Iowa lawmakers are entering the final rush to get key bills sent to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ desk before packing up and leaving the Capitol in Des Moines.
Friday marks the Legislature’s 110th day, traditionally lawmakers’ goal for ending the session. There is no legal requirement to end the session on that date, but lawmakers’ allowances for daily expenses will run out on Friday.
Still, lawmakers expect to be meeting at least until next week as they negotiate the state’s fiscal 2024 budget — which takes effect July 1 — measures dealing with lowering local property taxes, loosening Iowa’s child labor laws and more measures.
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The Iowa Senate passed the first few budget bills Tuesday afternoon as lawmakers work to dole out $8.5 billion in state dollars to various services and agencies.
Senate Republicans this year took the unusual process of passing several “shell” budget bills — with no numbers in them — out of committees, with plans to add the numbers on the floor. Democrats have criticized the process as lacking in transparency, as Iowans have not had a chance to comment on the proposals before being the Senate vote.
The Senate passed bills funding the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and Department of Natural Resources, funding various transportation agencies and providing funding for federal block grants.
Sen. Claire Celsi, a Democrat from West Des Moines, said before floor debate that Democrats had not seen the proposed numbers in the administration and regulation budget — which was on the debate calendar — as of Tuesday morning. She said people who had been in the Senate for decades had not encountered a similar process before.
An amendment with numbers was eventually filed, but the Senate did not debate the administration and regulation budget Tuesday after all.
Lawmakers in the Iowa House have been determining budget details in behind-the-scenes meetings, and Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Gary Mohr, R-Bettendorf, said he expects to hold a meeting of the committee later this week. The House is not expected to vote on budget bills until next week.
Republican leaders have settled on the top-line numbers for Iowa’s fiscal 2024 budget: The state plans to spend $8.516 billion, a 3.7 percent increase over last year.
“I hope by the end of the week we’ve got some of the bills ready to go to the full appropriations committee, or even out of Appropriations Committee, ready for floor debate,” Mohr said.
The Iowa Senate must decide on a bill to allow guns in public parking lots, including school parking lots in limited cases. The bill would also lift a number of other restrictions on who can possess guns and where.
House Republicans passed the bill this month, saying it will reinforce Second-Amendment freedoms. Democrats said it would increase the likelihood of gun violence at schools and universities and put students in danger.
Sen. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, the bill's Senate floor manager, said he supports the major points of the bill and he’s “trying to make it work,” but it may not pass before the end of session this year.
He said there may be some unintended consequences from insurance mandates in the bill, and language that clarifies who can possess and carry guns needs to be addressed.
“The bill is not dead, but I don’t know that it’s ready either,” he said.
Iowa lawmakers have promised to pass mechanisms to limit Iowa property owners’ tax bills, but they must decide between two proposals before they can be passed into law.
The Iowa House and Senate passed competing bills last week: The House version would limit property tax bill increases to 3 percent each year for residential and agricultural properties and 8 percent each year for commercial and industrial properties. The Senate bill, however, would require that a city or county’s main property tax levy be lowered if taxable value in the area rises above a set percentage.
Both Senate and House Republican leaders have said they want to bring down property taxes, but they still must address major differences before a bill is ready to be signed.
“Our goal is to provide certainty and relief for Iowans and so if we can find a way to achieve that, we're more than happy to continue to work with the Senate,” Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley of New Hartford said last week.
A bill to open more jobs to teenagers is in the House’s court after passing in the Senate.
Supporters said it would bring common-sense changes to Iowa’s labor laws and create more opportunities for younger Iowans to gain work experience. But Democrats, who oppose the bill, say it would put teens in dangerous environments and exploit child labor to shore up Iowa’s workforce issues.
The bill would allow teenagers to work in more jobs and later into the night. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds could serve alcoholic drinks at restaurants. Fourteen- to 17-year-olds could participate in work-based learning programs in areas like manufacturing, if granted an exemption by state officials.
