Des Moines, IA (Radio Iowa)– Agencies providing temporary staff to long-term care facilities in Iowa are calling on lawmakers to table a plan to limit how much they charge.

The bill that has cleared the Iowa House would cap charges for so-called-traveling nurses at 150 percent of the statewide average wage for nurses working in nursing homes.

Bob Livonius is a member of the Board of Directors for GrapeTree Medical Staffing in Milford. He says temp agencies will stop doing business with Iowa long-term care facilities if the is put in place which he says is exactly what has already happened in two other states.

A lobbyist for the Iowa Nurses Association says nurses feel singled out since there are other traveling medical professionals, like doctors, that are not included in the proposed limitations.

Senator Jason Schulte, a Republican from Schleswig, says the bill is currently moving as a way to keep taxpayers from handing over additional funds that he says in many cases are being pocketed by temp agencies.