Adjournment of 2016 Iowa legistative session in sight, lawmakers say

DES MOINES — State lawmakers were striking 11th-hour compromises Wednesday and throwing issues overboard for future consideration in their march to adjournment.

House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, said bipartisan agreements on Medicaid oversight and abortion-related language still were eluding negotiators, but she expressed optimism that the split-control Legislature could conclude this year's work sometime today.

'Anything can derail this. I'm just optimistic that we can find resolution,' Upmeyer told reporters Wednesday. 'I really think we can have this work done in the next day or two.'

Higher education

House and Senate negotiators were able to hammer out details of an infrastructure budget bill and send it to Gov. Terry Branstad. Legislators also finalized work on a $1 billion higher education budget bill that likely will usher in a new round of tuition increases at state universities and community colleges.

'I think the education bill probably received the most funding of all the budgets, but it was still inadequate,' Sen. Brian Schoenjahn, D-Arlington, said of a $9 million increase spread among higher education priorities — $6 million to regent institutions and $3 million to community colleges.

'I think this is going to be further costs to families,' he said of a fiscal 2017 funding level that will mean more fees and more student debt.

Senators voted 49-0 to approve a House-passed compromise that will end a penny-per-gallon surcharge on wholesale gasoline effective next Jan. 1. The surcharge has been used since the early 1990s to finance the cleanup of underground storage tanks that were leaking petroleum products. Lawmakers agreed to maintain $42 million in a fund that could be used to address leaks.

Criminal justice

Likewise, legislators in both chambers approved what Rep. Ken Rizer, R-Cedar Rapids, called a 'grand compromise' to address some of the criminal-justice system reforms that Branstad and Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady highlighted in January speeches that opened the session.

'I think we've got a very smart public policy and enhanced public safety bill here,' said Sen. Steve Sodders, D-State Center, before the Senate's 28-19 vote. The House approved the bill 98-0 earlier Wednesday.

Provisions of the bill address mandatory-minimum sentences and give judges more discretion in granting paroles or releases to offenders convicted of some drug-related crimes.

The bill also would extend the statute of limitations for child endangerment resulting in death, serious injury or bodily injury. The new standard would be that a criminal information or indictment must occur within 10 years of the minor turning 18 or, if the alleged offender is identified via DNA evidence, the indictment must come within three years from the date of the person being identified.

Rep. David Dawson, D-Sioux City, an assistant Woodbury County attorney, called the legislation 'the most significant piece of criminal justice reform' in his four years as a state legislator.

It is estimated it will cut incarceration costs by $757,000 in 2018.

Economic development

Senators also voted 49-0 to send Branstad legislation designed to attract and keep young people by upgrading recreational and cultural offerings as well as beefing up a sports tourism program.

The bill would establish an Enhance Iowa Board that would replace the Vision Iowa Board to oversee the state's Community Attraction and Tourism program and other activities.

Sports safety

Also Wednesday, senators voted 34-13 to revive an issue that stalled in the House last month that would require Iowa high schools to have a health care professional with training in sports medicine or emergency care present at 'collision' sporting events to identify concussions and assess injuries to student-athletes.

'Sometimes good bills take time to brew,' Sen. Tod Bowman, D-Maquoketa, said in attaching provisions of Senate File 2225 — a bill that failed to survive the session's second 'funnel' deadline — to House File 2421, which dealt with various coaching requirements.

The new provision would apply to home teams hosting varsity football, wrestling and boys and girls soccer games. The health care professional would be required to notify the visiting team's athletic director within 48 hours if a member of the visiting team shows signs of a concussion.

'We're going to put some parents at ease,' said Bowman, a former wrestling coach, who noted the proposed changes would address concerns for coaches, parents and more than 37,000 student-athletes who participate in collision sports in Iowa.

The legislation would allow school districts to seek a waiver from the requirement from the state Department of Education. The Legislative Services Agency estimated the bill would cost school districts from $148,000 to $526,000 annually for the next two years.