John,

I've been very vocal about the need to cover the cost of maternity care. Now, I want to talk to you about another issue near and dear to my heart – taking care of our elderly in their golden years. 

Here in Iowa, we’re facing an elder care crisis. We have a capacity crisis, where we have too few elder care centers to take on our aging population. And to make matters worse, we have elder care centers that are closing down due to bankruptcy. 

Where do the elders who are living in these centers go? Will there be a facility that provides quality care that isn’t a hundred miles away from family members? These are questions hundreds of families are wrestling with right now. 

Capacity isn’t the only problem we’re facing. We have a lack of accountability and oversight, where there are hundreds of complaints sitting and gathering dust. This is unacceptable, John. These are our grandmothers and grandfathers, our neighbors and our friends, and they deserve better.

Iowa lawmakers need to address our elder care crisis and they need to do it now. Republican lawmakers have so far failed to adequately fund the Long Term Care Ombudsman's office that is responsible for investigating complaints about residents’ safety. And they have done nothing to address the capacity crisis.

If Republican lawmakers can pass a giant tax cut bill that doled out hundreds of millions in corporate tax cuts, they can surely invest in directly helping our seniors and their families access quality, affordable elder care. Or do they just have backwards priorities? 

If elected to the Iowa State House, I will work to increase oversight of our elder care facilities to ensure complaints are addressed in a timely manner and give Iowa families better access to quality elder care. 

Our elders deserve our respect, compassion and support. And they need it now in Iowa. 

Standing Tall for All,

J.D. Scholten 

If you'd like to send a check to Scholten for Iowa, please mail it to: Scholten for Iowa, P.O. Box 5351, Sioux City, IA 51102.