Traffic Camera Ban, Championed by Cedar Falls Lawmaker, Passes Iowa House

Republican representatives are leading an effort to ban traffic cameras like those on Interstate 380.

In a vote that fell mostly among party lines, Republicans have passed a ban of these types of cameras in the Iowa House, according to the Gazette. "…People hate these things," said Representative Walt Rogers, a Republican from Cedar Falls, according to the Gazette. He added that the data showing decreases in accidents from the cameras was "conflicting at best; at worst, it’s misleading." Some of the 42 mostly Democrats that voted against the measure did so because they said they believed the data shows that traffic cameras make the roads safer. Cindy Winckler, a Democrat, cited statistics that attributed a 42 percent downturn in accidents in intersections with cameras installed in her hometown Davenport.  And that jives with statistics …

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Rogers: "University Budgets Have Grown At Unsustainable Rates"

Funding for higher education has become a hot button issue in Cedar Falls with budget cuts at UNI.

On Tuesday, Cedar Falls Republican Representative Walt Rogers voted with his party in the Iowa House to approve an education budget that would cut funding for the Regents institutions, which include the University of Northern Iowa, the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, by $31 million. Today, he issued a statement elaborating on his position. Rogers' statement, in full: Since 1998, the budgets at Iowa’s universities have continued to grow at an unsustainable rate.  For too long that burden has just been pushed on to the backs of our students, which is not fair.  It’s time that these institutions look for efficiencies and savings in their budgets just like every Iowan is doing.  I did not support efforts by Democrats ($108 …

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Cedar Falls Legislators at Center of "Pork-Barrel" Battle

How much will the Iowa government spend next year? We'll find out in the next few weeks.

By Lynn Campbell IowaPolitics.com Iowa House Republicans are taking a stand against pork-barrel projects, despite some of their own members joining Senate Democrats in wanting to carve out state money for a project back home. State Rep. Dan Huseman, R-Aurelia, on Tuesday told IowaPolitics.com that he has had the tough job this year of turning down fellow House Republicans who have made requests for earmarks. “I can think of six of them right at the top of my head that I’ve told, ‘No, I’m not going to do that,’” Huseman said. Among them is state Rep. Steve Lukan, R-New Vienna, who has advocated for spending $5 million for reconstruction of the Lake Delhi dam, which flooded and failed in July 2010. The Iowa House is scheduled Wednesday to …

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House Votes to Cut $3 Million From UNI: How Did Local Lawmakers Vote?

The move came less than a week after the Board of Regents approved the closure of 58 academic programs to help address UNI's budget deficit.

The Iowa House of Representatives voted Tuesday to cut $3 million from the University of Northern Iowa's budget. The bill would reduce funding for the Regents institutions, which include UNI, the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, by $31 million. That is in contrast to the Senate version, which asks for a $34 million increase in funding for the Regents institutions, including a $11.2 million increase for UNI. The two bodies will now have to negotiate to reach a compromise before a spending plan becomes law and goes into effect July 1. The move came less than a week after the Board of Regents approved the closure of 58 academic programs to help address UNI's budget deficit. UNI administrators have said the university faces a $5 …

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Three Cedar Falls Lawmakers Will Face Challenges for State Legislature Seats

Three Cedar Falls Lawmakers Will Face Challenges for State Legislature Seats

Red-Light Camera Ban, Reported Dead, Will Be Revived, Cedar Falls Lawmaker Says

The bill, sponsored by Cedar Falls Rep. Walt Rogers, was reported in some media as dead yesterday, but Rogers says he's not giving up yet.

A bill to ban red-light traffic cameras isn't dead yet, despite lacking commitments for the 51 votes it will need to pass the Iowa House of Representatives. "I guess this bill has nine lives," said Rep. Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls who sponsored the bill. Some media reports yesterday said the bill would be pulled from consideration during this legislative session. The legislature is moving through a "funnel" week, in which non-spending measures must have cleared one legislative chamber and a committee of the other to remain eligible for consideration this session. With the funnel week ending Friday, the red-light bill did not have enough time to garner more support. Rogers, however, said today the bill is being moved to the appropriations …

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A Decade of Defunding Higher Education: History Behind University of Northern Iowa's Woes

DISPATCH: Iowa's funding for higher education has been shrinking for the past 12 years, a trend mirrored across the country.

The University of Northern Iowa's current budget woes are part of a larger trend in the defunding of higher education. A report released March 8 shows, after accounting for inflation, that state funding for Iowa's public universities decreased nearly 40 percent between 2000 and 2011. Even before adjusting for inflation, the report says, all three of Iowa’s public universities received fewer dollars from the state's general fund in fiscal year 2012 than they had in any year since 1996. The report was compiled by the Iowa Fiscal Partnership, a joint initiative of The Iowa Policy Project and The Child and Family Policy Center. A full copy of the report is attached to this article as a PDF. Students bearing burden of decreased funding The …

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Rep. Rogers Has Asked Attorney General For Legal Opinion on Price Lab Closure Plans

Whether or not the Iowa Board of Regents had the legal authority to close Price Lab has been debated in the last week.

Rep. Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls, has asked Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller for a legal opinion on whether the Iowa Board of Regents has the authority to close Malcolm Price Laboratory School. The school has been designated by the Iowa Legislature as Iowa's Research and Development school, so some have maintained it would take an act of the legislature to close the school. Others have said the University of Northern Iowa could maintain the Research and Development School without Price Lab, and that the Regents do not have to get approval from the legislature. At a community meeting Feb. 29, some local legislators, including Rogers, said they weren't sure whether the legislature had the authority to intervene in its closure. "As I’ve …

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Price Lab's Fate May Be Out of Their Hands, Legislators Say

At a community meeting attended by more than 400 community members and five local lawmakers, it was unclear what role the Iowa Legislature can or will play in the decision to close Price Lab.

Local lawmakers said they weren't sure the Iowa Legislature will be able to intervene, as many community members hope, to keep Malcolm Price Laboratory School open. University of Northern Iowa President Ben Allen has announced his intention to close the Price Lab, a teaching lab for UNI teaching students as well as school for hundreds of children in the area, and the Iowa Board of Regents is expected to vote on whether or not to approve the recommendation at a meeting Monday afternoon. The widely disseminated understanding in the media, including on Patch, has been that since Price Lab has been defined by the Iowa Legislature as the Research and Development School for Iowa, it would take an act of the Legislature to close the school. In …

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