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Alive or dead? Here's a status report on legislative issues - Iowa Capital Dispatch

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16:05News StoryThe State Capitol of Iowa is reflected by the Henry A Wallace Building on Nov, 6, 2018 in Des Moines. (Photo by David Greedy/Getty Images)Many others have failed to advance past the so-called “funnel.” The Legislature’s self-imposed deadline required many bills to clear at least one committee by the end of this week to remain eligible for debate. Bills dealing with school bathroom use by transgender students, cities’ regulation of certain dog breeds, and reinstatement of the death penalty were among those falling by the wayside.Bills that survived this round now have to make it through one full chamber and be eligible for debate by the opposite chamber by April 2.Here’s a sampling of the bills consider “alive” and “dead” after the funnel.Possession of 5 grams or less of marijuana would be downgraded to a simple misdemeanor under .)— Katie Akin, Perry Beeman and Clark Kauffman contributed to this report.Xby Kathie Obradovich, March 5, 2021by Kathie Obradovich, March 5, 2021More than 375 bills ranging from allowing home delivery of alcohol to keeping Iowa on daylight savings time year-around have cleared the Iowa Legislature’s first major hurdle.Many others have failed to advance past the so-called “funnel.” The Legislature’s self-imposed deadline required many bills to clear at least one committee by the end of this week to remain eligible for debate. Bills dealing with school bathroom use by transgender students, cities’ regulation of certain dog breeds, and reinstatement of the death penalty were among those falling by the wayside.Bills that survived this round now have to make it through one full chamber and be eligible for debate by the opposite chamber by April 2.Here’s a sampling of the bills consider “alive” and “dead” after the funnel.Alive after first funnelAbortion:A proposed constitutional amendment in declaring there is in the Iowa Constitution.would require “informed consent” be given in advance of prescription of medication intended to end a pregnancy, including disputed information that “it may be possible” to reverse a medication abortion.Alcohol delivery: Retailers would be through third-party vendors underBiofuels: Gov. Kim Reynolds has proposed a and a change in tax credits meant to require retailers to sell higher blends of ethanol and biodiesel. Retailers and trucking organizations are opposing , while farm groups support the move.&nbsp;Birth control:&nbsp; Over-the-counter delivery of certain birth control medication would be allowed under .Bottle bill: At least three bills are still alive.&nbsp;, would allow retailers to opt out of taking containers if there is a redemption center within 20 miles. It also would raise payments to redemption centers.would require an accounting of unredeemed container deposits.&nbsp;would allow retailers to decline to take bottles and can returns if there is a redemption center in the area.&nbsp;Broadband: The governor’s proposal in and would spend $450 million a year over three years on Empower Iowa grants for projects that provide service at a minimum of 100 megabits per second for both downloads and uploads in areas with no service or lower-speed service.&nbsp;Censorship:&nbsp;would ban the state and local governments from having contracts with or offering aid to “certain companies that censor online content.”&nbsp;would fine social-media companies that “censor” constitutionally protected speech.Child care: The Iowa House last month dealing with child care, which has been a priority of business groups that see the lack of affordable child care as a barrier to attracting workers.: Increases the net income threshold to claim the early childhood tax credit from $45,000 to $90,000. The bill passed 90-1.: Creates a tax credit of up to $150,000 to encourage employers to provide child care to their employees. The bill passed 88-6.&nbsp;: Allows unregulated home child care providers to care for up to six children, as long as one of them is school aged. The bill passed 70-24.: Increases the reimbursement rate for the state child care assistance program. All child care providers would be brought up to the 50th percentile of the market rate. The bill passed 90-4. A similar bill passed the House in 2020.: Creates a gradual phase-out program for families whose income rises while using state child care assistance. The legislation is intended to avoid a sudden drop in assistance if a parent receives a salary increase, known as the “cliff effect.” passed the House in 2020. The bill passed again, 94-0.: Creates a state matching grant program to communities that fund the child care WAGE$ Iowa program that supplements educator salaries, or other programs to support and retain teachers.