Fantasy football, fireworks, school start date and licensure: A few places Iowa law should pull back

Iowa lawmakers spend a lot of time thinking up and debating ways for government to expand its reach. Most legislative sessions yield at least a few new rules, regulations, restrictions and bans mean to address problems and concerns old and new.

We understand the impulse, and find it appropriate in many cases.

But we also think lawmakers should consider ways the state might pull back its authority. Sometimes it's OK to substitute individual responsibility for state-imposed safety, or to allow local officials to make decisions, instead of handing down edicts from on high. Maybe state regulation has to yield to reality, or to limited resources.

Sometimes, the state has to wield its power. But at other times, it's more prudent to let it go.

We sifted through legislation that's been filed or is likely to be filed in the 2015 session. We found a short list of issues where we think the state should let it go, or at least loosen its grip.

School start dates

Current Iowa law requires K-12 school districts to start the school year no earlier than the week in which Sept. 1 falls. But that law also allows the Department of Education to grant waivers to districts seeking an earlier start date in August. For many years, the department has granted those waivers to the vast majority of school districts.

That doesn't sit well with tourism interests and the Iowa State Fair, who complain that August start dates rob them of teenage help and force families to curtail late summer vacations. Those interests have failed multiple times to persuade the Legisalture to erase the waiver provision. But they have an ally in Governor Terry Branstad, and now in the education department, directed by Branstad appointee Brad Buck.

Buck has announced that his department will no longer grant automatic waivers, and he recently released 'guidance” that strongly suggests it will be next to impossible for any district to get permission to start early. So a decision that was for years left to local, elected school boards will now be dictated by a state edict. And the department has yet to explain how its new policy is good for education.

Now the Legislature is weighing in. A bill, House File 13, would delete the required start date language from the Iowa Code and put control of school calendars in the hands of school boards. It's already cleared a House subcommittee.

We'd like to see that bill passed by strong majorities and sent to the governor, giving him a chance to rethink his misguided drive to yet again favor state wisdom over local control. But we also understand the realities of the legislative process.

'I do believe there's going to be some compromise on the date,” said Rep. Quentin Stanerson, R-Center Point.

Stanerson favors the bill as-is, but says it's unlikely to be signed by the governor. It's more likely that lawmakers will settle on a compromise start date requirement earlier than Sept. 1 but not so early that it interferes with the State Fair.

A compromise could settle the dispute, which would be a welcome development. But it still amounts to the state substituting its judgment for local decision making. And that's still a mistake.

Illegal fireworks

State Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls, chairs the Senate State Government Committee, a panel charged with examining all sorts of possible changes big and small in the way state government operates. And this year, Danielson says his committee will take up a bill rolling back Iowa's Depression-era ban on fireworks.

Danielson, who is a firefighter, says Iowa's fireworks law makes little practical sense. It's illegal to shoot off fireworks, but legal to possess them. The ban on use is lightly enforced, if at all. And fireworks are readily available for purchase just across Iowa's borders with Missouri and South Dakota.

'From my view, we have a head-in-the-sand policy,” Danielson said. 'Basically, it ensures we have all the dangers of the product being widely available, but none of the benefits of legal, responsible use.”

Safety advocates are certain to oppose Danielson's effort. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which regulates fireworks, 11,400 people were treated in emergency rooms for fireworks-related injuries in 2013, up from 8,700 in 2012. Sixty-five percent of those injuries occurred in the month surrounding July Fourth, and more than half of those injured suffered burns.

But it's also worth noting that in 2103, nearly one-third of injuries were caused by sparklers, which currently are legal in Iowa. And all eight fireworks-related deaths recorded by the CPSC in 2013 involved illegal or homemade fireworks, not the sort of consumer fireworks, firecrackers, bottle rockets, etc., that could become legal in Iowa. Forty-two states allow the sale of some or all consumer fireworks.

We support expanding the array of fireworks that can be legally sold in Iowa beyond novelty sparklers and snakes to include at least some consumer fireworks. Iowans, who the law has judged to be capable of handling all sorts of potentially risky but legal activities, from handling firearms to riding motorcycles without helmets, should be trusted to handle bottle rockets and firecrackers.

Unlike they were in the 1930s, fireworks today are heavily regulated, and can be used safely if handled properly. And we welcome a legislative debate on the parameters of legal fireworks in Iowa. But the ban, already ineffective in fact, should be loosened in law.

Professional licensure

A brief bill filed in the Iowa House, House File 31, would exempt 'African-Style Hair Braiding” from the definition of 'cosmetology” found in the Iowa Code.

But that brief bill is part of a much larger issue. A 2012 study by the Institute for Justice, a national civil liberties law firm, focusing on 102 occupation categories found that Iowa required licensure of 54. Only six states licensed more than Iowa. And although Iowa's licensure requirements were lighter than most states, its sheer number of occupations requiring state licensure landed Iowa in the 20th spot for most broad and onerous requirements.

A separate institute study found that Iowa is one among only seven states that require hair-braiders to obtain the hundreds of hours or training necessary to gain a cosmetology license. Among those states, Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska tie up braiders with the most red tape.

'I disagree with the conclusion that licensing in Iowa needs to be scaled back,” said Sen. Danielson, whose committee would review changes in state requirements. He contends that licensing requirements protect consumers and licensees.

We agree requirements are necessary in many cases. But it's time for state lawmakers to take a good, hard and broad look at licensure laws in Iowa. Which ones really are serving the public interest, and which ones actually are unnecessary barriers standing between Iowans and their entrepreneurial dreams? Is the state providing the manpower and resources to make these requirements meaningful beyond a framed slip of paper on a wall? Is the state checking, inspecting and verifying that licensure actually translates into consumer protection? Can a state with a tightening budget afford the system it has?

These all are important questions lawmakers should be asking.

Fantasy sports

Many Iowans enjoy participating in fantasy sports leagues, some of which pay money to winners. What most of them don't know is they're likely running afoul of state law.

Legislation is expected to be considered this session that would change that, potentially adding fantasy sports to an array of 'bona fide contests,” a long list ranging from horse shows to craft contests, where monetary prizes are permitted.

We think it makes sense for Iowa law to acknowledge reality and catch up with fantasy sports leagues.

l Comments: (319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com