Mount Pleasant High School is proud to announce the January 2024 Students of Character, Addison McGehearty & Delania Hourihan. These students have demonstrated Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship. Students are nominated by the MPCHS faculty each month. If you see these students at school or in the community, please tell them to keep up the good work! We are Panther Proud of you all!

#GoPanthers #PantherProud

Additional nominees:

Adria Goodrich

Ashley Silva Rodrigues

Lilly Skaggs

Hannah Reinier

Jolynn Martin

Reyna Aranda-Lopez

The excitement roars as we approach the 30th return of the Music in Motion Show Choir Invitational tomorrow. Stay tuned to KILJ for result updates throughout the weekend as our area Show Choirs compete in this annual extravaganza.

Music in Motion Performance Schedule

Music in Motion Performance Schedule

Concessions Menu

Concessions Menu

Kitchen Menu

Kitchen Menu

Find more information HERE!

The Capitol was a busy place this week with visitors from many interest groups and those wishing to share their perspectives about proposed legislation. The Iowa Bicycle Coalition was among the visiting groups. Subcommittee hearings on the Governor’s proposed AEA bill were held in the House and the Senate on Wednesday bringing even more visitors to both chambers. We appreciate the parents, educators, superintendents, administrators, and all who came to voice their opinion and give us their perspective. This is how we can best find a solution and progress on this issue for the benefit of all Iowa students.
AEA and Reading Instruction Reform
As I’ve mentioned in previous newsletters, it is the legislature’s job to look at state agencies and departments and areas that the state of Iowa invests in to see how they can be improved or changed. That responsibility gives merit to this bill. Starting the discussion in subcommittee provides an opportunity to learn more about the system, and to work together to figure out if there are ways to make this system work better for the students that need it. Although I don’t currently serve on the education committee and therefore did not attend the subcommittee meeting in the Senate, I have voiced concerns brought to my attention from constituents to education committee members, and have been following the status of the bill. It appears that it has passed out of subcommittee with an amendment in the Senate, however, the House subcommittee did not put its stamp of approval on it this week. See the links to SSB 3073 and HSB 542.

I mentioned Senate Study Bill 3069 last week.  This is the bill that restricts the type of reading instruction for children in grades Kindergarten through 3rd Grade to evidence-based practices. This is another education bill that moved forward in the Senate this fourth week of session.

William Penn University Visits the Capitol

I enjoyed visiting with Luke Wichers on Tuesday regarding his experience at William Penn University. Students in the Teacher Education Program at William Penn spoke with legislators about their support for a State Funded Student Teaching Stipend as a way to help with the teacher shortage across the state. This would be a program that would be comparable to other careers with paid internships and could be modeled after other states that have student teaching stipends, like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Maryland and Oklahoma. It was an honor to speak with this young man from Muscatine who is passionate about becoming a middle school or high school teacher. He will make Muscatine proud!

Department of Education Releases ESA Statistics for 2023-2024 School Year

The Iowa Department of Education has released statistics for this school year regarding how many Iowa families utilized the new Education Savings Accounts (ESA) to help pay for non-public school. The number of students using ESAs was more than anticipated, demonstrating strong demand for the program. Almost 17,000 students are using ESAs this school year. Twelve percent of those students were previously enrolled in public school, while 21% are incoming kindergarteners. Two-thirds of those accessing an ESA were already enrolled in private school.

Opponents to school choice promised a mass exodus of students from public school, however, despite an increase in private school enrollment, the enrollment in public schools decreased by less than 1%. Students leaving rural schools for private schools could typically be counted on one hand, if any. Opponents also claimed it would lead to massive cuts in funding, but last year the legislature approved more than $107 million in new school funding for K-12 public schools. This year the governor has proposed a higher minimum starting pay for new teachers, regular funding increases, and other educational spending to total even more new money for Iowa schools than last year.

As you can see from the data, school choice was not the demise of public education in Iowa. The reality of the school choice debate is that a vast majority of Iowa students will continue to be educated in public schools. Choice will lead to better student outcomes in both public and private schools because every time Americans have more choice, quality goes up and costs are held down. Iowa schools won’t see mass closures, opportunities in rural Iowa will remain, and student achievement will increase.
Moving Iowa Closer to Becoming a Zero Tax State

This week, the Iowa Senate released two proposals for more historic income tax relief for Iowans. The first bill includes a number of reform measures including accelerating the current income tax cuts, lowering rates even further for both corporate income taxes and individual income taxes, and a plan to generate additional revenue to be used for tax relief. The second bill is a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds majority to increase taxes in Iowa and preserve the new flat tax by putting it into the Iowa Constitution.

