Editorial Roundup:
Quad City Times. December 23, 2019
A year in review
With 2019 drawing to a close, it´s only natural to think about the 12 months that have passed - what we´ve accomplished and what is left undone.
In the Quad-Cities, we have seen progress on a range of projects,big and small, which we believe are important to our community. Still, we have to confess, some of the goals we had for the year are either idling or moving in slow gear.
That may be the nature of things. Seldom do we accomplish goals in one fell swoop. Whether it´s a home improvement project or a civic priority, slow and steady steps forward are often what´s required to meet a goal.
Recall, a year ago this editorial board published our hopes for 2019. So it seems appropriate as the year draws to a close to offer a progress report:
o Our wish for a more prosperous year has, to some extent, been granted. The Quad-Cities´ unemployment rate in 2019 has dipped and more people are holding down jobs. The labor force grew. Median wages, the data for which lag a year behind, also were rising. However, too many people still are in poverty. The latest local figures, also a year behind, say about 3,000 more people were below the poverty line than the year before.
o A year ago, construction on the new Interstate-74 bridge mostly centered on concrete piers. What a change the last 12 months have brought! The signature basket-handle arches are clearly rising, and some road surfaces are in place. Unfortunately, the construction schedule has fallen a year behind as weather and design difficulties have affected the project. Let's hope that some of that time is made up in 2020.
o Rock Island County has hired a broker to market the financially ailing Hope Creek Care Center. However, the facility remains in county hands - and, partially as a result, officials still are struggling to make their budget work.
o A year ago, we were hoping there would be concrete steps taken to improve Davenport´s riverfront. Little did we know a few months later it would be submerged by flooding. We´re happy to see progress on the flex lot, but we know the larger issue on the horizon is long-term flood protection. We also were dismayed to see the Canadian Pacific Railway raise its tracks, which erects yet another obstacle to riverfront development.
o A year ago, we were still waiting for the Davenport School District to pick a new superintendent. Well, Robert Kobylski is now on board. Credentialing issues delayed his start date, but we're happy to see the district has a new administrative leader. We look forward to seeing what the next year brings.
o Nine years after $230 million in federal funds were set aside for a passenger rail connection to the Quad-Cities, we´re still waiting for substantive construction to begin. Still, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker included the project in his capital plan, and the federal government is maintaining $177 million for the project.
o The idea of four-year terms at Davenport City Hall, which would replace the current two-year terms, got a lot of support from candidates on the campaign trail in 2019. But so far nobody has picked up the ball to run with it.
o The Elm Street bridge in Davenport is still closed. The Canadian Pacific turned it over to the city, along with $1 million. But the city still is seeking grants to fix the thing.
o We saw a mixed bag in 2019 when it came to participation in local elections. There was a flood of candidates in some school and municipal elections in Iowa, especially for posts on the Davenport School Board. However, fewer people stepped up to compete in many Illinois districts.
o A year ago, we also had hopes for a meaningful presidential campaign in advance of the Iowa caucuses, which are about a month away. We saw that happen, as a large number of candidates have come to the Quad-Cities to talk about health care, climate change and a host of other issues. There still are more than a dozen candidates in the race, and we've been impressed with the seriousness they've brought to the task.
Next week, we plan to offer our hopes for 2020. Undoubtedly, some of our goals for 2019 will be a priority next year, too. But like that home improvement project that finally gets done after months of steady work, perhaps some of these civic goals also will come to fruition.
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Des Moines Register. December 26, 2019
Iowa parents cannot punch the clock at a job without child care; legislators should do more to help
From corporate tax breaks to reductions in government regulations, Republicans have rarely met a pro-business policy they didn´t like.
So hopefully the GOP-controlled Iowa Legislature and governor´s office will listen to the latest request from businesses: Help more working families pay for child care.
The Iowa Business Council, which describes itself as a board of the "chief decision-makers" at 23 of the state´s largest companies, is asking lawmakers to loosen restrictions on who can qualify for Iowa´s Child Care Assistance program.
The program, administered by the Iowa Department of Human Services and largely funded with federal money, helps low-income families pay for child care.
To receive assistance, parents must be working, going to school or participating in a jobs program and earn below 145% of the federal poverty level - about $31,000 annually for a family of three. The average Child Care Assistance child is under 5, has one sibling and lives in a one-parent family where the parent works.
As this editorial board has argued for several years, Iowa should follow in the footsteps of other states and increase eligibility for assistance. We should bump it up to 200% of the poverty level and also establish a sliding scale so parents can maintain some assistance as their earnings increase.
That would help more families, who struggle to find safe, affordable child care. It could also allow more people to enter the workforce, which businesses desperately need.
Instead, Iowa has maintained among the lowest eligibility ceilings in the country. In fact, this state may be among the worst places to be poor and working, according to a 2016 report from the Government Accountability Office.
