Iowa Legislative ‘funnel’ ends hope for many 2014 bills
By Rod Boshart, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The mid-March foreboding proved prophetic for measures dealing with traffic-camera regulations, texting while driving, minimum wage increases, voting rights for convicted felons and abortion services delivered via telemedicine that failed to survive this week's self-imposed legislative "funnel" deadline.
Other casualties of the "funnel" included bills authorizing gun owners to possess "silencers," cracking down on wage theft by employers, revamping sentencing laws for juveniles convicted of murder and other Class A crimes, and banning minors from using tanning facilities.
The "funnel" describes a requirement for non-money bills to be approved by one legislative chamber and a committee of the other house by Friday to remain eligible for consideration this session.
The normal frenzy of a funnel week was somewhat muffled this year by the reality of a divided Legislature, with control split between Republicans who hold a 53-37 edge in the
"It's kind of a low-key week. We haven't done a lot," said Rep.
Nevertheless, lawmakers remained on track to fashion legislation to address problems associated with harassment and bullying of students in schools, exempting military pay from state income taxes and providing other advantages to veterans, banning minors' access to electronic cigarettes, regulating government and private use of drones, expanding access to broadband especially in rural areas, and beefing up protections for elderly Iowans.
"It's an effort to compromise," said Senate Majority Leader
"The work product would be very different if it was just Democrats who were in control; the work product would be very different if it was just Republicans in control," he added. "We believe the voters sent us here to get something done, to look for common ground and compromise, and that's what we've pursued, so the work product is the product of the hand that the voters dealt us."
While the funnel is designed to winnow the
Yet other bills dealing with sports fantasy games, blood alcohol tests for drunken boaters, and allowing all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) to operate on county roads and city streets survived by a procedural move to place them on the unfinished business calendars in both the <org>House and Senate. A
Byrnes said the texting bill arrived from the
"We talked about it because I knew it was going to be coming over," he added. "There were a couple of people who had concerns that this is a pretty big policy bill to just shove through fast."
Rep.
"I find no reason why this common sense piece of legislation should not be taken up for consideration and sent down to the governor," he said, noting the
Sen.
Likewise, Sen.
"That's a bill that Senate Republicans are strongly behind and one that we're disappointed that is still not going to move forward," he said. "It's something that is important to protect the health of women and eliminate a bad medical practice."
Sen.
For their part, legislative Democrats expressed dismay that efforts to expand educational opportunities and funding have stalled in the House.
"We hope that maybe the House will see the light yet and I'm not sure how they will do it, but we certainly are asking them to reconsider killing bills that deeply affect our children," said
Gronstal said he was disappointed a
A bill seeking to legalize a number of fireworks products in
Sands said a number of legislators and constituents favored the measure while others are "dead set" against it, but he felt it needed a fair debate to determine how much support exists for the change.
"Up here, something can die nine times and still find a way to find some life some way and this would be one for that particular bill," he said of the funnel-proof House Study Bill 672.
FUNNEL ROUND UP:
This was the second funnel week at the Capitol. The "funnel" is a self-imposed deadline set by
SURVIVED
-- FUEL TAX: Two bills aimed at raising money for the state's infrastructure could still get a vote this year. One bill raises the state's fuel tax by
-- ANTI-BULLYING: Legislation allowing school officials to enforce school anti-bullying policies for incidents happening off-campus and requiring school officials to notify parents when bullying involves their children is still alive. The anti-bullying initiative was one of Gov.
-- FIREWORKS: Efforts in the
PERISHED
-- MINIMUM WAGE: Legislation to raise the state's
-- TRAFFIC CAMERAS: A House committee passed a measure that would authorize automatic traffic enforcement devices on state and local highways, require signs that alert drivers to the presence of cameras and establish a uniform fine system for red-light and speeding violations caught on camera. However, the measure stalled due to lack of consensus and, in the meantime, the state
-- TEXTING WHILE DRIVING: The
Here is a status report on some issues of interest in the
ALIVE
-- Increase state gas tax (HSB514/SF2130)
-- Strengthen anti-bullying/harassment efforts in schools (HF2409/sf2318)
-- Regulate government and private use of drones (HF2289/SF2157)
-- Legalize sale, purchase, possession, use of fireworks (SF2294/HSB672)
-- Exempt military retirement pay from state income taxes (SF303)
-- Prohibit access by minor to e-cigarettes (HF2109)
-- Fine social hosts who knowingly allowing underage drinking (SF2146)
-- Expand access to broadband (HSB515/SSB3119)
-- Tougher protections against elder abuse (SF2117/HF2106)
