"Capitol Week": Post-session, post-COVID edition

Our May 8 show is online

May 10, 2023

Before I get to this week’s show, a bit of Substack news. The Iowa Writers Collaborative gained another member last week, when longtime Des Moines Register columnist Larry Stone launched Listening to the Land from his corner of northeast Iowa. And Chris Jones, who’s retiring from the University of Iowa and about to publish a book, will keep speaking truth to power from his perch on this site. Tag line from his latest post: “Let's just be honest: Corn belt agriculture kills innocent people.”

Chris was the featured guest on Julie Gammack’s latest Monday lunchtime Zoom meeting, which you can listen to or read about here.

On to the main event. Remember, you can find all past episodes of “Capitol Week” on KHOI Radio’s website. Here’s our May 8 show (we were on for just 30 minutes—the rest of this audio consists of other programming KHOI aired from 7:30 to 8:00 pm).

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Last night’s show was a bit rough for me, as I finally came down with COVID just as Iowa lawmakers were finishing their work for the year. (I had let my guard down by attending several indoor events where food was served.) Although my symptoms were not severe, I was wiped out for a few days.

By Monday, I was feeling quite a bit better, so I hopped onto our Zoom call ready to go. Dennis Hart still had to cover for me at times when I needed to cough, though. Topics we covered:

The Iowa House and Senate adjourned for the year on May 4, for once without an all-nighter to close things out;
GOP lawmakers finalized most of the budget bills last week. Republicans are stockpiling a lot of cash for future tax cuts, and as a result, many state agencies will make do with status quo budgets. There are a few exceptions; as I reported at Bleeding Heartland, the governor’s office is getting a budget increase of more than 20 percent, “no questions answered);
After GOP leaders agreed on a property tax reduction plan, both chambers approved House File 718 with massive bipartisan support; Governor Kim Reynolds has already signed that bill, and I did my best to sum up its key provisions (you can read more about the plan at the Des Moines Register, Iowa Capital Dispatch, or Cedar Rapids Gazette);
Also last week, Republicans approved Senate File 542, which relaxes child labor regulations in many areas. In a bit of a plot twist, the majority party incorporated quite a few Democratic amendments before the House approved the bill along party lines, and the Senate accepted the House changes to the bill;
Reynolds was full of praise for the legislature after last week’s adjournment, which wasn’t surprising, since Republicans gave her just about everything she wanted;
Republicans in both chambers approved a revised version of House File 716, which dictates new rules for the Iowa caucuses while giving political parties some flexibility;
The Iowa Democratic Party unveiled new details about their own 2024 caucus plan last week. I suspect they may try to thread the needle in the way John Deeth proposed last year: hold precinct caucuses on the same night as Republicans, but perhaps announce presidential selection results on some later date;
Sticking with Iowa caucus news for a few minutes, Dennis and I discussed Donald Trump’s scheduled visit on May 13, the same day Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was already booked to appear at U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra’s picnic;
U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina was here recently; Dennis and I are skeptical of his prospects, but I do see him as an attractive fallback candidate for social conservatives, if things go badly for Trump (Brianne Pfannenstiel wrote more about that);
We recapped the major bills of this year’s legislative session, which may be remembered as even more transformative than the 2017 session (the first year of the GOP trifecta); of course, the governor’s school voucher plan (House File 68) got the ball rolling early;
GOP lawmakers passed a record number of bills targeting LGBTQ Iowans: the ban on gender-affirming care for minors (Senate File 538), school bathroom/locker room restrictions for transgender people (Senate File 482); new limits on school curriculum relating to sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as a ban on books depicting sex acts from school libraries (Senate File 496);
The legislature also approved the governor’s huge state government reorganization plan (Senate File 514), with no significant amendments;
A proposed state constitutional amendment (House Joint Resolution 3) outlining the gubernatorial line of succession will be on Iowa ballots next year;
Dennis gave my voice a break as he went over several other noteworthy bills that cleared both chambers this year: “tort reform” bills capped non-economic damages in lawsuits stemming from medical malpractice (House File 161) or crashes involving commercial vehicles (Senate File 228);
The legislature increased criminal penalties for selling fentanyl (House File 595), slightly expanded eligibility for child care assistance (House File 707), established a new asset test that will result in many Iowans losing federal food assistance (Senate File 494);
In the health care area, the legislature established a designation for rural emergency hospitals (Senate File 75) and licensing of certified professional midwives (House File 265);
Fulfilling State Senator Jason Schultz’s 17-year ambition, lawmakers legalized raw milk sales (Senate File 315);
Republican lawmakers passed Senate File 478, which severely limits the state auditor’s ability to conduct independent audits;
Dennis I spent the last few minutes talking about some bills that didn’t get through this year, such as eminent domain restrictions for CO2 pipelines (House File 565), a proposal to allow Iowans to keep firearms in locked vehicles on school grounds and college campuses (House File 654), a ban on holding cell phones while driving (Senate File 547), various proposals to regulate traffic cameras, new restrictions on children’s use of social media (House Study Bill 223), a bill to allow pharmacists to dispense birth control without a prescription (Senate File 326), and a “messaging bill” about Major League Baseball blackouts (House File 577).

One last point: Dennis and I didn’t discuss it, because I hadn’t finished the post yet. But on Tuesday, I published a deep dive at Bleeding Heartland on how next year’s state budget will shortchange Iowans with disabilities.

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