&nbsp;Daylight saving time: Iowa would underDirect care workforce: would to include not only the certified nurse assistants who work in nursing homes and care facilities, but all types of direct-care workers.Divisive concepts: Iowa’s schools would not be able to include “divisive concepts” in staff trainings under , which passed in the House Judiciary Committee. The Senate Education committee moved a similar bill, .Driving:would forbid the use of any electronic communication device that would take a driver’swould increase penalties for drivers who unintentionally cause a death or serious injury while speeding.Elections:&nbsp;Both the House and Senate have approved , a which shortens absentee voting periods, enacts earlier poll-closing times and imposes felony penalties for violations of election laws by public officials, among other provisions.&nbsp; Gov. Kim Reynolds had not yet signed the bill as of March 5.Voting rights would be restored for felons who have discharged their sentences under .Executive orders: would prohibit state and local governments, and any entity that gets money from them, from complying with a presidential order that “restricts a person’s rights or which the attorney general has determined to be unconstitutional.”Freedom of speech: would for faculty, staff and students of public universities.Gambling:&nbsp; Betting on electronic sporting or “e-sports” events would be allowed under.Guns:&nbsp;Iowans would to purchase or carry a handgun under .&nbsp;wouldand sellers from lawsuits related to deaths, injuries or property damage caused by unlawful use of firearms.&nbsp;Both the House and Senate passed a proposal that will let Iowans vote in 2022 about whether .Iowans could underHousing:&nbsp;&nbsp;Cities would be prohibited under from enforcing ordinances banning against tenants using federal housing assistance.The governor’s affordable housing proposal in would offer housing assistance, housing tax credits, added workforce housing incentives, loan guarantees for downtown revitalization projects, eviction prevention assistance and disaster housing recovery assistance.Hunting/fishing:&nbsp; proposes a constitutional amendment providing that hunting, fishing and trapping are “a valuable part of our heritage” that should be preserved.Immigration: Employers could for knowingly employing undocumented workers under.Insulin:&nbsp;&nbsp;The monthly out-of-pocket cost for insulin would be under .would allow pharmacists to refill up to a month’s worth of a prescription without a doctor’s sign-off in emergency situations.Laser assault: Pointing a laser to temporarily blind another person would be a crime under The bill exempts games like laser tag.Littering:&nbsp; could include the loss of hunting and fishing licenses and state park camping privileges under.Marijuana: Possession of 5 grams or less of marijuana would be downgraded to a simple misdemeanor under .Mobile home parks: would regulate various aspects of the or property where the dwelling is located.Parental rights: would state that parents have a fundamental right to “direct the upbringing, rearing, associations, care, education, custody, and control” of their children.&nbsp;Parks improvements: would provide $3 million annually for three years for park repairs and improvements.Pet shops: Cities could not of pet shops or zoos under.Police:would cut off state aid for cities that “defund” or cut police budgets.would allow a police officer to file a civil claim against individuals who file a false report against them. It would also include officers, judges and prosecutors in address confidentiality programs.Pregnancy:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Employers would be required to provide and childbirth underAssisted reproduction fraud would be a crime under .Sexual abuse/assault:&nbsp;&nbsp;would eliminate the statute of limitations for sexual abuse in the first, second or third degree, kidnapping or human trafficking involving a minor.&nbsp;would create a forensic examiner program for training, certifying and providing technical assistance to sexual assault forensic examiners and nurse examiners.&nbsp;Schools:Both chambers approved and the , which&nbsp; required&nbsp; K-12 schools to offer 100% in-person instruction by Feb. 15.Both and the governor signed , which increases supplemental state aid for schools by 2.4% or about $36.5 million for the next school year.The Senate advanced an . would create new avenues for charter schools to form in Iowa and would fund scholarship programs for some students to attend private schools.The House split the bill into several parts. The House Education Committee did not consider the bill on private school vouchers, but they did approve , which would allow charter schools to operate independently of public school districts.Parents could request that their child repeat a grade due to COVID-19 disruptions at schools under .would require public and certain nonaccredited private schools to display the American flag in classrooms and start each day with recitation of the pledge of allegiance.&nbsp;Taxes on COVID-19 aid: The House and Senate have passed different versions of , which would allow businesses to exclude any Paycheck Protection Program loans from their net income. The House version also includes federal pandemic unemployment assistance and state COVID-19 grants from the Iowa Economic Development Authority, the Iowa Finance Authority or the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.&nbsp;Traffic cameras:&nbsp; except for a section of Interstate 380 through Cedar Rapids under .Trucking company liability: Trucking industry employers would be under for deaths, injuries or other damages caused by their employees. Noneconomic damages from motor vehicle accidents involving a commercial driver would be capped at $1 million per plaintiff.