Capitol Notebook: Surgical castration bill shelved by state lawmakers

DES MOINES — Iowa lawmakers on Tuesday shelved a bill that would allow surgical castration to be imposed as a punishment for certain sex crimes committed against children under a bill introduced in the Iowa House.

House File 17 is similar to a law passed in Louisiana, which last year became the first U.S. state to permit judges to order surgical castration of sex offenders.

Criminal defense lawyers, civil rights advocates and medical experts have raised serious concerns around the ethics and constitutionality of the law. Castration of any kind ordered by a court, they argue, violates informed consent, and that irreversible, disfiguring surgery constitutes cruel, unusual and degrading punishment. Amnesty International and other human rights organizations have strongly criticized such laws.

Victims rights advocates as well have questioned whether such punishment would actually make a difference in reducing sex crimes.

Surgical castration, which removes the testicles or ovaries to stop the production of sex hormones, as a form of punishment is rare. According to Amnesty International, Madagascar, the Czech Republic and a Nigerian state use it in their criminal systems.

Several U.S. states allow judges to order chemical castration, drugs to significantly diminish sex drive. Chemical castration suppresses testosterone levels and is reversible and less harmful.

Iowa Code allows hormonal intervention therapy for certain sex offenses. Iowa law provides that a person convicted of a serious sex offense may be required to undergo drug treatment to reduce sexual aggression or disinhibition as part of any conditions of release imposed by a court or the Board of Parole, “unless, after an appropriate assessment, the court or board determines that the treatment would not be effective.”

Amy Campbell, a lobbyist representing Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said the legislation likely will deter survivors of child sexual abuse from reporting sex crimes due to concerns about the extreme consequences of prosecuting friends, partners and family members.

“Ninety-six percent of children who experience sexual assault are assaulted by somebody they know, usually a family member or close family friend,” Campbell told lawmakers during a subcommittee hearing on the bill Tuesday. “And we have research that has shown that the more harsh the penalty, the less likely it is for a family to report that. … We understand, though, the ‘Why.’ It's the most horrendous crime that you can have. It has lifelong consequences, and so we appreciate that you are looking at ways to prevent this. We just think this might be misdirected.”

No one spoke in favor of the bill during the hearing. The three-member subcommittee voted to defer the bill.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Steve Holt, R-Denison, who assigned the subcommittee, said he wanted to hear the conversation but does not believe surgical castration is a deterrent for would-be child sex abusers.

“I was hoping for more input in terms of, OK, if this isn’t the solution, what other things could we do to deter and to prevent these types of horrific crimes from being committed? But we'll move on and keep looking for those things,” Holt told reporters.

Senate Republicans match governor’s school funding pitch

Iowa’s public K-12 schools would see a 2 percent increase in state general funding next school year under a proposal announced Tuesday by Iowa Senate Republicans.

The proposal, found in Senate Study Bill 1053, matches the figure Gov. Kim Reynolds pitched in her budget proposal earlier this month. It would increase statewide general public school spending by $235 million, Senate Republicans said.

“(The proposed) $235 million in new spending for K-12 students demonstrates the commitment of Senate Republicans to improving education,” Iowa Sen. Lynn Evans, R-Aurelia, said in a statement. “It is a sustainable increase, focused on getting more money into the classroom, and it is proposed on-time so schools can make informed decisions about their budget for next year.”

A 2 percent K-12 general state funding increase would be the state’s smallest year-over-year increase since the 2018-19 school year.

From 1973, when the current public school funding formula was created, until 2010, general state funding to K-12 public schools increased by an annual average of 5 percent. Since Republicans regained at least partial control of the state lawmaking process in 2011, that annual increase has averaged 2 percent.

Reynolds’ paid family leave bill advances

State workers would be paid family leave under Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ proposal, which was advanced by an Iowa Senate subcommittee Tuesday.

It is the second consecutive year that Reynolds has proposed adding paid family leave to state workers’ benefits. Under her plan, state employees who become new mothers would have four weeks of paid leave and new fathers one week of paid leave.

Reynolds’ bill, Senate Study Bill 1040, also would cut by half the amount of time state employees must work before they can convert unused sick leave hours into vacation, from 160 weeks worked, to 80.

All three members of the legislative subcommittee — two Republicans and one Democrat — expressed support for the proposal. However, Sen. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, said he wants to see how much the proposal would cost the state, and said he felt compelled to advocate for taxpayers and private businesses.

Sen. Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo, said he would like to see the proposal expanded.

Two women who are state department workers spoke in support of the bill during the public comment period of the subcommittee hearing. Molly Widen from the Iowa Treasurer’s office shared her personal story, and Haley Hook from the Iowa Department of Agriculture described how the agency has lost employees because of the state’s lack of paid parental leave.

Ban on ticket bots advances

Iowa concertgoers may be out of the woods after a bill prohibiting ticket bots advanced in the state Senate.

Senate File 49, discussed in the Iowa Senate Technology Committee, would prohibit a person from creating or using a bot to purchase tickets or circumvent electronic cues or presale codes. Bots are automated software programs that perform repetitive tasks over a network.

Similar legislation, dubbed “Taylor Swift bills,” came up across the country when fans were either kicked out of the online ticket cue or were resold tickets far above their face value when purchasing tickets for Swift’s Eras Tour in 2023 and 2024.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jeff Reichman, R-Montrose, brought it last year but it failed to make it to the Senate floor.

“This is a really good bipartisan piece of legislation to protect Iowa consumers. But if you’re trying to rip off Iowa consumers, we’re going to have bad blood,” said Sen. Liz Bennett, D-Cedar Rapids, making a reference to a hit Swift song.

The attorney general may bring civil action for using bots to get tickets, which could come with a civil penalty of up to $10,000.

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau

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