As a legislative pension year approaches, a group of Senators met Tuesday, July 25 to hear about the status of the Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS), which is the pension system for most state employees. Donna Mueller, the CEO of the system gave an overview of the history of IPERS and some of the market driven and legislative changes that have taken place to IPERS. She said there was more than a decade of intentional underfunding of the system, retroactive benefit increases and two recessions, which has impacted the funding levels. There is an unfunded liability of about $8.3 billion. At current projections, including meeting the actuarial estimated rate of return, the system will be fully funded in twenty six years. Keep Reading...

Air Quality fee stakeholder meetings conclude 

ABI participated in a series of air quality stakeholder meetings that concluded Tuesday. The meetings were designed to address the topic of funding shortfalls at the air bureau. ABI presented recommendations at the Tuesday meeting reiterating ABI policy statements regarding fees and air quality general fund and fee based funding, as well as making suggestions for operating the bureau within its current fee caps by finding efficiencies, reviewing staffing levels and eliminating indirect costs.

DNR will now begin an internal review of the recommendations.  In a week or two, they will send the formalized recommendations out to stakeholders and ask for approval or disapproval within a certain timeline. After they receive feedback, they plan on meeting with DNR leadership to discuss the recommendations and the steps moving forward. Contact Nicole Crain at ncrain@iowaabi.org with questions or comments on these proposals.

   

ABI's Environment Policy Committee meets on August 17  to review this and other environmental topics. Director Gipp of the Iowa DNR will speak to the committee, as well. Click here to sign up for the meeting.

Federal Spotlight: Department of Labor issues Request for Information
The Department of Labor has issued a Request for Information (RFI) on the Obama Administration's Overtime rule, which was finalized last year but was stayed by a federal judge in Texas shortly before it was to go into effect. ABI submitted comments on the proposed overtime rule last fall. Additionally, former Governor Branstad joined other states to challenge the rule before it went final. The rule raises the current salary threshold for employees exempt from overtime pay from $23,660 to $47,476 and would also permit future automatic increases tied to the Consumer Price Index. If you would like to provide feedback on this issue, please contact Nicole Crain at ncrain@iowaabi.org.

Federal Spotlight: House votes to repeal arbitration rule

The House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to strike down a ruling issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that eliminated the option of arbitration for businesses and consumers. The vote was 230-191. The CFPB, which was established under the Obama Administration, issued the regulation earlier this month. It would have made it easier for plaintiff attorneys to file class action lawsuits. Consumers typically receive very little from these kinds of suits and would also lose out by not being able to use arbitration if they believe there have been abuses. The measure now heads to the Senate where it will only need a majority to pass because the rule is being scrutinized under the Congressional Review Act. The White House has signaled that they are supportive of the measure. Read more from The Washington Times.