Iowa Politics Today: Changes to boat motor sizes allowed at Lake Macbride, but not to drinking rules?

A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017:

MORE EMERALD ASH BORER:

State officials confirmed Tuesday that tree-killing pests have spread to two more Iowa counties - Jackson and Clayton. That brings the total to 41 counties. Officials with the state Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship said emerald ash borer - a highly destructive insect that attacks and kills ash trees - already had been confirmed in Bellevue and Marquette. Native to Asia, the insect is responsible for the death of tens of millions of ash trees nationwide. The adult emerald ash borer is a metallic green beetle measuring about one-half inch long and one-eighth inch wide. Trees attacked by the insect usually die within two to four years. The borer has spread to 29 states since being discovered in Michigan in 2002.

LAKE MACBRIDE:

A House subcommittee balked Tuesday at establishing an alcohol ban and a closing time in state law for the Lake Macbride State Park near Solon. While acknowledging there might be issues at the park, a three-member House Natural Resources subcommittee decided the issues are best resolved by state agencies and commissions that oversee the park rather than by state law. The Iowa Natural Resource Commission voted last year to ban liquor, beer and wine at beaches at Lake Macbride State Park near Solon and Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area near Palo, but a bipartisan group of legislators decided in September to delay implementing rules for the ban until the end of the 2017 session to allow the Legislature to weigh in. State Department of Natural Resources officials said they were taking action after a recent analysis of citations found a substantial number of incidents involving public intoxication, assault, littering and interference with official acts on those two beaches.

MOTOR SIZE:

Members of the Iowa Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee voted 10-3 on Tuesday to lift longstanding outboard motor size restrictions on Lake Macbride. Iowa law forbids outboard motors of 10 or more horsepower on the lake from Memorial Day to Labor Day. There also is a year-round no-wake law. The proposal would allow the operation of motorboats with power units exceeding 10 horsepower at any time on Macbride if the boats are operated at no-wake speed.

GIVING NOTICE:

Senators heard support for allowing local governments to post public notices required by state law on the internet rather than paying to put them in newspapers. After hearing from local government groups, newspaper publishers and others, sponsor Sen. Mark Chelgren, R-Ottumwa, said he and other Local Government Subcommittee members will look to modify the measure. Posting those notices on the internet would be cheaper and, he said, reach more residents. Jess Mazour, an organizer for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, said that would create a 'patchwork across the state,” which she said is something Republicans want to avoid. Representatives of Iowa State Association of Counties, the Metropolitan Coalition, Linn County and the League of Cities said internet posting would save local governments money. The Iowa Newspaper Association, however, argued that Iowans are looking for those public notices and finding it either in newspapers of online at a website maintained by the association.

FAIR LIABILITY:

A Senate subcommittee agreed Tuesday to give fairs in Iowa liability protection from damages sought by anyone who alleges an injury or death caused by a pathogen transmitted from an event where an animal is kept for more than three hours. Senate File 210 initially applied to county and district fairs, but bill sponsor, Sen. Dan Zumbach, R-Ryan, said the measure would be amended to include the Iowa State Fair. The proposal expands upon protections already in place to deal with situations in which a spectator might get stepped on or kicked by show animals.

VOTER CHANGES OF ADDRESS:

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said Tuesday the annual National Change of Address process to update and maintain Iowa's voter registration records is underway. During the next few weeks, voters who have filed a change of address with the U.S. Postal Service will receive a card in the mail from their county auditor saying the USPS indicates they have moved. Voters that receive these cards in the mail should indicate whether the new address is incorrect and quickly return the card to the county auditor's office, Pate said.