&nbsp;Unemployment benefits: would impose a one-week waiting period before the start of unemployment benefits, reduce benefits for families with more than two dependents and eliminate expanded plant-closing benefit periods.Universities: would ban tenure for faculty at state universities.&nbsp;Vaccines:&nbsp;would require health professionals to to a statewide immunization register.&nbsp;would allow dentists to administer flu shots and COVID-19 vaccines.would prohibit employers from requiring their employees be vaccinated.Workplace:bars employers from entering into&nbsp; noncompete agreements with “low-wage” workers who make $14.50 an hour or less.Using “synthetic urine” to defraud a workplace drug or alcohol test would be a crime under , which has passed both the House and Senate.(Note: Some bill numbers may have changed from previous coverage and many bills listed here have companion legislation in the opposite chamber.&nbsp; For complete lists of bills currently eligible for debate, see the and Bills passed by both the House and Senate so far this year are )Dead after first funnel(Note: There are numerous ways for lawmakers to resurrect “dead” bills, including amending language to other bills. Bills exempt from the funnel deadlines include those dealing with appropriations, taxes and fees, government oversight and those sponsored by legislative leaders.)Bully Breed Ban: would prohibit counties and cities from having bans on.&nbsp;Campus mask policies: Colleges would have if they required the use of masks off campus under .&nbsp;Congressional perks: , proposed a constitutional amendment would prevent Congress from exempting itself from federal laws, remove benefits members receive after leaving office, limit pay raises, eliminate a congressional health care system and require members to participate in Social Security and to purchase retirement plans.Cursive instruction: Schools would have to teach students how to write in cursive under .Death penalty: would make the death penalty available for first-degree murder that also involves the kidnapping and sexual assault of a minor.&nbsp;Fireworks: Cities or counties would be able to regulate sales or ban fireworks under if there is a threat to public safety.Flex fuel vehicles: would have required a certain percentage of vehicles sold at retail outlets in Iowa to be flex fuel models.Homemade food: Homemade food could be sold without state regulation under .LGBTQ rights:&nbsp;&nbsp;would mandate that schools s to only “persons of the same biological sex.”&nbsp;Parents would need to provide written consent for elementary school students to at school under .Schools would have to notify parents before asking students who identify which pronoun they prefer to be called by underLivestock confinements: would ban construction of new livestock confinement operations in Iowa.Medical cannabis: would slash fees paid by the manufacturers of medical cannabis and create an income tax deduction for business expenses associated with manufacturing or dispensing medical cannabis. Sales taxes from medical cannabis would be diverted to pay for state administration and testing.Minimum wage increase:&nbsp; would gradually raise the state minimum wage from the current $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour.Misconduct by school officials:&nbsp; would who “knowingly and intentionally” violate state law.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Political ideology: would define political ideology as a &nbsp;Racial profiling: Both the House and the Senate considered Reynolds’ “Back the Blue” legislation in several parts. Neither chamber took up the racial profiling ban within the proposal.Teaching about slavery: Under , K-12 schools and colleges would lose some state funding if teachers used “1619 Project” materials dealing with slavery.University politics: would require the Iowa Board of Regents to survey employees of state universities about their political affiliation.Vaccines: would prohibit schools and child care centers from requiring vaccinations.— Katie Akin, Perry Beeman and Clark Kauffman contributed to this report.is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: . Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on and .Copy to clipboard1RepublishOur stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. 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16:05News StoryThe State Capitol of Iowa is reflected by the Henry A Wallace Building on Nov, 6, 2018 in Des Moines. (Photo by David Greedy/Getty Images)Many others have failed to advance past the so-called “funnel.” The Legislature’s self-imposed deadline required many bills to clear at least one committee by the end of this week to remain eligible for debate. Bills dealing with school bathroom use by transgender students, cities’ regulation of certain dog breeds, and reinstatement of the death penalty were among those falling by the wayside.Bills that survived this round now have to make...

Alive or dead? Here's a status report on legislative issues - Iowa Capital Dispatch

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