurring topic on the House floor: the Veterans Trust Fund. Created in 2007, the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund (managed by the Iowa Department of Veteran Affairs) is a multi-million dollar fund that offers financial assistance to veterans in Iowa. It is funded by proceeds from the Iowa Lottery ($2.5 million annually) every year to ensure the fund grows and exists in perpetuity, while the interest from the fund helps provide services and support to our Veterans community. This can be for things like vehicle repairs, mental health services, or emergency housing repair such as fixing a broken water pipe. This program is vital to ensuring our veterans get the help and support they need. Last year the Department of Veteran Affairs gave out more than $775,000 to Veterans in need. I am currently reviewing legislation that impacts the Iowa Trust Fund and how it may impact our Iowa Veterans. Another topic discussed at the capitol this week was Iowa’s child welfare system. The Department of Health and Human Services presented data to legislators this week showing the valuable work they’ve done to improve children’s lives. Over the past decade the number of children in foster care has decreased by 30%, caseloads have reduced almost 10% since 2021, and social workers are spending more time than ever with children who have been removed from their home. Under Iowa’s DHHS, children in the foster care system are in good hands. Finally, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) issued a press release in which Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig announced that his state agency is encouraging Iowa corn growers to leverage the new Nitrogen Fertilizer Application Consultation Tool (N-FACT) to inform nutrient application decisions this growing season. The N-FACT tool takes multiple field-level production variables into account, then recommends an optimal nitrogen application rate to help farmers balance productivity, environmental stewardship and input costs. The N-FACT tool leverages thousands of data points from hundreds of field trials conducted by ISU. Data inputs include field location, weather, residual soil nitrogen, estimated planting dates and input and commodity prices. Field trials were conducted in each region of the state, yielding more than 21,000 possible optimal nitrogen rate scenarios. |