Deidre DeJear: Use Iowa’s ‘trust fund’ for mental health, education funding – Iowa Capital Dispatch

Iowa wants to make use of its finances surplus to deal with shortages in psychological well being and public training, Democratic candidate for governor Deidre DeJear mentioned Saturday.

DeJear spoke to a gaggle of greater than 50 individuals gathered on the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox on the Iowa State Truthful. The state is underfunding each public training and psychological well being, she mentioned, and must put authorities cash to make use of serving to Iowans in want.

“We have now to have management that’s going to place your sources to work, not circumvent the issue,” DeJear mentioned. “It’s a level of power to acknowledge the challenges that exist.”

A type of challenges, she mentioned, is bringing again high-quality public training. Iowa was once primary in training, she mentioned, however latest finances cuts have hindered the state’s public colleges. The Republican-controlled Legislature handed a 2.5% enhance to Iowa’s per-pupil training funding this 12 months, which Democrats say fails to maintain tempo with rising inflation.

Gov. Kim Reynolds, DeJear’s opponent, has additionally made her laws to supply Iowa college students taxpayer-funded scholarships to attend non-public colleges a rallying cry this election season. Reynolds shouldn’t be scheduled to talk on the soapbox.

DeJear mentioned the dearth of training funding doesn’t simply harm college students, however hurts Iowa’s economic system. She mentioned underfunding Iowa’s baby care and better training methods has stored some Iowans out of the workforce, with mother and father needing to remain house and college students not capable of afford lessons to achieve job expertise.

Whereas there are issues now, DeJear mentioned the historical past of Iowa public colleges, from its prime rating to early desegregation, present that Iowans gained’t accept the established order.

“We all know as Iowans that’s not the place we belong and that’s not what our youngsters deserve,” she mentioned.

Iowa youngsters are additionally underserved by the state’s psychological well being sources, she mentioned. DeJear shared a narrative of a 17-year-old baby whose father took him to the emergency room after he revealed ideas of self-harm. The household was instructed he must wait six months for a psychiatric appointment, or journey virtually 5 hours from Dubuque to Sioux Metropolis for inpatient remedy.

This state has lower than 600 psychological well being beds for a inhabitants of greater than 3 million individuals, DeJear mentioned, which is much too few. She instructed reporters the state ought to open extra crucial psychological well being care entry factors. In 2018, the Legislature handed a psychological well being invoice which known as for opening six regional “entry facilities” — locations the place individuals having a psychological well being disaster may go to obtain assist with out hospitalization.

Solely two of these entry facilities have opened, DeJear mentioned. Iowa wants to make use of its surplus to open the remaining 4 facilities, she mentioned, and to enhance different state psychological well being sources.

“We’re additionally not broke: $1.5 million of your taxpayer cash is sitting in an account that this present governor is looking a ‘belief fund,’” DeJear mentioned. “Properly, I’m of the mindset that it’s essential be able of privilege to have a belief fund. That’s Iowa’s wet day fund, and it’s raining in our state.”

Learn what different candidates needed to say on the state honest right here.