By Sam Parsons

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is currently on a statewide tour across Iowa in which she has invited all 99 counties to a victim services roundtable to learn about issues and needs within Iowa communities.

In an interview with No Coast Network News, Bird, who is currently in the first year of her first term as the state’s Attorney General, compared and contrasted her approach to the fentanyl crisis with that of former Attorney General Tom Miller. Miller, in his final term as Iowa AG, led multiple lawsuits that featured dozens of different states and resulted in millions of dollars’ worth of settlements; in 2022 alone, Miller signed on to five new settlement agreements with manufacturers Teva and Allergan, as well as pharmacies CVS, Walmart, and Walgreens which totaled $132.5 million. Bird said that while holding opioid manufacturers accountable was important, she felt that a greater emphasis must be placed on stopping fentanyl from coming in from abroad.

Bird then discussed her recently proposed legislation that would increase the penalty for drug dealers who distribute a drug that kills someone. She said that the status quo is such that these cases are prosecuted on a federal level only.

Bird said that she thinks the state legislature supports the idea, but didn’t give a timeline on when she thought it would be passed into law.

More information on the Iowa Attorney General can be found at iowaattorneygeneral.gov.

By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

A bill eligible for debate in the Iowa Senate would prohibit judges from requiring a divorcing parent to cover some of the costs of their child’s college education.

Senator Scott Webster, a Republican from Bettendorf, said the bill is sponsored by another senator, in response to a specific case. “A father was weaponizing this particular system against a mother who couldn’t afford the college. She then had the opportunity to go to court and it got dropped, but she still had to pay all the legal fees,” Webster said.

An Iowa judge currently has the option of ordering a parent getting a divorce to pay up to a third of the total cost of their child’s undergraduate education. Webster said it’s an equal protection issue. “The subsidy does not currently apply to any other parents: married, single or never married,” Webster said.

Senator Nate Boulton, a Democrat from Des Moines, said his parents were divorced when he went to college and their divorce decree helped navigate the financial aspect of getting that degree. “There are ways to make this system better,” Boulton said. “There are ways to make it more fair and I think we are all open to that discussion, but simply to pull the rug out from underneath kids from divorced families who want to go to college is the wrong way to do this.”

The bill cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. Senator Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames who voted against the bill, said parents have an obligation to provide for their children and college is a big step forward in life. “It’s certainly possible for people to get good jobs without a college degree and have a perfectly happy life,” Quirmbach said, “but on average college graduates earn significantly higher over a lifetime. They have a greater degree of marriage stability. They have a longer life span, on average.”

That kind of criticism is “a little bit disrespectful,” according to Webster. “It’s been said, maybe discussed that college is the way to go,” Webster said. “I didn’t go to college. My wife didn’t go to college. We turned out good.”

Iowa is one of 17 states that allow judges to order a divorcing parent to pay at least part of a child’s college tuition and fees.

A new study shows the three state universities add $14.9 billion to the state economy.

The study from the labor market analytics firm Lightcast shows the contributions from the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa were equal to approximately 7.1% of the total gross state product of the state. The study notes university activity supports 198,837 jobs in the state, which is one out of 10 jobs in Iowa, and returns nearly three dollars for every taxpayer dollar spent.

The study also outlines the impact of student education, alumni, and extension and outreach services. The universities have touted their impact on the state as they seek more state dollars from the legislature and governor.

You can see more details on the report here.: https://www.iowaregents.edu/reports/economic-impact-reports-fy-2021-22