-- Strengthen/reform power-of-attorney law (SF2168/HF2422)
-- Approve buyout to end live dog racing (HSB621)
-- Legalize fantasy sports games (SF2148/HF2128)
-- Increase penalty for kidnapping minors (SF2201/HF2253)
-- Broaden civil commitment for sexual predators (SF2211)
-- Allow ATV operation on secondary roads (HF2395/SF2287) Bowman
-- Expand statewide preschool program (SF2268)
-- Modify definition of obscene materials to exclude live acts (HF359)
-- Require Taser training for law enforcement personnel (SF2187)
-- Freeze resident tuition at state universities
-- Modify first-offense OWI penalties with ignition interlock devices (SF2103)
-- Require pawn shops to return stolen merchandise (HF514)
-- Allow teaching license revocation for sexual liaison with student (HF2389)
-- Allow producers to expand corn check-off to
-- Fix snafu that repealed sales tax on heavy equipment (SF2272)
-- Allow blood testing for OWI boat operators (SF2337)
-- Increase mo-ped speed limit from 30 to 39 mph (SF2192)
-- Extend court protections to pets in domestic abuse cases (SF2118)
-- Require schools to report radon testing/mitigation plans (SF366)
-- Establish statewide emergency warning task force (SF2137)
-- Establish Gideon fellowship in state public defender's office (HF2132)
-- Allow golf cart operation on streets in unincorporated areas (HF236)
-- Allow use of crossbows to hunt deer (HF499)
-- Change maximum weight of vehicles under lemon law (HF2181)
-- Provide licensing of "scrapping" recyclers (HF2332/SF2250)
-- Create specialty license plate with space for not-for-profit group decal (SF371)
-- Establish refugee family support services (SF2176)
-- Change snowmobile regulations for some minors (SSB3179)
-- Revamp crimes for contagious/infectious disease transmissions (SF2086)
-- Increase K-12 state aid by 6 percent in fiscal 2016 (SF2077/2079)
-- Expand uses of horse racing purse money (Hf2290)
-- Issue
-- Extend school merger/consolidation initiative (SF2056/HSB558)
-- Toughen criminal penalties for human trafficking (SF2311)
-- Expand electronic reporting of campaign finances (SF2119)
-- Extend sales tax rebate for
-- Establish screening for dyslexia (SF2070)
-- Ease sanctions for violations by teen drivers with school permits (SF2288)
-- Provide liability protection for volunteers on public land (HF2397)
--
-- Protect children's identity from theft (HF2116)
-- Revise state child-care assistance eligibility guidelines (HF2070/SF2251)
-- Establish
-- Establish
-- Revise tax calculation for compressed natural gas (SF2338)
-- Expand list of banned precursors used to produce methamphetamine (HF159)
-- Expand apprenticeship/job training program (SSB3052)
-- Create derelict building grant program (HSB655)
-- Provide licensure help for veterans/spouses (HF2319)
-- Allow private employers to give veterans hiring preference (HF2234)
-- Allocate an extra
DEAD
-- Establish state regulations for traffic enforcement cameras (HF2202)
-- Toughen prohibition for texting while driving to a primary traffic offense (SF2289)
-- Raise minimum wage (SF2260)
-- Ban abortion services via telemedicine (HF2175)
-- Crack down on wage theft in employment (SF191)
-- Authorize possession of "silencers" and certain offensive weapons (HF384)
-- Restore felons' voting rights (SF2203)
-- Revamp sentencing for juveniles facing Class A convictions (HF2386/SF2309)
-- Bar minors under age 18 from tanning devices (SF2174/HF2030)
-- Require state rules for restraining pregnant inmates (SF2190)
-- Establish state health insurance exchange (SF2112)
-- Boost penalty for murdering a peace officer (HF2114)
-- Expand strip searches at county jails/city holding facilities (HF2174)
-- Clarify sexting law dealing with text messages (SF2174)
-- Establish alternative services formerly provided by Iowa Juvenile Home (SF2322)
-- Change gun permit requirements for military members (HF2143)
-- Change K-12 forward-funding law (HF2194)
-- Require health insurers to distribute excess revenue to policyholders (SF2183)
-- Provide special state school aid targeted to low-income students (SF2226)
-- Reinstate merit protections for some state employees (SF2244)
-- Maintain local school board control over curriculum (HF2439)
-- Allow cities to regulate/restrict rental occupancy (SF2304/HF184)
-- Reduce training for farm manure applicators (HF2367)
-- Require prompt pay for private construction projects (SF2155)
-- Give second-chance "consent decrees" for kids in minor trouble (SF2095)
-- Set goal of having nation's healthiest kids by 2020 (SF2285)
-- Verify income, assets, and identity of
-- Change employment background checks for some state-regulated entities (HSB533)
-- Authorize state licensure of sleep technologists (HSB574)
-- Ease requirement state agencies purchase from state prison industries (HF2083)
-- Add jailers to interference with official acts statute (HF2133)
-- Authorize silver alerts for missing seniors (SF2189)
-- Establish philanthropy accounts in schools (SF2129)
-- Extend time for sexually abused minors to bring civil/criminal actions (SF2109)
-- Make service station gas pumps more accessible to handicapped (SF2284)
-- Add fine arts to core curriculum at schools (SF3048)
-- Allow online/electronic voter registration (HF2243/SSB3130)
-- Change state agency rulemaking/decision-making authority (HF2385)
-- Establish urban-ag academy with
-- Establish state Lyme disease task force (SF2090)
-- Require state agencies to provide online fee database (HF2274)
___
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