Capitol Notebook: Iowa bill to restrain state’s ability to buy land opposed but advanced

DES MOINES — A proposal to limit ways the state can acquire new land for public use was met with opposition by dozens of Iowans on Wednesday morning at the Iowa Capitol.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources would be prohibited from purchasing any land through a competitive bid process under legislation proposed by Republicans in the Iowa Senate.

Iowans, mostly from central Iowa, appeared at Wednesday morning’s hearing on the bill merely to state their opposition to the proposal.

Representatives for groups representing recreation and conservation interests also appeared at the hearing and spoke in opposition to the proposal.

Fred Long, president of the Iowa Conservation Alliance, during the hearing echoed one concern stated by many opponents, which was that the bill’s language is overly broad. He said by prohibiting the DNR from purchasing land through competitive bids, for example, that would include barring purchases through a real estate agent.

“We find this objectionable, to say the least,” Long said. “I’ve been here every year fighting the same issue over and over again, and that’s the desire of this body to stop public land acquisition.”

A spokesman for the Iowa Farm Bureau was the lone speaker in favor of the bill at the hearing, saying Farm Bureau members believe the government should not compete with Iowans to buy land.

Just 3 percent of Iowa’s land is publicly owned, according to studies by Texas A&M University’s Natural Resources Institute and the hiking and climbing website the Summit Post. That puts Iowa near the bottom of states’ shares of publicly owned land: only Kansas, Nebraska and Rhode Island had lower shares of publicly owned land than Iowa in the two reports.

The two Republicans on the three-member legislative panel, Sen. Tom Shipley, of Nodaway, and Sen. Annette Sweeney, of Iowa Falls, voted to advance the bill, making Senate Study Bill 3129, eligible for consideration by the full Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee.

Shipley said he believes an amendment may be needed to address the vague language that was noted by critics of the bill.

E-Verify requirement fails to advance

A requirement that businesses use the federal E-Verify program to ensure all of their workers are eligible to work in the U.S. failed to pass out of an Iowa House subcommittee panel.

The bill, House Study Bill 105, was tabled until a future meeting.

The full Iowa Senate has previously passed a similar version of the bill over the concerns of businesses, who say the E-Verify program can be complex and sometimes provide incorrect information.

Expanding public preschool

School districts would have the option to add preschool for students from families at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty line under a proposal advanced in the Iowa Senate.

All three senators on a subcommittee panel voted to advance the proposal, although Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said he would prefer Iowa expand to universal, state-funded preschool statewide.

A lobbyist for the Iowa Association of School Boards said a survey of members found that many districts already offer preschool through various funding sources, and that many would take advantage of the expansion prescribed in the proposed legislation.

With its approval by the subcommittee panel, Senate File 2075 becomes eligible for consideration by the full Senate Education Committee.

Penalties for assaults on prison staff

The penalties for assaulting prison staff and first responders, including by spitting, would be increased from a Class D felony to a Class C felony under legislation advanced by lawmakers in the Senate.

All three members of the subcommittee panel, Republican Sens. David Rowley of Spirit Lake and Tom Shipley of Nodaway, and Democratic Sen. Tony Bisignano of Des Moines, signed off on advancing the bill, which was proposed by the office of Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird.

A representative for Bird’s office testified at the hearing that Bird believes the bill is important to protect prison workers and first responders.

With its subcommittee approval, Senate Study Bill 3023 becomes eligible for consideration by the full Senate Judiciary Committee.