Capitol Notebook: Funding boost for food assistance program advances

DES MOINES — State funding for the Double up Food Bucks Program, which provides a one-to-one match to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients for fruit and vegetable purchases, is seeing support in the Iowa Senate.

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee advanced a bill Thursday that would appropriate $1 million in state funds to double the food bucks in the current program.

The program allows SNAP users to double the money they receive, up to $15, for fruits and vegetables they buy at grocery stores and farmers markets and from community-supported agriculture.

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Sen. Mike Klimesh, R-Spillville, who sponsored Senate Study Bill 1012, said the legislation would allow for Iowans to try new healthy foods and for local farmers to receive more business.

“The program is a great way to incentivize folks to explore healthy eating habits,” Klimesh said.

Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-West Des Moines, called the bill a “win-win” for Iowans and farmers, pointing out that the current program is mainly charity-supported and the legislation would allow for more Iowans to participate.

“We want it to be available to folks in some of those smaller towns and rural communities,” Trone Garriott said. “That's what this appropriation would really help us do, and so I hope we can move this forward because it is a really important tool for healthy Iowans and supporting our local agriculture.”

The bill was unanimously moved to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

3 arrested during Capitol protest

Three people were charged after a demonstration outside the Iowa State Capitol building on Wednesday, the Iowa State Patrol said.

The demonstration was part of a national day of protest about actions taken by President Donald Trump and his administration. The protest was held outside the Capitol earlier in the afternoon, but some demonstrators went inside of the building afterward.

Three people were arrested and charged with interfering with official acts after disrupting a Moms for Liberty event in the Rotunda, according to the Iowa State Patrol.

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Bill targets minor’s consent to HPV vaccine

Iowa lawmakers are considering a bill that would remove a minor’s ability to legally consent on their own to receiving the HPV vaccine.

The Iowa Senate Health and Human Services Subcommittee advanced Senate File 120 Thursday, which would take away a minor’s legal capacity to consent to receiving a vaccine without parental approval. The legislation is specifically aimed at the HPV vaccination or vaccinations used to treat sexually transmitted diseases or infections.

Some parents at the subcommittee meeting argued that the current policy allows for minors to be coerced into accepting a vaccine and the proposed legislation would return a layer of parental choice.

Traci Kennedy, a mother of five, said she has some concerns about the potential side effects of the HPV vaccine and said parental consent is needed for all other vaccines.

“My kids can't get their ears pierced without my permission, so the idea of putting something in their body without permission from me seems appalling and seems like common sense,” Kennedy said.

Representatives of medical associations and medical professionals argued against the bill, noting that HPV vaccines significantly reduce the risk of cancer.

Iowa has the fastest-growing rate of new cancers and ranks second-highest in cancer rates compared to other states, according to the Iowa Cancer Registry.

Chaney Yeast, representing the Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, said the HPV vaccine is safe and has cleared numerous regulatory hurdles.

“We want to make the point the HPV vaccine, we're talking about cancer prevention,” Yeast said. “Most of us have been touched by cancer or have a family member who's been touched by cancer in some way. We actually have a way to prevent cancer. We should be celebrating this medical advancement.”

The three-person subcommittee advanced the bill, with Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, declining to sign. Petersen requested the subcommittee include an amendment that would exempt survivors of sexual assault and incest from having to get parental consent to receive the HPV vaccine. No amendments were added.

A similar bill was introduced in the Iowa Senate last year.

Ban on youths using tanning machines advances

Iowans under 18 years of age would be prohibited from using tanning beds under legislation that advanced in the Iowa House.

All three members of a legislative subcommittee expressed support for advancing the proposal, although one member, Rep. Jennifer Smith, R-Dubuque, expressed hesitation about ultimately voting for the bill if it continues to be an outright ban.

Using tanning beds before age 20 can increase the chances of a person developing melanoma by 47 percent, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. Most states have at least some restrictions on children using tanning beds, according to the group.

House File 116 would prohibit tanning facilities from allowing anyone under the age of 18 using a tanning device. Facilities that violate the provision would be subject to a fine up to $1,000.

Reps. Hans Wilz, R-Ottumwa, and Josh Turek, D-Council Bluffs, also approved advancing the bill for consideration by the full House State Government Committee.

Joseph Levy, executive director and director of scientific affairs for the American Suntanning Association, spoke in opposition to the bill during the hearing. He argued that properly conducted artificial tanning can minimize the risk of sunburn and that he believes the bill will not protect Iowans from getting skin cancer.

Speaking in support of the bill and were the American Cancer Society and Iowa Rep. Austin Baeth, D-Des Moines, who is a doctor. They cited Iowa’s high cancer rates — it has the nation’s second-highest overall and fastest-rising cancer rates.

A 2016 National Institutes of Health study found “sufficient evidence associates indoor tanning with an increased risk of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers” and that “children are perhaps at the greatest risk of disease related to tanning bed exposure.”

However, the same study also found said that while “enacting legislation to restrict indoor tanning is an important step in reducing negative health effects, the overall effectiveness of such interventions remains to be seen.”

Similar proposals have circulated in the Iowa Legislature in previous years, and the Iowa Senate in 2015 passed a ban on minors using tanning beds.

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