Status of some 2010 legislative session issues

Here is a status report on some issues of interest for the 2010 legislative session:

ALIVE

Reorganize/reform state government

Ban sending text messages while driving

Legalize betting on professional sports

Allow state to regulate animal breeding facilities if complaints are made

Expand bicycle safety protections

Mandate use of ethanol-blended fuel

Allow casinos to pay not to race greyhounds

Allow poker tournaments at casinos

Beef up enforcement of open meetings/records laws

Establish public employment “fair share” nonunion dues for bargained benefits

Promote sales of native beer, distilled spirits

Change requirement for casinos referendum every eight years

Expand graduated driver's license restrictions

Tighten loophole for campaign contributions by corporations

Allow adults aged 18, 19 and 20 to have alcohol offenses expunged after two years

Expand health care for low-income children

Raise age eligibility for family planning services

Allow workers to accrue paid sick leave

Require back seat belt usage for passengers under age 18

Give veterans the day off on Veterans Day

Establish state regulation of amateur mixed martial arts events

Double fines for certain crimes in disaster areas

Restrict liquid propane shut-offs during winter

Close registration loopholes for out-of-state sex offenders moving to Iowa

Suspend Iowa's film tax credit program through June 2011

Make workplace accommodate for women to express breast milk

Require criminal background check for nurse aid training students

Prohibit rip-off musical acts with no link to original famous bands

Allow use of motorcycles with detachable stabilizing rear wheels

Establish “smart planning” principles for future development

Bring persons in “intimate relationships” under domestic assault law

Give county officials more authority to collect past-due debt

Base flood planning on 500-year flood plain

Encourage local governments to use smart planning principles

Waive tax penalties in disaster areas

Give adjacent property owners first chance to buy disaster-affected property

Allow communities to form flood plain management authorities

Modify ban on spreading animal manure on frozen ground

Bar possession of gun by person covered by domestic abuse order

Ease retrictions on sale of liquor at convenience stores

Mandate use of 5 percent blended biodiesel

Discourage unreasonable insurance increases due to extraordinary life events

Modify Iowa's “permit to carry” gun law

Change inheritance and parent-child relationship laws for posthumous conceptions

Require state registration of large charitable groups raising money in Iowa

Tighten involuntary emergency commitment procedures between hospitals and law officers

Expand Iowa Care health-care program to more low-income Iowans

Provide protections for car dealership franchises

Replace Iowa statue in U.S. Capitol of Samuel Kirkwood with one of Normal Borlaug

All budget and taxation measures

 

DEAD

Amend Iowa constitution to define marriage only as one man and one woman

Require “age appropriate” sex education be taught in kindergarten through grade 12

Require rear license plate only on vehicles

Tighten regulation on pay-day loans

Create a less-serious penalty for teenagers transmitting “sexting” messages

Broadening child pornography laws for the Internet age

Impose tuition limits for regent universities

Eliminate ban on monitor vending machines to dispense Iowa lottery products

Develop/administer statewide exit test to graduate from high school

Require schools to let requesting parents to pre-inspect books, videos, etc., to be used

Require drug testing for individuals receiving welfare or jobless benefits

Exclude after-death donations of gametes, testes and ovaries from anatomical gift act

Ban state agencies from selling naming rights for state buildings or property

Require safety helmet for motorized bike operators under age 17

Require novice driver to display sign or decal in vehicle rear window

Create religious conscience protection act

Limit maximum duration of spousal support to 10 years unless court grants extension

Require two-thirds affirmative vote of Legislature to authorize bonding

Establish state permit for body piercing and parental consent for minors

Implement a variety of abortion restrictions

Provide states that ban same-sex marriages don't have to recognize ones solemnized in Iowa

Allow peace officers to seize registration plates or impound vehicle of barred driver

Allow voters to lift smoking exemption as part of gambling referendum

Change time line for “lifers” requesting sentence commutation

Require proof of liability coverage before a vehicle could be registered

Raise compulsory school age to 18

Prohibit schools from starting classes before fourth Monday in August

Cap noneconomic damage awards to $250,000 in medical malpractice cases

Require governor/others to renegotiate fiscal 2011 pay cut for unionized state employees

Require retailers to provide restroom access for customers with certain medical conditions

Raise state wagering tax at licensed casinos to 25 percent by July 2012

Allow leashed dogs to retrieve a deer wounded by a licensed hunter

Exempt sale of horses from state sales and use taxes

Ban passengers under age 12 on motorcycles operating on a highway

Change great seal of Iowa to remove reference to soldier with “plow in his rear”

Repeal prohibition on agreements with private-sector entities to house inmates

Allow high-school students who fail coursework to compete at non-varsity level

Assert Iowa sovereignty over powers not constitutionally granted to federal government

Raise speed limit to 60 mph on primary roads

Exempt sexual orientation/gender identity from school anti-bullying law

Toughen penalties/enforcement of illegal immigration

Require state permit for local use of red-light enforcement cameras

Allow local/county control for siting of large confinement livestock operations

Expand justificable use of reasonable force except against a peace officer

Change time for hunting pheasants and quail during daylight savings time

Allow medical marijuana use and create compassion centers

Double state tax credit for tuition and textbooks

Establish “right to choose” private option to government-directed health care

Halt lobbying by persons serving or employed by government agencies

Repeal Iowa Power Fund and state Office of Energy Independence

Exempt veterans' organizations from state's smoke-free air act

Amend Iowa Constitution to limit state spending

Amend Iowa Constitution to protect “right to work” and bar union dues as job prerequisite

Amend Iowa Constitution to specify “right to life” from beginning of biological development

Amend Iowa Constitution to change Iowa's judicial appointment process

Amend Iowa Constitution to allow ballot initiative petitions

Amend Iowa Constitution to protect right to keep and bear arms

Amend Iowa Constitution to reduce Iowa counties to 50 with new boundaries by July 2015

Compiled by Des Moines Bureau