Des Moines, Iowa — House Democrats are proposing a cap on the price of insulin, a freeze on tuition rates at community colleges and the three state universities and several other policies they say would lower costs for Iowans.
Jennifer Konfrst, a Democrat from Windsor Heights, is the House Minority Leader.
Republicans hold a majority of seats in the House and Senate and control what gets debated and passed into law Konfrst says Democrats are hoping to work with Republicans on property tax relief, but they also hope to convince the GOP to take more steps to promote construction of affordable housing. House Democrats also propose a new state tax credit for child care costs.
Representative Molly Buck of Ankeny says another proposal from House Democrats would let the state labor commissioner investigate businesses accused of withholding wages, even if a formal complaint hasn’t been filed against the business.
That figure comes from a report issued last fall by Common Good Iowa, a research and advocacy group. The state’s Workforce Development agency is currently using a federal grant to investigate businesses that may be mis-classifying employees as independent contractors in order to avoid payroll taxes and the costs of employee benefits.