Rep. Dave Deyoe, R-Nevada, the bill’s floor manager in the House, said he is not sure if the bill will come up for a vote in the House this session. Democrats have filed more than 20 amendments to take out or alter what they see as the most harmful provisions.
“The best thing to happen would be that we don’t” take up the bill, Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, the House minority leader from Windsor Heights, said last week.
Senate Republicans continue to work on legislation that would place limits on what personal information the state’s taxpayers’ watchdog could demand during an audit, and remain intent on passing the bill yet this session.
Senate File 478 would define and in some cases limit the scope of the state auditor’s authority while conducting investigations into the use of taxpayer money.
Republicans say the bill protects Iowans’ personal information and puts into state law general accounting standards, while Democrats decry the bill as a “power grab” that dilutes the power to investigate misuse of state money, risking billions in federal funds.
Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand is the lone Democrat to hold statewide office.
Sen. Mike Bousselot, a Republican from Ankeny and the bill’s floor manager, said lawmakers are exploring whether to include more restrictions on the subpoena power of the auditor
Bousselot pointed to an Iowa Supreme Court ruling last month that said the state auditor does not have the authority to investigate the Iowa Communities Assurance Pool that provides property and casualty insurance coverage to counties, cities and other taxpayer-funded local government entities in Iowa. Sand had filed a subpoena seeking records about annual meetings the risk pool’s directors held at out-of-state resorts. Bousselot said the ruling shows Sand abused his subpoena power.
“Privacy for Iowans, in a time where they’re giving more information to their government than ever before, is clearly a priority for the House and for the Senate,” Bousselot said.
A fiscal analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency warns SF 478 could limit the ability of the state auditor to perform oversight on programs that total more than $12 billion, and could result in a loss of federal funds.
“Let’s be clear about this. This is the destruction of democratic norms,” Sand told reporters last week during a news conference.
www.thegazette.com
Friday marks the Legislature’s 110th day, traditionally lawmakers’ goal for ending the session. There is no legal requirement to end the session on that date, but lawmakers’ allowances for daily expenses will run out on Friday.
Still, lawmakers expect to be meeting at least until next week as they negotiate the state’s fiscal 2024 budget — which takes effect July 1 — measures dealing with lowering local property taxes, loosening Iowa’s child labor laws and more measures.
Budget
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The Iowa Senate passed the first few budget bills Tuesday afternoon as lawmakers work to dole out $8.5 billion in state dollars to various services and agencies.
Senate Republicans this year took the unusual process of passing several “shell” budget bills — with no numbers in them — out of committees, with plans to add the numbers on the floor. Democrats have criticized the process as lacking in transparency, as Iowans have not had a chance to comment on the proposals before being the Senate vote.
The Senate passed bills funding the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and Department of Natural Resources, funding various transportation agencies and providing funding for federal block grants.
Sen. Claire Celsi, a Democrat from West Des Moines, said before floor debate that Democrats had not seen the proposed numbers in the administration and regulation budget — which was on the debate calendar — as of Tuesday morning. She said people who had been in the Senate for decades had not encountered a similar process before.
An amendment with numbers was eventually filed, but the Senate did not debate the administration and regulation budget Tuesday after all.
Lawmakers in the Iowa House have been determining budget details in behind-the-scenes meetings, and Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Gary Mohr, R-Bettendorf, said he expects to hold a meeting of the committee later this week. The House is not expected to vote on budget bills until next week.
Republican leaders have settled on the top-line numbers for Iowa’s fiscal 2024 budget: The state plans to spend $8.516 billion, a 3.7 percent increase over last year.
“I hope by the end of the week we’ve got some of the bills ready to go to the full appropriations committee, or even out of Appropriations Committee, ready for floor debate,” Mohr said.
Guns in parking lots
The Iowa Senate must decide on a bill to allow guns in public parking lots, including school parking lots in limited cases. The bill would also lift a number of other restrictions on who can possess guns and where.
