Lawmakers, You Don't Have to Put out the Red Light (Cameras)

Today's print column

Anyone hoping the Legislature will save them from red light/speed cameras is cruising for disappointment.

It's true that a bill filed last week by 12 Senate Republicans to ban traffic enforcement cameras in Iowa grabbed oversized headlines around these parts. But I'm already detecting that dead bill smell.

It's true nothing is ever really dead at the Capitol until the last gavel falls. But when the top Democrat who runs the Senate, Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, and the top Republican that commands the House, Speaker Kraig Paulsen, each say they're not all that crazy about the idea, you can probably start picking out headstones.

And that's just as well, because Senate File 129 has some bad bill ingredients.

You have one lead sponsor, Sen. Steve Kettering, R-Lake View, population 1,200 or so, who wants to tell large metro areas how they should handle traffic safety issues. Several of the bill's sponsors are from rural districts.

You also have Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, who is motivated, in part, by the fact that he got a Cedar Rapids speed camera citation, even though his son was the one driving his car. Beware of any lawmaker who wants to turn a bad personal experience into the law of the land.

But most of all, this bill is emblematic of yet another instance when Statehouse types just can't resist sticking their nose into cities' business. Evidently, these legislators feel like they haven't adequately mandated, restricted and regulated cities and towns to death. They've detected a small gap in the red tape. Gasp.

State politicians love to talk about their deep affinity for local control, but in reality, their default position is that the state knows better. Local governments can't be?trusted. Legislators must ride in to save the day.

Both parties do it. When Republicans ran the Legislature in the early aughts, a consultant recommended a reduction in state aid to local government in exchange for giving locals more power to shape taxes and spending. Lawmakers gladly made the cut, but they forgot the “more power” part.

Democrats, faced with a choice between a statewide smoking ban and allowing locals to craft ordinances based on local needs, of course, chose a statewide ban. The list of state stop signs are endless, from siting of hog confinements to asking voters for a better mix of local taxes. The state even dictates minutiae like how county elected officials are paid.

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of traffic cameras. The oft-heard “don't-break-the-law-and-you-have-nothing-to-worry-about” argument from their enthusiastic backers makes me cringe. The same argument can be used to justify virtually any expansion of police authority, reasonable or unreasonable.

But I can accept them. And one big reason is that the decision to put them up was made by local officials who actually have to live with the results and among the constituents who are affected. Lawmakers should stay out of it.

Comments: (319) 398-8452; todd.dorman@sourcemedia.net