Capitol Notebook: Iowans could recall elected officials

Iowa voters would have the potential to recall an elected official under a proposed amendment that advanced in the Iowa Senate on Tuesday.

The amendment would allow Iowans to file a petition to hold a recall election for an elected official at the state, legislative, or county level.

A petition seeking to recall a politician would need to amass signatures amounting to 25 percent of the votes cast for governor in that district in the previous election. Once that threshold is met, a special election would be scheduled six weeks after the petition is filed.

The incumbent would be automatically on the recall ballot unless they decline within 10 days. Other candidates would need to file nomination papers to be on the ballot.

Nineteen other states have processes to recall a politician. Sen. Cherielynn Westrich, R-Ottumwa, said the amendment would be a “valuable tool” for voters to react if an official does something that warrants a recall.

The subcommittee passed the bill 2-1. Sen. Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, did not recommend passage, but she said she could support a future version. The amendment would need to be passed in this legislative session, then again in 2025 or 2026, before going to a popular vote.

Hands-free

Iowans would only be allowed to use electronic devices in hands-free mode while driving under a bill in the Iowa Senate.

Current law prohibits sending or receiving electronic messages while driving but allows use of a cellphone for navigation and making a phone call. Under the proposed bill, any use of a cellphone requiring interaction with hands would be illegal.

Drivers could use hands-free and voice-activated functions on a cellphone, and the legislation allows for one-tap actions like answering a phone call. Interacting with a built-in display in the car would not be prohibited.

Representatives for public safety officials and insurance companies said the proposal would reduce fatalities and property damage related to distracted driving. In 2021, one in five drivers involved in a crash was distracted, Iowa State Patrol Colonel Nathan Folk said.

The bill carves out exemptions for public safety and emergency officials, a person receiving emergency or weather alerts or reporting an emergency, a person operating certain farm equipment, a person using a two-way radio transmitter, public transit drivers, and certain other business purposes.

Violation of the bill would be punishable by a simple misdemeanor.

Landowners urge lawmakers to restrict CO2 pipelines

A group of at least 50 landowners from across Iowa, including those whose property lies in the path of carbon-capture pipelines proposed to be built in the state, descended on the state Capitol to urge lawmakers to pass legislation that would curtail opportunities for companies to do so using eminent domain, which allows a company to force easements for right of way with compensation.

The group met with Sen. Jeff Taylor, R-Sioux Center, and a handful of other Republican lawmakers who have put forward, support or are drafting legislation that would limit the use of eminent domain for hazardous liquid pipeline companies, limit their ability to conduct land surveys and negotiate easements for that land and require them to identify their investors.

Three companies — Summit Carbon Solutions, Navigator Heartland Greenway and Wolf Carbon Solutions — have proposed building pipelines to transport liquefied CO2 from Iowa ethanol plants to underground sequestration sites in North Dakota and Illinois.

Only one of them — Wolf, whose pipeline would include the ADM plant in Cedar Rapids — has said it does not plan to use eminent domain to acquire easements.

Taylor filed a bill that would eliminate the use of eminent domain for their construction. Failing that, another bill would require the companies to gain the permission of landowners for 90 percent of the route to enable the use of eminent domain for the remainder.

He told the group the proposal, which pits property owner rights against the state’s powerful agricultural interests, faces an uphill battle in the Iowa Legislature and will require “moving leadership.”

Domestic abuse bill advances

The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday advanced a bill supporters say adds new protections for domestic abuse victims.

House Study Bill 7 eliminates a section of code that said if a previous conviction or deferred judgment for domestic abuse occurred more than 12 years before the date of a second violation it shall not be considered a second offense.

Tom Ferguson, a lobbyist for the Iowa County Attorneys Association — which is registered in support of the bill — noted Iowa code does contain the same “arbitrary look back” provision for drug offenses.

Providing for a higher-level offense will “hold individuals accountable for continued behavior that’s detrimental not only to victims,” but the children of victims who observe the abuse, Ferguson said.

“The higher level of offense means we can supervise those individuals longer and put them in more programs … and so we can hopefully eliminate that cycle of violence,” he said.

The committee voted 15-5 to advance the bill for a vote on the House floor, with Democrats opposed.

“Current law is not written really well. I will agree with that. I think there are better ways to go about it. But, I am concerned about completely eliminating this second chance,” Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames, said.

Wessel-Kroeschell said she prefers the code section be rewritten rather than eliminated.

Ferguson said prosecutors would still have discretion in deciding which and what level of charges to bring against someone accused of domestic abuse.

Multistate lawsuit

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird entered the state into a multistate lawsuit, led by Texas, that challenges a federal Department of Homeland Security program that authorizes migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to settle in the U.S. and find employment.

The federal DHS said the program is modeled on what it said was similar, successful processes for Venezuelans and Ukrainians which “combine safe, orderly, and lawful pathways to the U.S.,” including authorization to work. The program also contains “significant consequences for those who fail to use those pathways,” according to DHS.

Bird’s office argues the program “effectively created a new visa program without legal activity from Congress.”

“Illegally allowing 360,000 aliens to settle in the U.S. exacerbates the crisis on our borders and the presence of crime and drugs on our streets,” Bird said in a news release.

Also, Bird announced new staff hires: David Faith as Deputy Attorney General for Agency Counsel, Ed Bull as Assistant Attorney General and Chief of the Health and Human Services Section, and Alyssa Brouillet as press secretary.