WASHINGTON

State Representative Heather Hora and State Senator Dawn Driscoll ended their legislative briefing with Washington County residents on Friday, March 8, by discussing what they’ve been working on: Senate File 2391 – otherwise known as a “truth and labeling meat integrity bill.”

This bill would force companies to avoid words associated with meat when producing plant-based products meant to imitate meat.

Hora used the dairy industry and alternative milks to describe the bill. 

“Dairy didn’t protect the term ‘milk’ when almond, oat and those types of things wanted to call themselves milk instead of juice,” Hora said. “[Senate File 2391] is stepping out and getting ahead of the fake meat programs that are out there.”

But plant and soy-based meats were not a concern for residents in attendance. Many who spoke up listed schools, healthcare, labor shortages, wages and immigration as their true concerns.

School Safety

Many folks in attendance were very concerned about guns in the school setting, thanks specifically to House File 2586. The proposal would require all larger districts to staff armed security and allow private schools, colleges and universities to arm their staff.

The proposal comes after the shooting at Perry High School on Jan. 4, 2024.

“It was passed with a lot of input from law enforcement, and they do believe that having someone in the school will shorten the response time by a lot,” Hora said. “Having someone there that not necessarily everybody knows; that someone who’s going to attack the school, they know that they can be met with resistance [and] may not necessarily attack that school.”

Healthcare and Labor Shortages

Another major concern for the residents at the meeting included healthcare, more specifically labor and delivery services.

In November of 2017, the Washington County Hospital and Clinics ruled to close their obstetric unit in 2018 due to low birthrate combined with high costs.

Attendees of the legislative meeting told “horror stories” of people they knew who needed to travel 30-plus miles north to Iowa City for childbirth as the local service was lost.

Driscoll praised a PA Program which gets medical trainees practicing at rural hospitals with the hope that they will stay after graduation as a solution to the issue.

“We’re making small strides, I always feel like legislature work moves at a snail’s pace, because it’s not fast enough,” Driscoll said. “We want to be able to see results now, as far as the labor and delivery. I speak to the HHS department often and I am trying to see what we can do to help support that.”

Intertwined with this topic was worker shortages across the state in various fields including health care, education and more. 

People wanted to know what the senator and representative were working on to address these issues.

One solution is to raise wages for teachers. Rep. Hora hopes that in raising their minimum salary, it will help attract and retain teachers across the state.

But the minimum wage remains stagnant at $7.25 an hour, and despite being directly asked about the minimum wage, the two legislators shared no plans to raise it.

Immigration

Immigration was a hot button topic as House File 2608 was passed on Thursday, March 7.

The bill makes it a Class C felony to transport any undocumented individual for monetary gain or to conceal them from law enforcement.

Mostly, people spoke against the bill and in favor of hospitality.

“[House File 2608] is enforcement based, that isn’t helpful. [It doesn’t] help our communities be places of hospitality and safety for migrants,” Nick Stoddard, pastor for Washington’s Mennonite Church, said.

Another speaker asked, “There’s a lot of [migrants] that are very talented. Why not have them come in here [and] get legal jobs and support all of us to support this country?”

Hora did respond to the concerns raised over the house file.

“[House File 2608] is directed at the illegals that are coming into our country. If you speak to the people on the border in Arizona, and places like that, it is a problem, the smuggling of people coming up here. It’s just trying to head that off before it gets to be a bigger problem in our state,” she said.

One last legislative briefing this season will be held on Friday, April 12 at noon at the Kalona Historical Village. Briefings are open to the public; reservations are not required but are helpful for planning purposes.  To RSVP, call the Washington Chamber at 319-653-3272.