House Republicans passed the bill this month, saying it will reinforce Second-Amendment freedoms. Democrats said it would increase the likelihood of gun violence at schools and universities and put students in danger.
Sen. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, the bill's Senate floor manager, said he supports the major points of the bill and he’s “trying to make it work,” but it may not pass before the end of session this year.
He said there may be some unintended consequences from insurance mandates in the bill, and language that clarifies who can possess and carry guns needs to be addressed.
“The bill is not dead, but I don’t know that it’s ready either,” he said.
Property taxes
Iowa lawmakers have promised to pass mechanisms to limit Iowa property owners’ tax bills, but they must decide between two proposals before they can be passed into law.
The Iowa House and Senate passed competing bills last week: The House version would limit property tax bill increases to 3 percent each year for residential and agricultural properties and 8 percent each year for commercial and industrial properties. The Senate bill, however, would require that a city or county’s main property tax levy be lowered if taxable value in the area rises above a set percentage.
Both Senate and House Republican leaders have said they want to bring down property taxes, but they still must address major differences before a bill is ready to be signed.
“Our goal is to provide certainty and relief for Iowans and so if we can find a way to achieve that, we're more than happy to continue to work with the Senate,” Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley of New Hartford said last week.
Child labor
A bill to open more jobs to teenagers is in the House’s court after passing in the Senate.
Supporters said it would bring common-sense changes to Iowa’s labor laws and create more opportunities for younger Iowans to gain work experience. But Democrats, who oppose the bill, say it would put teens in dangerous environments and exploit child labor to shore up Iowa’s workforce issues.
The bill would allow teenagers to work in more jobs and later into the night. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds could serve alcoholic drinks at restaurants. Fourteen- to 17-year-olds could participate in work-based learning programs in areas like manufacturing, if granted an exemption by state officials.
Rep. Dave Deyoe, R-Nevada, the bill’s floor manager in the House, said he is not sure if the bill will come up for a vote in the House this session. Democrats have filed more than 20 amendments to take out or alter what they see as the most harmful provisions.
“The best thing to happen would be that we don’t” take up the bill, Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, the House minority leader from Windsor Heights, said last week.
Auditor bill
Senate Republicans continue to work on legislation that would place limits on what personal information the state’s taxpayers’ watchdog could demand during an audit, and remain intent on passing the bill yet this session.
Senate File 478 would define and in some cases limit the scope of the state auditor’s authority while conducting investigations into the use of taxpayer money.
Republicans say the bill protects Iowans’ personal information and puts into state law general accounting standards, while Democrats decry the bill as a “power grab” that dilutes the power to investigate misuse of state money, risking billions in federal funds.
Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand is the lone Democrat to hold statewide office.
Sen. Mike Bousselot, a Republican from Ankeny and the bill’s floor manager, said lawmakers are exploring whether to include more restrictions on the subpoena power of the auditor
Bousselot pointed to an Iowa Supreme Court ruling last month that said the state auditor does not have the authority to investigate the Iowa Communities Assurance Pool that provides property and casualty insurance coverage to counties, cities and other taxpayer-funded local government entities in Iowa. Sand had filed a subpoena seeking records about annual meetings the risk pool’s directors held at out-of-state resorts. Bousselot said the ruling shows Sand abused his subpoena power.
“Privacy for Iowans, in a time where they’re giving more information to their government than ever before, is clearly a priority for the House and for the Senate,” Bousselot said.
A fiscal analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency warns SF 478 could limit the ability of the state auditor to perform oversight on programs that total more than $12 billion, and could result in a loss of federal funds.
“Let’s be clear about this. This is the destruction of democratic norms,” Sand told reporters last week during a news conference.
Iowa lawmakers eye key bills as session nears end
Fate of property tax relief, loosening child labor laws and gun law is still up in the air.
www.thegazette.com
