Gov shows motorcycles some love, Miller has head in the CLOUD, concerns on Medicaid privatization: Iowa Capitol Digest, Feb. 21

A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Feb. 21, 2018:

MOTORCYCLE BLUES:

Gov. Kim Reynolds gathered with members of the ABATE motorcyclists' rights organization at her formal office in the Statehouse on Wednesday to proclaim February as motorcycle awareness month. Reynolds called on Iowans to commit themselves to be more alert and aware of motorcycles on Iowa highways. She said the designation is meant to promote safe operation, increased rider training, improved licensing efforts and motorist awareness. Reynolds confided that her husband, Kevin, was an avid biker and had a Honda Gold Wing that - when they got married - she held in joint ownership with him - 'it came with Kevin,” she said - until they had two children at which time they sold the motorcycle and bought a minivan.

'That is a true story,” Reynolds said. 'So, hopefully, some day we can get back to our motorcycle-riding days.”

SEX-OFFENDING PRISONERS:

The head of Iowa's Department of Corrections said he expects a group of stakeholders, experts and others will be convened later this year with an eye on bringing recommendations to the Legislature next session to deal with the placement of sex offenders who have completed their sentences and are eligible for release.

Department of Corrections Director Jerry Bartruff told members of the Senate Human Resources Committee that the best option for a facility to place such offenders would be a former women's unit at the state prison in Mount Pleasant, but it would entail a financial investment to 'retrofit” the unit into a nursing home. He said another possibility would be at the prison campus in Clarinda, but he didn't think that location would be a good fit.

There now are sex offenders who have completed their prison sentences but are being housed at the state correctional facility at Oakdale after numerous attempts to place them elsewhere have proved unsuccessful, he said. There are 885 prison inmates over age 55 in Iowa, Bartruff said, and 253 are serving sentences for sex-related offenses.

MILLER WANTS CLOUD ACT:

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has joined a bipartisan group of state attorneys general in urging Congress to clarify how U.S. law enforcement pursuing domestic criminal investigations can access electronic data stored overseas. In a letter signed by 35 attorneys general, the group urged Congress to pass the Clarify Lawful Overseas Use of Data, or CLOUD Act.

The CLOUD Act would update and amend several provisions of the Stored Communications Act. Under the act, a law enforcement agency may obtain a warrant to search a person's email or online account if a court finds probable cause that the account contains evidence of a crime. The warrant requires a service provider to provide the data to law enforcement.

State and local law enforcement agencies routinely use SCA warrants to investigate crimes ranging from drug trafficking to murder to child sexual exploitation. Recently, however, some service providers have argued that courts cannot enforce an SCA warrant when data that law enforcement seeks is stored on a foreign server. The providers and others have argued that requiring compliance with an SCA warrant in this situation would be an extraterritorial application of a domestic law and would raise privacy and international comity concerns.

The dispute has spawned litigation across the country, including a case that is pending in the U.S. Supreme Court. Miller said the letter urges Congress to pass the CLOUD Act as 'an important step toward resolving this dispute.”

INTERSTATE 80 STUDY: Officials with the Iowa Department of Transportation are conducting a study of Interstate 80 and are seeking public comments. The study will be developed and released through a series of technical reports that identify existing I-80 conditions, the way the system is performing, short- and long-term issues, and strategies to improve the route. Each report will be accessible online as it becomes available: www.iowadot.gov/interstatestudy. The third and final online meeting now is available to view on the website. To view the meeting, navigate to https://iowadot.gov/interstatestudy/public-meetings or select the 'PUBLIC MEETINGS” tab on the home page, and then select 'Meeting 3”. The meeting will be available to view on the website throughout the planning study's duration.

MEDICAID PRIVATIZATION:

Four Democratic legislators expressed concerns that legislators and other Iowans weren't included in a closed-door meeting Reynolds administration officials planned to hold in Des Moines on Wednesday with providers of Medicaid services. Iowa Medicaid Director Michael Randol told a legislative panel recently the purpose of the meeting is to identify and discuss payment issues that Iowa health care providers are having with managed care organizations that are overseeing Iowa's Medicaid program.

The four legislators - Sens. Amanda Ragan, D-Mason City, and Liz Mathis, D-Hiawatha, and Reps. Lisa Heddens and Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, both from Ames - issued a statement indicating the meeting should be open to the public because problems with Medicaid affect all Iowa taxpayers, more than 600,000 Medicaid members and health care providers across the state. However, they say requests by legislators to attend the meeting have been denied.

Brenna Smith, spokeswoman for Gov. Kim Reynolds, said DHS officials have engaged in extensive outreach statewide to improve Medicaid, including holding at least 39 public meetings in the past year.

'Director Randol was hired to lead the Medicaid program, and the governor trusts his decision to bring these stakeholders together at this meeting to discuss their specific concerns,” Smith said. 'The governor is interested in solutions for Iowans, not political rhetoric. Director Randol is coming up with solutions for Iowans.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

'We've been working together for 100 years, and we're going to keep working together for the next 100. So we'll figure it out.” - President Michael Richards on the Board of Regents discussions with lawmakers over funding for the current year and fiscal 2019.