Debt, education, and child-care programs are among the biggest concerns for Story County Legislators in the upcoming Iowa Legislative Session, set to begin in January.

Democrat Jane Greimann stepped down from her position as House District 45 representative, a position she held for almost a decade.

On Tuesday, Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, a Democrat from Ames, won the seat over Republican challenger Randy Woodbury by a 56- to 38-percent margin.

“Education is a huge issue,” Wessel-Kroeschell said. “Over half of the eligible voters in my district are students. I think it’s a crime that the state has balanced the budget on the backs of 18- to 24-year-old kids.”

Wessel-Kroeschell said tuition grants and other tools must be used to get students who want a college education the opportunity to earn their degrees.

“The voice of the students will be heard,” she said.

Wessel-Kroeschell also said elementary education is a top priority for her.

“Right now, elementary schools in the area are growing too quickly for the 2 percent increase in funding the state has,” she said. “This must be changed.”

Lisa Heddens, an Ames Democrat who was re-elected to House District 46, said Medicaid was her main priority.

District 46 includes the northern part of Ames and western Story County. Heddens defeated Libertarian Eric Cooper for the seat.

“We will have a $200 to $250 million shortfall on the 2006 budget if we don’t address this right away,” Heddens said. “We don’t want to cut services or change eligibility, but we have to find revenue to fund Medicaid.”

She said there will be a $60 to $70 million supplement for 2005, but that the amount will not suffice for very long.

Another area of great concern to Heddens is the Child in Need of Assistance program. This program, she said, is most often for abused or neglected children.

“One of the other main uses is mental health facilities for those abused children,” she said. “Iowa is one of 24 states requiring parents to give up their rights so the children may be treated. These kids end up being treated like juvenile offenders. It is a horrible policy, and I want it to change.”

Heddens and Wessel-Kroeschell will work in a more evenly-split Iowa House than in previous years.

“The split is 51-49 in the House, so everyone will have to work together far better than they did in the past,” Wessel-Kroeschell said.

Jim Kurtenbach, a Nevada Republican re-elected to House District 10, which includes most of Story County outside of Ames and a few townships in southern Hamilton County, agreed that the parties will have to work together in the new Legislature.

Kurtenbach won a second term by a 59 to 41 percent margin over Democrat Tracy Runkel. He said paying Iowa’s debt obligations is his primary legislative goal.

“I want meaningful tax overhaul in the state,” he said. “We’re approaching the problem in a different way to do it.”

He said he is concerned with income taxes, but feels the biggest tax problem in Iowa is the commercial property tax.

“It’s the highest of any of our neighboring states, according to The Des Moines Register,” he said. “It becomes a significant burden when lobbying companies come into the state.”

This is a problem, Kurtenbach said, that has been escalating for 25 years. It is not, he said, as big a problem as Iowa’s massively increased debt in the past six years.

It is not an insurmountable problem to repay the debt, he said.

“We will have to face that together, Democrats and Republicans,” he said. “This is something we must address if we don’t want to keep spending the people’s money.”