Since Republicans took the majority in 2017, we have been conservatively budgeting and responsibly funding the priorities of Iowans. At the same time, we’ve been putting money into our reserves and the Taxpayer Relief Fund. Under this proposal, two new funds would be created: the Iowa Taxpayer Relief Trust and the Income Tax Elimination Fund. The trust would receive $2.6 billion from the relief fund. That money, with its own separate oversight board and contracted with IPERS to manage, would be invested and start accruing interest. The interest would be deposited into the Income Tax Elimination Fund. Once the elimination fund meets a series of requirements, tax rates are reduced the following tax year and the money is used to stabilize the budget. This process continues until the income tax is completely eliminated in Iowa.

The opportunity to use the funds from the Tax Relief Fund to provide Iowans with more security, stability, and prosperity is an opportunity we may never have again. It is why the second part of the tax reform package is just as important. The constitutional amendment requires two-thirds support among legislators, because taking more of Iowans’ hard-earned money should require a broad consensus, not the narrowest of majorities. Additionally, by putting a flat tax into the constitution, we can ensure the only thing that changes in the future is the tax rates instead of overly-complicated brackets.

Many of us ran for office looking to make big changes to the state and make it a better place for our friends, neighbors, children, and grandchildren. These proposals would be such a benefit to families and small businesses all across the state. It would also protect the hard work we have done to provide tax relief for Iowa families and give them the confidence to know their hard work is protected now and in the future.

  Bills that Progressed in the Senate this Week

Subcommittees and committee meetings were held on a variety of topics this week including the ownership of Iowa land by foreign entities, religious freedom, traffic cameras and hands-free devices, as well as others. The Senate Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee met and heard from three different agencies or departments on their legislative priorities for this session. As we approach the first major legislative deadline of the year, we will continue discussing topics large and small, while we work through the process and find out what has enough support to move forward.
Director Beth Townsend, Iowa Workforce Development, Ambassador and Former Governor Terry Branstad, World Food Prize, and Executive Director Mike Norris, Southeast Iowa Planning Commission speak with the Senate Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee during their meeting on Monday.

I hope you will be able to get out and enjoy this recent warm up! It sure makes my morning runs much more enjoyable!

Best regards,

Mark

A Burlington man was sentenced on January 24, 2024, to 96 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a felon.

According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, Brandon Allen Haynes, 32, was arrested for possessing a loaded pistol and loaded magazines as a felon, after a standoff with law enforcement, in Des Moines County, on December 15, 2022. Haynes had previously been convicted in state court of two felony charges, which bars him from possessing a firearm.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Haynes will be required to serve three years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Des Moines County Sheriff’s Office, the Burlington Police Department, and the West Burlington Police Department.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. PSN, an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime, is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

SOUTHEAST

Big Hollow Lake
Unsafe ice conditions. Open water along the shore anywhere the sunshine is hitting. About 2 inches of slush/ice on the main lake.

Lake Belva Deer
Unsafe ice conditions. Ice is turning to a dark color and there are rings of open water around the trees.

Lake Darling
Unsafe ice conditions. Most of the ice is turning to a dark blue/green color.  Areas of open water on the north side and around the jetties.

Lake Geode
Unsafe ice conditions. About an inch and a half of slush/ice out on the lake with mostly open water along the shoreline.

Lost Grove Lake
Ice is deteriorating fast with continued warm weather. Ice fishing is not recommended.

Skunk River (Coppock to Mississippi River)
The Skunk River is opening up quickly with the snow melt and warm weather. It is wide open downriver of Mount Pleasant.

For more information on the above lakes and rivers call the Lake Darling Fisheries Office at 319-694-2430.

Conservation and natural resource groups interested in building awareness of Iowa’s creeks and watersheds can now apply for grants to put up signage identifying these features.

The Iowa DNR’s Water Quality Improvement program will accept applications for its County Creek Sign Grant Program through April 1. Grants will provide between $5,000 and $10,000 per county to install creek and watershed signs within priority watersheds. A watershed is an area of land that drains to a specific body of water.

New for the 2024 grant cycle is the opportunity to add signs along trails. Signs can also be placed along county roads and city streets.

Application materials are available on DNR’s watershed improvement webpage.

For more information, email watershed.improvement@dnr.iowa.gov or contact Steve Hopkins, Nonpoint Source Coordinator, at 515-505-0140.

Iowa Learning Farms, in partnership with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, will host a cover crop and relay intercropping workshop on Tuesday, February 27^th from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Southeast Research Farm near Crawfordsville. They welcome farmers and landowners to attend these free workshops and join them for a complimentary meal. To RSVP, please contact Alena Whitaker at 515-294-2473.  Iowa Learning Farms field days and workshops are supported by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. For more information about Iowa Learning Farms, visit www.iowalearningfarms.org.