Leader: lawmakers' recovery work not over

JOHNSTON - The Iowa Legislature's work on recovery from last year's floods and natural disasters could continue over the next five years or longer, a top leader said Friday."I don't think we're done now," said Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs. "I think we'll continue to look at ways to help communities, both respond to the past, and deal with the future."

He pointed out the Legislature's main goal this year was to provide funding for immediate housing needs and assistance to businesses affected by flooding.

Long term, Gronstal said they'll have to look at flood mitigation.

"This was a monumental disaster for the state of Iowa, just gigantic in terms of its impact on this state. I don't think we're going to get it all fixed in one legislative session," Gronstal said.

Gronstal made the comments at a taping of Iowa Public Television's "Iowa Press," which airs this weekend.

Gronstal said the state has a role to play in finding solutions for flood mitigation, rather than just relying on the federal government.

Lawmakers this year approved $1.3 million for a new flood center at the University of Iowa to lead research on flood management and mitigation.

Gronstal talked about the potential for flood easements for farm land upstream, and reimbursing farmers if their land flooded in order to save cities downstream.

"Those are the kinds of creative ideas that people ought to be looking at, so that this isn't just a cycle of every time there's a bad set of weather conditions that we end up having to do disaster recovery," Gronstal said.

Gronstal on other issues --

Same-sex marriage: Gronstal said he'd stop a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage from coming to a vote in the Senate.

"My judgment is it's wrong to put discrimination in the state Constitution," Gronstal said.

New gambling licenses: Gronstal said state lawmakers should stay of the decision of whether to grant licenses for new casinos and leave it up to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.

"I'd say the Legislature has been wise in not directly engaging in the discussion about when and where new licenses should be issued," Gronstal said.

Smoking ban: Gronstal believes support could mount in the Legislature to ban smoking in casinos, one of the few exceptions to the widespread smoking ban that went into effect last year.