How Much “Safety” Is Available under the U.S. Proposal to the WTO?, November 2005

Critics of the U.S. proposal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) made in October 2005 are correct when they argue that adoption of the proposal would significantly reduce available support under the current farm program structure. Using historical prices and yields from 1980 to 2004, we estimate that loan rates would have to drop by 9 percent and target prices would have to drop by 10 percent in order to meet the proposed aggregate Amber Box and Blue Box limits. While this finding should cheer those who think that reform of U.S. farm programs is long overdue, it alarms those who want to maintain a strong safety net for U.S. agriculture. The dilemma of needing to reform farm programs while maintaining a strong safety net could be resolved by redesigning programs so that they target revenue rather than price. Building on a base of 70 percent Green Box income insurance, a program that provides a crop-specific revenue guarantee equal to 98 percent of the product of the current effective target price and expected county yield would fit into the proposed aggregate Amber and Blue Box limits. Payments would be triggered whenever the product of the season-average price and county average yield fell below this 98 percent revenue guarantee. Adding the proposed crop-specific constraints lowers the coverage level to 95 percent. Moving from programs that target price to ones that target revenue would eliminate the rationale for ad hoc disaster payments. Program payments would automatically arrive whenever significant crop losses or economic losses caused by low prices occurred. Also, much of the need for the complicated mechanism (the Standard Reinsurance Agreement) that transfers most risk of the U.S. crop insurance to the federal government would be eliminated because the federal government would directly assume the risk through farm programs. Changing the focus of federal farm programs from price targeting to revenue targeting would not be easy. Farmers have long relied on price supports and the knowledge that crop losses are often adequately covered by heavily subsidized crop insurance or by ad hoc disaster payments. Farmers and their leaders would only be willing to support a change to revenue targeting if they see that the current system is untenable in an era of tight federal budgets and WTO limits.

Governor's Task Force on Dependent Adults with Mental Retardation Final Report, 2009

On February 17, 2009, Governor Culver signed Executive Order No. 11 to create a Task Force on Dependent Adults with Mental Retardation. The executive order charges the Task Force with the responsibility of recommending steps to strengthen and improve state laws and regulations on the care and treatment of dependent adults with mental retardation. The Final Report includes recommendations that establish or improve systems of coordination between government entities. The report includes a series of proposals from the Department of Human Services (DHS) that redesign the adult abuse assessment process that are necessary for long-term reform. Included in them is a proposal to enhance a community’s capacity to provide a safety net of services, as well as formal and informal supports for vulnerable adults through partnerships among multiple local stakeholders.

FY2008 Annual Summary July 1, 2007 - June 30, 2008

It’s really quite simple. IPERS is a sure thing. IPERS benefits carry a lifetime guarantee. A bad economy and declining stock market do not decrease your benefits. Instead, your benefit amount is determined by a pre-established formula that replaces a percentage of your pre-retirement wages. How close your benefits get to the maximum of the IPERS plan—replacing 65 percent of pre-retirement wages or 72 percent for public safety personnel—is mostly up to you. Current employees don’t have to worry about where to invest or what to do when there is a slump in the stock market. Retirees don’t have to worry that a down market will reduce their monthly payments, and they never have to worry about outliving their IPERS benefits. Disability payments and death benefits act as a safety net for members and their families.

Statewide Economic Impacts of Disaster-Related Payments to Support Household and Private and Public Sector Recovery in Iowa, January 2010

There have been a multitude of programs providing assistance to the state of Iowa in the past 18 months. Springtime 2008 disasters resulted in tornado damage and widespread flood damage to large fractions of the state. In consequence, there was a very large flow of federal and state resources dedicated to assisting community and statewide recovery efforts. The nation was in recession as well and continued to be in recession through much of 2009. A sizeable amount of assistance found its way to Iowa under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in the forms of infrastructure stimulus spending, income supports and other safety net spending for households, and stabilization assistance for essential public services like education. On top of that, the state of Iowa authorized the I Jobs program as an additional infrastructure development program, and as a jobs stimulus program. The total amount of spending for all types of programs, disaster or economic recovery related, is perhaps as high as $7.5 billion over the next few years.

Iowa Department of Public Health Affordable Care Act Impact Study, October 27, 2014

The mission of the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) is “Promoting and Protecting the Health of Iowans.” In addition to its larger role in population health preparedness, surveillance, and response, IDPH has historically funded a broad array of health-related services to a “covered population” of approximately 1,000,000 Iowa residents through a varied network of local community-based “safety-net” provider contractors. Those health-related services range from funding direct healthcare services like immunizations and vision screening to providing or funding facilitative services like transportation and care coordination. While all Iowans may be eligible for some IDPH-funded direct healthcare service, such as smoking cessation, the individuals most often eligible for these services have traditionally been the uninsured and under-insured. As uninsured Iowans become enrolled in health plan options available through the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan (IHAWP) and the Marketplace, IDPH anticipates that many direct healthcare services funded by IDPH will become covered benefits or services under new plans, changing the demand for IDPH-funded services.

Consumer Advisory: Social Media Safety & Security, October 2013

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division receives hundreds of calls and consumer complaints every year. Follow these tips to avoid unexpected expense and disappointments. This record is about: Social Media Safety & Security