Retirement News : Seniors : Forum focuses on children, seniors

Forum focuses on children, seniors

Date Added: 04-04-2005

The debate over education in the state of Iowa, the care of the elderly and assistance to the less fortunate were the focal points of a legislative forum Saturday at St. Ambrose University in Davenport.
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Dozens of people came to talk to their local lawmakers in the last of three forums during this legislative session.
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“Who are the most important people in our lives? Seniors and children,” said Rep. Jim Van Fossen, R-Davenport, while responding to one woman who came to tell legislators the story of her three sons and the bullying they have endured in school.
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Jackie Benson of Long Grove, Iowa, asked legislators for their help in stopping harassment in the state’s schools. Her sons have been the targets of harassment that she tearfully outlined Saturday.

Teachers and education leaders came forward to express their concern about the level of education funding.
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Rich Clewell, a Davenport school board member who led a lobby group to Des Moines last month to talk to legislators about funding, encouraged the legislators to consider Iowa’s low national rankings in terms of teacher’s salaries and per-student expenditures.
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Three Davenport teachers came to the microphone as well, referring to an education spending bill that they believe is inadequate for all levels of education.
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However, Rep. Jamie Van Fossen, R-Davenport countered that education takes up approximately two-thirds of the state’s budget and that he does not want to raise taxes.
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“We’re just doing the best we can with what we have,” said Rep. Steve Olson, R-DeWitt.
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Caseworkers from the Center for Active Seniors, Inc., also asked the lawmakers to reconsider a provision that would remove $500,000 from a program that helps keep seniors in their homes, rather than enter a nursing home.
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Harvey Wiley said one of his clients who has Parkinson’s disease and mental illness has been able to stay in his home for the past eight months, saving the state $16,000. “And that’s just one client,” he said.
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The state’s social services are suffering, too, said Jacqueline McCoy, executive director of Quad-City Interfaith. The organization held a briefing on those cuts after the legislative forum.
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Federal and state cuts are hurting the people helped by agencies such as Lutheran Social Services, United Neighbors Inc., and the Handicapped Development Center, officials said.
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Cuts to the federal Community Development Block Grant program, for example, are threatening United Neighbors’ program to help families buy their own home, a summer park program and the construction of wheelchair ramps for homebound residents, according to Ida Johnson, executive director.
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Additional upcoming issues for the state Legislature include whether to increase the speed limit in Iowa to 70 mph, punishment for pedophiles, the use of ethanol, the bottle bill, thinning out the state’s deer herd and the state budget.

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