Capitol Digest, 4-23-09

Here are legislative items of interest for Thursday, April 23:

FALLON FILES: Former state Rep. Ed Fallon officially filed an ethics complaint Thursday against Sen. Merlin Bartz, R-Grafton, for allegedly violating his oath of office by urging county recorders to defy a court ruling legalizing same-sex marriages. Fallon, a Des Moines Democrat who also ran unsuccessful bids for governor and Congress, and his wife, Lynn, said he brought the action after Bartz drafted a petition asking opponents of gay marriage to collect signatures and deliver them to county recorders next Monday asking them to ignore the Iowa Supreme Court's April 3 decision. Bartz called the complaint “without merit,” and he expected the Senate Ethics Committee to uphold his free speech rights by dismissing the charge. Senate President Jack Kibbie, D-Emmetsburg, chair of the bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee, said he expected the committee would take up the matter after receiving Bartz's response.

GAO OK: The federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) has informed Gov. Chet Culver that Iowa is effectively tracking and allocating federal recovery funds. Iowa is one of 16 states being monitored by the GAO on the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09580.pdf). The governor said  Iowa is expected to receive an estimated $2.5 billion, which will be used to support many state programs -- such as education, Medicaid, and transportation funding. To date, more than $70 million has been distributed. Also,  Culver announced that the state's Recovery.Iowa.Gov Web site now makes it even easier for Iowans to track the federal recovery funds coming into the state.

MASTER PLAN: Planners for the state Capitol complex want Iowans' input. Officials in the Iowa Department of Administrative Services are charged with updating the master plan for the Capitol complex -- the buildings and grounds surrounding the Statehouse in Des Moines. The last plan was completed in 2000. A new update is slated to be completed and presented during the Legislature's 2010 session. Organizers say the goal for the 2010 update is to create a master plan with a world-class vision by combining sustainable design principles and recognizing the historical significance of our buildings and grounds. An online survey is available for all Iowans at https://surveymk.com/iowamasterplan and information about the master plan update project is available at http://das.gse.iowa.gov/statebldg/masterplan/index.html, officials said.

FENNELLY FETED: Iowa native and 14-year ISU women's basketball coach Bill Fennelly was honored with HR 49 by the Iowa House Thursday for his leadership of the 2009 Cyclone team that won 27 games on its way to advancing to the “elite eight” in the NCAA tournament. During his tenure at ISU, it was noted, attendance at women's basketball game has gone from about 1,000 per game to nearly 10,000.

ALL SPORTS: After honoring Fennelly, the House passed resolutions HR 42 and 43 honoring the NCAA champion Iowa Hawkeye wrestling team and the Kirkwood Community College women's basketball team that won its third straight National Junior College Athletic Association Division II National Championship.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Now I may be overdramatizing this, but this is a bill that again needs to be thought out, worked out, debated, thought of the angles, and I believe done in a separate bill and not stuck on the amendment for Admin and Reg. If you're going to sell hard liquor in convenience store that we have the safety precautions that are currently in place in law for a good reason.” – Rep. Bruce Hunter, D-Des Moines, urging rejection of Senate language that would give convenience stores more flexibility in selling hard liquor.

Compiled by Des Moines Bureau staff