Iowa Politics Today: Bottle deposit reform headed back to the recycling bin

A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Tuesday, March 28, 2017:

BOTTLE DEPOSIT:

The leader of the Senate's Ways and Means Committee wants lawmakers and stakeholders to spend the summer brainstorming on a better way to encourage recycling and litter control than only through the state's bottle-deposit law.

Sen. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, said he had Senate Study Bill 1186 drafted to keep the conversation alive, but with little expectation the issue will see action this session.

The Senate bill is similar to a House measure - supported by grocers, convenience stores and the beverage industry - seeking to replace the 1978 law and expand recycling efforts. That bill was approved by the Environmental Protection Committee and referred to Ways and Means, but no further action was planned this year.

Feenstra said he remains interested in finding a recycling plan that addresses containers such as plastic milk jugs, water bottles, sports drinks and cardboard not subject to the current 5-cent deposit on beer and pop containers.

Earlier this year, backers of the beverage container deposit law released poll numbers showing strong support among Iowans for retaining or expanding the bottle bill to make more cans and bottles subject to the nickel deposit.

STEM APPOINTMENTS:

Three Iowans have been appointed to the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Advisory Council by Gov. Terry Branstad.

They are Scott Montgomery of Coralville, Kelsey Tyrrell of Des Moines and Barbara Crittendon of Creston.

The STEM Council is made up of leaders in higher education, business, pre-K-12 educators and state and local government officials collaborating to boost STEM education and innovation.

Appointees are unpaid and are not subject to Senate confirmation.

TRESPASS PENALTY:

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 7-5 Tuesday to change the penalty for trespassing on private property from a simple misdemeanor to a scheduled fine. House File 69 increases the fine from the current range of $65 to $625 to a scheduled fine of $200 for the first violation, $500 for the second and $1,000 for subsequent violations. Trespass - which does not involve damages of more than $200, an intent to commit a hate crime, public utility property or the intentional viewing or recording of another person without legitimate purpose - is a simple misdemeanor.

Sen. Kevin Kinney, D-Oxford, expressed concern the change would create a situation where homeless people would face repeated violations and escalating fines, 'creating a bigger problem down the road.”

Majority GOP senators approved the bill to meet the requirements of this week's 'funnel” deadline for non-money bills to clear one chamber and a committee of the other house to remain eligible for consideration, but agreed to work with five Democrats who opposed the bill to consider changes.

SAFE HAVEN EXPANSION: Members of the Senate voted 48-0 to expand the state's 2002 safe haven law that allows parents or someone authorized by a parent to turn over a newborn up to 2 weeks old to any hospital or health care facility without fear of prosecution.

Senate File 360 would expand the number of days for a parent to give up a newborn from 14 to 30 days and would allow a parent seeking to give up a baby for adoption to call 911 and turn the infant over to police or emergency responders with the same promise of immunity. The 911 recording and police report would be confidential and not released to the public, said Sen. Jake Chapman, R-Adel, the bill's floor manager.

Iowa Department of Human Services officials have used the state's safe haven procedures 26 times since the law went into effect, with the most recent time in June 2016 when a mother turned over care of a newborn girl at an Iowa hospital. The bill now goes to the House, where it must clear a committee by week's end to remain eligible this session.

PRESCRIPTION DATABASE:

The Iowa House approved House File 532 that would require pharmacists and doctors writing prescriptions to register for the state prescription monitoring program.

Prescribers - doctors and pharmacists - would be required to register, but usage of the database would remain optional.

Today, Rep. Shannon Lundgren, R-Peosta, said, 42 percent of prescribers and 83 percent of pharmacies are registered with the database.

An amendment was offered to require physicians and pharmacists to check the database to see if the patient has any other prescriptions for controlled substances. Rep. John Forbes, D-Des Moines, a pharmacist, said it takes about 60 seconds to check the database, which he described as 'best practice.”

But it was rejected on a voice vote.

Rep. Chuck Isenhart, D-Dubuque, said 75 percent of heroin users say they started by abusing prescription pain medication. More than 130 deaths over the past year were attributed in whole or in part to opioid misuse. That's a fully-blown problem requiring more than 'baby steps” like the bill, he said.

Lundgren called it a good first step. She trusts that prescribers will use the database 'because it's the right thing to do.”

HF 532 passed 95-1 and goes to the Senate where it must get committee approval before Friday to remain eligible for debate in that chamber.

EMINENT DOMAIN:

House File 603, which Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, called a 'long-awaited bill protecting private property rights,” was approved by the House 93-0.

The bill addresses what he labeled the state's 'largest blight,” the Rock Island Clean Line, an electric transmission line that would affect 1,500 Iowa landowners, as well the development of a reservoir in Clarke County and property owners displaced by Department of Transportation projects.

'It should be hard to condemn private property, it should not be possible to condemn private property for personal profit, it should be illegal to condemn private property for anything other than public use,” Kaufmann said.

A lobbyist for one of Kaufmann's targets, Emily Piper, a lobbyist for the Clarke County Reservoir Commission, said it appears Kaufmann's bill is his latest attempt to stop a project that would supply water to Clarke County agriculture, industry and residents.

The commission has purchase agreements with owners of more than 60 percent of the 2,045 acres needed for the project that would supply 2 million gallons of water a day to 15,000 customers in Osceola and all or parts of 12 counties including Clarke County.

Kaufmann's bill would allow the project to move forward only if it met new standards including having 80 percent of the land under its control.

'It's nearly impossible to meet those standards,” Piper said.

'It's a public purpose,” Piper said about the reservoir. 'It's not about recreation, yachts and beachfront homes.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'I learned early on this is an incremental business. We take those improvements that we can get when we get them,” Rep. Gary Worthan, R-Storm Lake, on SF 234 that would ban texting while driving, but not go as far as he would like in banning the use of all hand-held communications devices while driving.