The investigative arm of Congress analyzed nationwide data for more than 8 million children to determine participation in programs that help low-income, working families pay for child care. The federal government has set generous eligibility requirements for these programs, but states can establish more restrictive eligibility policies.
Enter Iowa.
The GAO singled out this state in a footnote as the place where only 34% of children - the lowest rate in the country - were estimated to qualify for assistance based on their state´s eligibility requirement. Iowa was also listed among the states with the highest requirement for hours parents must work.
Translation: Iowa leaders have chosen to make it more difficult for families to get help. Will they now listen to businesses and make a different choice?
Increasing access to child care would seem to fit with the GOP vision of the country.
The party's anti-abortion policies seek to ensure every pregnant woman gives birth. That child arrives in a world where economic realities force most parents into the workplace. Many couples with children can't afford for one parent to stay home, an option that is virtually impossible for single parents.
Meanwhile, some Republicans demonize people who rely on programs like food assistance or Medicaid. Even though the majority of people using these programs already work, the GOP wants to add unnecessary work requirements. And Republicans talk incessantly about the importance of work to lift people out of poverty.
What they don´t talk about: How parents are supposed to work if they cannot afford child care. Or where a young mother is supposed to take her infant overnight when she punches the clock at a convenience store or manufacturing plant.
Or how a single dad can simultaneously earn a living outside the home and care for a toddler.
Are lawmakers going to babysit for these Iowa families?
If not, they should expand child care assistance. That would help businesses and families.
The Social Welfare History Project was created in 2010 by social worker John E. Hansan to help the public understand the history of social reform and services that strengthened the fabric of American society.
The organization´s website includes a history of child care in the U.S. written by Sonya Michel.
Here are a few excerpts:
"In the United States today, most mothers of preschool and school age children are employed outside the home. American mothers have invented many ways to care for their children while they work. Native Americans strapped newborns to cradle boards or carried them in woven slings; Colonial women placed small children in standing stools or go-gins to prevent them from falling into the fireplace. Pioneers on the Midwestern plains laid infants in wooden boxes fastened to the beams of their plows. Southern dirt farmers tethered their runabouts to pegs driven into the soil at the edge of their fields. White southern planters´ wives watched African American boys and girls playing in the kitchen yard while their mothers toiled in the cotton fields. African American mothers sang white babies to sleep while their own little ones comforted themselves. Migrant laborers shaded infants in baby tents set in the midst of beet fields. Cannery workers put children to work beside them stringing beans and shelling peas. Shellfish processors sent toddlers to play on the docks, warning them not to go near the water....
"Desperate mothers have taken children 'to baby farms, given them up to orphanages and foster homes, and surrendered them for indenture.' They have taken them to family day care providers and left them at home with babysitters, nannies, and nursemaids, some of them undocumented workers."
By the end of the 19th century, "American child care had come to consist of a range of formal and informal provisions that were generally associated with the poor, minorities, and immigrants and were stigmatized as charitable and custodial. This pattern of practices and institutions provided a weak foundation for building twentieth-century social services."
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Fort Dodge Messenger. December 26, 2019.
Making rural Iowa stronger
Iowa´s economy is robust and getting stronger. It has a quality of life that makes those of us who call Iowa home reluctant to even contemplate living anywhere else.
Gov. Kim Reynolds has made stimulating economic development a key goal of her administration. She understands that unless Iowa´s job opportunities continue to grow and diversify the state will not be all that it can and should be.
The governor recognizes that some of the Hawkeye State´s rural communities are not fully sharing in what overall has been an enviable growth record. She is committed to making sure all parts of Iowa have the chance to thrive. That´s why in 2018 Reynolds launched the Empower Rural Iowa Initiative.
Throughout 2019 task forces have been hard at work holding summits all across Iowa to gain input for developing recommendations to the governor. This month she received a comprehensive report containing proposals for 2020 and beyond. According to a statement released by Reynolds´ office this document will help shape the game plan the governor outlines early next year for action by the Legislature.
"By connecting, investing and growing our rural communities, we can ensure Iowa´s success is every Iowans´ success," Reynolds said. "We know how to come together to think differently and build an Iowa that shatters expectations."
The goal is to offer opportunities for prosperity everywhere in our state. The mission is to revitalize those parts of rural Iowa that are lagging.
Here are some of the recommendations contained in the report the governor received.
o Increase set-asides for rural areas and small towns in a wide range of state programs.
o Increase the $1 million cap on Main Street Challenge grants.
o Support rural housing projects.
o Provide grant support for programs designed to develop leaders in rural areas.
o Support grants aimed at generating innovation in rural communities.
o Strengthen efforts to make broadband internet access more widely available.
These suggestions warrant careful consideration. Throughout the report there is an emphasis on promoting private sector solutions to making rural Iowa prosper. The recognition that top-down government mandates aren´t the best approach is especially welcome.
The Messenger applauds the hard work that went into this report. We look forward to the program for rural Iowa that the governor will outline next month. Reynolds´ commitment to making all parts of our state success stories deserves strong praise and support.
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