Lawmakers rush to keep issues alive for 2011

DES MOINES – Efforts to create nicotine-free school zones, establish “do not email/text” protections for minors, and cap interest rates on “pay-day” loans were part of Tuesday's push by legislators to keep issues alive for consideration this session.

A Senate subcommittee took steps to remove fourth-generation bengal cats - the eight-pound cross between a domestic cat and an Asian leopard cat, not the tiger - and savannahs bred but not for sale in Iowa from the list of dangerous wild animals. However, Sen. Joe Seng, D-Davenport, a licensed veterinarian, said Senate File 319 may get bogged down again this year if proponents who want to bring Russian boars to Iowa for hunting try to attach that issue to the bill.

Members of the Senate Human Resources Committee voted 9-3 to approve a measure that attempts to cap interest rates that can be charged for pay-day loans at 36 percent. The action meant that Senate File 113 will survive this Friday's “funnel” deadline for policy bills to clear at least one standing committee in the House or Senate to remain eligible for the 2011 session.

“I regard these to be blood suckers and, frankly, all we're asking of them is to use a smaller straw,” said Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames.

Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, said there are about 230 store-front lenders offering predatory loans that lock customers into a long-term cycle of debt due to absorbent charges. But Sen. Jack Whitver, R-Ankeny, said many people rely on short-term loans for emergency situations and the proposed cap would not be workable. Sen. Nancy Boettger, R-Harlan, questioned why a lending bill was being considered during funnel week in the Human Resources Committee when it belonged in the Commerce Committee.

Quirmbach was leader of a Senate subcommittee that unanimously approved a measure that would prohibit use of products containing nicotine by students, staff, teachers, parents or others on school property.

Representatives of anti-tobacco groups said Senate Study Bill 1161 is needed due to the proliferation of dissolvable and other tobacco products containing nicotine. Speakers told the subcommittee members that parents attending athletic events on school grounds probably are the biggest problem in the efforts to set good health examples for young people.

A separate Senate subcommittee gave initial approval to legislation that would allow parents to register email addresses where marketers would be prohibited from sending text messages or emails to minors that dealt with pornography, alcohol, tobacco products, gambling or any other subject matter deemed inappropriate for children.

Backers of Senate File 304 said the voluntary registry was modeled after the “do not call list” that was established in the Attorney General's Office to prevent telemarketing phone calls. The Iowa service would be modeled after similar programs that have been established in Utah and Michigan, although Eric Tabor of the AG's office said Michigan officials told him the registry there started out with a lot of interest but has since tailed off.

“I think this is extremely well-intentioned,” Tabor told the subcommittee, but he cautioned there “is a real risk of raising expectations” but not being able to totally deliver the desired results because the blocking effort would not apply to Internet traffic coming from outside the United States, would not apply to Facebook or Twitter or other online activities that might attract young people.

“I like the idea of doing this but understand it will be hard to track,” said Sen. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull.

Sen. Tom Courtney, D-Burlington, said he wanted to keep the issue alive for more work but was uncertain what the bill's future would be this session. “None of this stuff is fail safe. It seems like it might be worth a try,” he said.

The Senate Commerce Committee passed two bills that the sponsors called “works in progress” to suvive the funnel, but that will be returned to the panel for more work and refinement.

One measure dealt with establishing a health insurance exchange as far of the federal health care reform measure. The other (Senate Study Bill 1144) would address hurdles that might impede MidAmerican Energy's exploratory effort to build a nuclear-powered facility utilizing a cluster of small modular reactors.

Also Tuesday, the Senate Natural Resources Committee voted 9-4 to approve Senate File 53, which proposes a $60 million commitment for each of the next 10 years as part of an incentive-based approach to pre-disaster flood mitigation to avoid a repeat of past natural disasters. The legislation seeks to leverage federal, state and private funds to implement voluntary measures proven to prevent flood damage by holding back flood waters in the watershed and helping cities and counties mitigate known flood hazards.

“Comprehensive watershed management is alive,” said Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, after the meeting.

Meanwhile on the House side, legislation seeking a constitutional amendment to reduce the number of counties in the state from 99 to 50 by the year 2017 stalled when a scheduled subcommittee meeting was canceled.

On a party line vote, House State Government approved HSB 119 to eliminate the requirement that county auditor offices be open two Saturdays prior to a primary election to accommodate voter registration. In 2008, he said, there were 49 people who registered and 36 who registered two Saturdays prior to the 2010 election. Rep. Ron Jorgensen, R-Sioux City, said the change could save counties $50,000 each election.

Also, a freshman-sponsored constitutional amendment to limit service in the Legislature to 16 consecutive years was voted down 11-12 in the House State Government Committee.

Most Republicans on the committee voted to limit legislative service, but three veteran GOP representatives – Reps. Jack Drake of Lewis, who has served 18 years, Scott Raecker of Urbandale, 12 years and Dawn Pettengill of Mount Auburn, six years - joined Democrats in killing HJR 10.

Under the bill, a lawmaker could serve 16 consecutive years in one chamber, then serve 16 in the other and return to the first chamber to serve another 16 years.

In Human Resources, Republican Reps. Rich Anderson of Clarinda and Mark Lofgren of Muscatine joined Democrats to approve a healthy hot lunch challenge that would be administered through the Department of Education to promote healthy eating.

Rep. Janet Peterson, D-Des Moines, offered the plan as an amendment to HF 288 that called for the Department of Human Services to request a waiver from the USDA to allow Iowa to restrict use of food stamps to the purchase of healthy foods. Rep. Dave Heaton, R-Mount Pleasant, said it would be a way to “get a hold of Iowa's continuing, accelerating health care costs.”

However, Peterson said the USDA would not grant the waiver and Heaton's plan would turn grocers into “food police.”

After the amendment was accepted, the committee voted 9-12 not to move it to the full House.