Iowa 97th House Representative Ken Croken (D-Davenport) is holding a rally this Wednesday, Feb. 18th, to urge passage of a bipartisan bill in Congress that would allow veterans to collect both retirement and disability benefits.
The Major Richard Star Act amends the federal law dictating chapter 61 retirees' (those who served less than 20 years) ability to either collect Department of Defense benefits or benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Currently, there is a dollar-for-dollar offset.
“I believe that they're entitled to both. These are our heroes, and we are essentially punishing them with a tax on their benefits that I think is unwarranted and unfair,” Rep. Croken said in an interview with WVIK.
Rep. Croken says the bill has been brought up again and again over the last five years, and he hopes a resolution passed in the Iowa General Assembly, along with a rally of support, will aid its passage.
“Let me talk a little bit about Major Richard Star himself, for whom this bill is named. Major Star was an army major who died as a result of exposure to burn pits in Afghanistan,” Rep. Croken said. “It resulted in lung cancer, causing his death. He spent the last few years of his life struggling to get full benefits for all people similarly situated.
“The veterans' service organizations have been very supportive and very helpful. On Wednesday, [Feb.] 18th, we're having a rally in the rotunda of the state Capitol to encourage passage of this act. And particularly excited by our keynote speaker, Commander-in-Chief Carol Whitmore is our keynote speaker. Commander Whitmore is the first woman and first Iowan ever to be elected to the top national officer of the VFW nationwide. So we're very excited to have her be with us. We also will have speakers from the American Wounded Warrior Project and the Disabled American Veterans. All of these organizations have decided that their number one legislative priority is the passage of the Major Richard Star Act.”
Property tax reform
Within the state capitol, the discussion of property tax reform is taking high priority for the state’s Republican party and Governor Kim Reynolds. Rep. Croken said the larger issue encompassing property taxes is affordability.
“Now again, some of the common elements that are being discussed are freezing property taxes for senior citizens, myself included. And I'm certainly supportive of assisting in people staying in their homes. But if the legislature reduces property taxes for one age group, then someone else has to make up that difference. I don't think the property tax issue is a function of age. It's a function of again, affordability,” Rep. Croken said. “It's not whether or not you're 65 or older, it's whether or not your income taxes are increasing at a rate and pace that your income isn't and can't. So we need to be sensible about that.”
Rep. Croken said other common elements under discussion include creating a lien on the payments and allowing homeowners to defer payment until they leave the property. Another element creates the option for homeowners to pay monthly instead of two bills a year.
“[T]he other concern is the governor's proposal in particular suggests that we put a 2% cap on local government spending. Okay, that's a conversation worth having. But our local governments are telling us they can't afford to deliver the same level of services. Prices are going up everywhere,” Rep. Croken said. “So, okay, we can limit the growth in local government spending, but what are we willing to give up? Public safety, libraries? What do we, what are we willing to do without? Sadly, there's no silver bullet here. There's no single solution to this problem. It has to be a comprehensive program that addresses this issue in a number of ways.”
Affordability legislation
On the topic of affordability, Rep. Croken has proposed a series of bills that aid renters. One bill would require landlords to return 50% of an application fee if they turn down a renter.
“So they can't just go out the next day and apply for a different apartment. They have to go back to the drawing board and save the money necessary to provide yet another application fee,” Rep. Croken said. “I have proposed that if you don't give, if you don't award the apartment, the unit, the rental unit to the applicant, well then you can't keep the entire application fee.”
Rep. Croken notes that landlords incur several expenses associated with maintaining the property, citing the 50% cap. “So let's not disadvantage people looking for a home by not, not reimbursing at least a significant amount of the application fee that allows these prospective tenants to move forward with another property,” Rep. Croken said.
Another bill would allow counties and municipalities to prohibit landlords from denying units to tenants using federal housing vouchers.
“There's lots of valid reasons why a landlord might choose not to rent an apartment to a particular applicant. The fact that much of their rent is being paid for by a voucher program is not one of those valid reasons,” Rep. Croken said.
Settlement legislation
The Democrat from Davenport is also proposing legislation tied to the ongoing legal disputes involving the city of Davenport over settlement payments. His bill would require counties and municipalities to hold public hearings and provide ample public notice before voting on settlement payments.
“[T]he city of Davenport found itself in a most unfortunate position where backroom meetings resulted in significant settlements that were not approved in open session by the city council. No opportunity for public input on those decisions.”
Vaccine legislation
Rep. Croken raised concerns for proposed legislation that would remove vaccine mandates in schools.
“[T]his is not just dangerous, this is reckless. We are going to be asking people to send their children into schools where there can be no expectation that the student body has been vaccinated,” Rep. Croken said. “We're creating a giant petri culture dish of viruses that can all result in horrifying deadly diseases. No hyperbole in this. We're talking about measles, mumps, rubella, pertussis, also known as whooping cough. I am old enough to remember when some of my classmates were still coming to school on crutches from their polio infections. We have all but eliminated these childhood diseases in America, and we're opening the door to more epidemic levels of exposure.”
He mentioned his grandson living with a blood disorder that requires him to be away from the general public or risk his health.
“He is a boy in a bubble. He has to stay home until all his treatment is completed. And he has been revaccinated for all those diseases,” Rep. Croken said. “He can't go to school until such time and there are lots of others. There are babies who are too young to be vaccinated, children for whom the vaccination has not been effective. We are exposing these kids and all the other unvaccinated children in this population to diseases that are potentially fatal. And I don't know why. There is no science that would suggest that anybody would be better off if so many of us are reliant on herd immunity.”
Legislation impacting DHS operations
The representative is introducing legislation with support from the Black and Brown legislative caucuses that require that Department of Homeland Security agents to operate without masks.
“State police don't wear masks. City police officers don't wear masks. That's not America. That's not who we are. We don't have secret police,” Rep. Croken said. “And if law enforcement officers, who 99% of the time are behaving responsibly in accordance with the Constitution, they don't feel the need to hide their identities. No names, no masks. It shouldn't happen anywhere.”
He also mentioned the need for ICE agents to have body cameras that can’t be turned off and creating safe spaces where they can’t operate, including schools, churches, and hospitals.
“We also need a sensible and manageable immigration system that allows the workers we desperately need to come to this country,” Rep. Croken said. “And simply blocking everybody who is seeking to come here from coming here is counterproductive. I am about the economy. It's cutting off our noses to spite our faces. We need these workers. And why we don't focus on creating a system where we can get them here is really not clear to me.”
WVIK’s full interview with Rep. Ken Croken can be found below.
This story was produced by WVIK, Quad Cities NPR. We rely on financial support from our listeners and readers to provide coverage of the issues that matter to the Quad Cities region and beyond. As someone who values the content created by WVIK's news department, please consider making a financial contribution to support our work.
