Abortion rules, an AEA "oversight," and lots of legislative action
April 8 "Capitol Week" is online
This recap is coming to you later than usual, because I wanted to finish a Bleeding Heartland post and some other chores Monday night, and spent much of Tuesday watching Iowa legislative committees or House and Senate floor debate.
If you are ever eager to listen to the show and don’t want to wait for me to send this newsletter, you can look for “KHOI’s Capitol Week” on your favorite podcast platform or on KHOI’s website soon after our show airs live at 7:00 pm on Mondays. The station rebroadcasts the show at 6:00 am on Tuesday and noon Wednesday.
KHOI’s website also has the full “Capitol Week” archive, going back to February 2021.
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Here’s the audio from our April 8 episode:
Topics Dennis Hart and I covered:
The Iowa Board of Medicine presented the final version of administrative rules on the state’s near-total abortion ban to the legislature’s Administrative Rules Review Committee. Since the committee did not object, the rules will go on the books on April 24. However, they will not be enforced unless the Iowa Supreme Court lifts the injunction on the abortion ban approved last year. In February, I wrote about these rules in more detail at Bleeding Heartland;
The Iowa Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments about the abortion ban on April 11. The state is appealing the lower court ruling that enjoined the law pending this litigation. One big question is whether Justice Dana Oxley will participate in this hearing. She recused herself from last year’s big abortion case, leading to the 3-3 deadlock that kept Iowa’s 2018 abortion ban blocked:
Just when we thought we were done talking about Area Education Agencies, Iowa House Republicans are looking for ways to fix what they see as an “oversight” in House File 2612, the AEA bill they rushed to pass last month. I covered this story in more depth at Bleeding Heartland. I doubt Governor Kim Reynolds has any interest in changing this provision, since her original plan would have entirely cut AEA funding for media and education services;
Voting along party lines, the Iowa Senate approved a proposed state constitutional amendment (Senate Joint Resolution 2004) that would require a flat income tax rate, if Iowa imposes an individual income tax at all. As State Senator Cindy Winckler explained during the debate, a flat rate is different from a true flat tax and would favor higher earners;
The Iowa House previously approved a constitutional amendment that would require a two-thirds vote in the legislature to raise income or corporate taxes. That proposal (House Joint Resolution 2006) would not require a supermajority to raise the sales tax in the event of a downturn;
Both chambers are starting to move appropriations bills. The Senate’s proposed budget for the judicial branch includes language that would give the governor an extra appointee on district judicial nominating commissions and remove judges from those panels, which send finalists for judgeships to the governor. Senate Republicans have tried to enact that policy before. But the top House appropriator for the justice systems, State Representative Brian Lohse, told reporters the idea is a “non-starter” in the House GOP caucus;
Last week the Iowa Senate approved House File 2605, a bill regulating hemp consumable products. However, the vote in the upper chamber was much more partisan. The limits on THC in certain products could put some Iowa retailers out of business and could affect Iowans who use hemp products;
Another bill headed for the governor’s desk is House File 2598, which makes “looting” a crime;
One of the most controversial bills considered this year is Senate File 2412, which would shield pesticide companies from lawsuits by those whose health suffered after exposure. Four GOP senators (Kevin Alons, Mark Lofgren, Sandy Salmon, and Jeff Taylor) joined all Democrats present to vote against the bill, but the chamber had more than enough votes to approve it. “Tort reform” has long been a tricky issue in the House GOP caucus, but Bayer (the manufacturer of roundup after purchasing Monsanto) is lobbying very hard for this;
Two bills related to community colleges and the Iowa Student Aid Commission are heading to Reynolds after receiving unanimous support in both chambers. Brooklyn Draisey covered these for Iowa Capital Dispatch;
Also last week, the Senate concurred with a House amendment to Senate File 2268, which regulates how landlords can deal with a tenant’s request to have a service animal;
Another bill, Senate File 2431, moved through the Senate Appropriations Committee last week and received unanimous approval in the full chamber on April 9. It would lift the statute of limitations for Iowans who were sexually abused as Boy Scouts to participate in civil lawsuits. Democratic State Senator Janet Petersen has long advocated for a law that would eliminate Iowa’s statute of limitations for all victims of child sexual abuse;
The Senate considered many of the governor’s nominees last week. Dennis and I discussed the debates on three of them: Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow, Department of Health and Human Services Director Kelly Garcia, and Department of Natural Resources Director Kayla Lyon (all were confirmed);
One of Reynolds’ priorities received final approval in the House last week. House File 2673 is a complex bill that would restructure the state’s mental health and substance abuse treatment programs;
House Republicans also approved the governor’s proposal to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to twelve months. Democrats were split on Senate File 2251, because the bill lowers the income threshold for Medicaid pregnancy coverage, which would result in thousands of Iowa women and infants losing coverage;
Another bill heading to Reynolds, Senate File 2252, will give the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services more authority to administer the “MOMS” program, which funnels state money to crisis pregnancy centers;
The Iowa House struck back by unanimously approving House File 2680, a bill affecting pension systems for police and firefighters. Earlier this year, the House passed a bill expanding cancer coverage for firefighters, but State Senator Jason Schultz did not give that proposal a subcommittee hearing. I noticed today that the Senate Ways and Means Committee has scheduled a subcommittee on the replacement bill;
The governor’s proposal to improve literacy rates cleared the Iowa House with bipartisan support last week after some changes. House File 2618 now heads to the Senate;
A last-minute amendment transformed an uncontroversial food labeling bill into one that advanced from the Iowa House on a party-line vote. Senate File 2391 now heads back to the Senate. If they concur, then Iowans on food assistance will not be able to purchase egg substitutes, even if they have egg allergies in the family;
State legislators’ per diem payments run out on April 16. I don’t think they will complete all of their work by then, but I do expect them to adjourn for the year before the end of April;
The governor signed several bills over the past week, and Dennis and I took a minute to discuss one we hadn’t previously covered on the show. House File 2264 will allow local governments to provide funding to religious or sectarian organizations. Advocates say this will make it easier for private groups to offer child care services, or soup kitchens. Two Iowa House Democrats and ten Senate Democrats opposed the bill; State Senator Herman Quirmbach warned that it would allow groups to use government funds to promote certain religious views;
U.S. Senator Joni Ernst and U.S. Representative Ashley Hinson were part of a bipartisan delegation that visited Ukraine last week and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. For some reason, neither Ernst nor Hinson publicly announced this trip. I had more to say about that at Bleeding Heartland;
Another Bleeding Heartland exclusive: for the first time in four years, the state completed two key financial reports on time;
Finally, the State Appeal Board approved an agreement last week to settle the lawsuit I filed against the Iowa House chief clerk in January. The House gave me a seat on the press bench soon after I filed. As part of the settlement, without admitting fault, the chief clerk agreed to make some changes to the House credentialing policy, and the state agreed to pay $49,000 in legal fees to the Institute for Free Speech, which represented me in the case.
Thanks for reading or listening! Dennis and I will be back next week with plenty of other news from the statehouse.