Full Iowa House to consider traffic camera ban

A traffic camera ban that was once thought dead for the session passed through a House committee Wednesday and is on its way to the full House for a vote.

There should be enough votes in the House to pass it, even if no Democrats join in, said Rep. Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls, who has led the House effort for a ban this year.

“I'm confident,” he said.

His confidence in the measure's chances is a change from last week when the bill was pulled off the debate schedule after it appeared there wouldn't be enough votes for passage.

At the time, Rogers said some House Democrats who had told him they would support the ban had changed their minds.

The change came during a self-imposed legislative deadline where most non-financial bills die if they haven't passed at least one chamber and made it to committee in the other.

But House leadership picked up the bill and marked it as an appropriations bill, sparing it from the legislative graveyard.

On Wednesday, Democrats on the committee tried to amend the bill with language that would allow cameras in the state but would place restrictions on their use.

“There are a lot of concerns about these cameras in terms of some of the egregious fines some of the cities have levied,” said Rep. Andrew Wenthe, D-West Union, who offered the amendment.

But that fell on a party-line vote.

Rep. Tyler Olson, D-Cedar Rapids, ranking member of the committee, encouraged his members to vote against the ban, saying that the cameras have saved lives.

Rogers said there's “conflicting data” on the effectiveness of the cameras.

Even if the bill is able to survive in the House, its future in the Democratic-controlled Iowa Senate still does not look rosy. Transportation Committee Chairman Tom Rielly, D-Oskaloosa,

has indicated he has no meetings planned on the legislation.