Fireworks bill moving again in Iowa Legislature

DES MOINES - State lawmakers have re-lit the fuse on a proposal to legalize more consumer-grade fireworks in Iowa.

An Iowa Senate panel on Tuesday advanced a bill that would add more than a dozen consumer fireworks to the list of legal products, which currently includes only sparklers and other small novelties.

While Tuesday's discussion among members of the Senate's tax-writing Ways and Means Committee focused on the proposal's fees and tax revenue, those legislators' approval moved the bill one step closer to becoming law.

The proposal would legalize consumer-grade fireworks, including grounded items such as cone fountains and aerial items such as bottle rockets. It would charge fees to stores that sell fireworks and use those fees to create a grant program to fund oversight by the state fire marshal.

Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls, supports the bill and ushered its passage through State Government Committee. He calls current state law, which allows residents to possess but not display fireworks, 'head-in-the-sand” policy.

'We don't tell you … that you can buy a barbecue grill in the state of Iowa, but don't put a steak on it. But that's what our fireworks law does today,” Danielson said. 'I think this is a better answer for how to manage both the benefits of and the downsides of fireworks.”

Iowa Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, is chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, through which the bill must pass. Bolkcom said he is opposed to the bill, citing safety concerns.

Bolkcom recently said he was gauging interest in the bill among his colleagues. Asked if the fact he scheduled the bill for Tuesday's hearing was a signal there is interest in approving the bill, Bolkcom said, 'Interest is still being gauged.”

Those who wish to legalize more fireworks say it would allow Iowans to celebrate the Fourth of July by joining the 40 states that allow residents to display consumer-grade fireworks. They also say a law legalizing fireworks gives the state an opportunity to make the practice safer.

Opponents cite safety concerns and added stress to emergency management personnel.

The bill, as written, would make fireworks legal on June 1. Lawmakers debated whether that timeline should be delayed to allow for implementation of the program.