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1997
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Class size reduction.
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1998
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Appropriation of $250,000 for the Fort Des Moines Black Officers Memorial.
Additional incentives and assistance to approved eligible businesses located in a state Enterprise Zone.
Required the Department of Transportation to post invitations to bid on the state's Targeted Small Business web site 48 hours in advance.
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1999
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Provided for the establishment of an independent administrator of the division of persons with disabilities within the Department of Human Rights.
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2000
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Made an appropriation to the commission of veterans affairs for a contribution toward the construction of a national World War II memorial in Washington D.C.
Required the director of the department of public health to set up an ad hoc group to conduct a study of childhood lead poisoning in the state.
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2001
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Allowed the Polk County Hospital board of trustees to increase the maximum hospital levy by .30 (from $1.75 to $2.05), if the board believes it is necessary to provide appropriate and necessary health care to Polk County residents.
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2002
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Legislation encouraged banks, savings and loans, and insurance companies to help restore historic Iowa properties.
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2003
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Sponsored a resolution honoring the extraordinary achievements and service of those who served as Tuskegee Airmen.
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2004
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Sponsored a resolution supporting the development of a medical school curriculum that ensure physicians receive training relating to racial and cultural bias, to ensure that treatment and therapies are recommended equitably regardless of racial or cultural identity.
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2005
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As part of the Grow Iowa Values Fund, the Department of Economic Development was required to file two reports. One would identify the number of minority-owned business that received funding from the Grow Iowa Values Fund, and the other would identify the number of women owned business that have received funding from the Grow Iowa Values Fund.
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2006
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The Renewable Fuels Bill added alternative renewable energy as a targeted industry, banned franchise agreements that prohibited E-85 pumps, and otherwise promoted the development of alternative fuels in general and E-85 in particular.
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2007
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Increased the state's minimum wage on April 1, 2007, from $5.15 per hour to $6.20 per hour. On January 1, 2008, it will increase to $7.25 - a total increase of $2.10.
Revamped the Targeted Small Business (TSB) program, and provides for outreach to minority, women and disabled owned businesses, as well as additional funding for grants, loans and mentoring. Necessary staff is providing to certify TSBs and encourage on the taskforce, and both Governors Vilsack and Culver endorsed their $4 million plan. The taskforce will continue to meet to monitor the program.
Required all children entering schools in Iowa to be tested for lead poising by the age of six, and encourage parents of children under the age of two to have a blood lead test by the age of two.
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2008
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Iowa State Representative Wayne Ford was pleased to announce that Iowa Governor Chet Culver signed House File 901, which Representative Ford introduced, into law. On July 1, 2008, Polk County, Iowa, will become the only county in the nation in which bouncers must be trained.
Two bills requiring that state government determine the impact that state grants have on the minority community and the impact that any new criminal legislation has on Iowa's minorities were combined. "This was landmark legislation and is a remarkable step in addressing the special circumstances of Iowa's minority population", Ford said.
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