Requiring headlights on in the fog, snow plows to become blue-light special: Iowa Capitol Digest, Feb. 19

A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Monday, Feb. 19, 2018:

RISE AND SHINE: About two dozen people spoke at an Iowa House Appropriations Committee public hearing Monday, Feb. 20, 2018, on proposed midyear budget cuts.

Most spoke in opposition to SF 2117, which as amended by the House would cut $33 million from the budget for the fiscal year ending June 30. The Senate version would cut $44 million. Gov. Kim Reynolds' proposed a $34.5 million cut.

CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS: The State Fire Marshal's Office issued a notice Monday that certain single-family dwellings and single- and multiple-unit residential buildings in Iowa will be required to have carbon monoxide alarms in place by July 1.

In 2016, the Iowa General Assembly enacted legislation that requires the state fire marshal to enforce the guidelines and require the installation of carbon monoxide alarms in the following structures that have a fuel-fired heater or appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage: existing single-family dwellings, rental units and multiple-unit residential buildings, and single-family dwellings, rental units and multiple-unit residential buildings for which construction is authorized or is started on or after July 1. The legislation (Senate File 2219) also requires the state fire marshal to conduct inspections and enforce penalties for structures that are not in compliance.

HAPPY CAMPERS IN IOWA: Iowa senators voted Monday to revamp the state's system for reserving campsites at state parks. Current rules require that at least 50 percent but no more than 75 percent of the total number of campsites in each individual campground centralized reservation system be available for reservation.

SF 2020, which passed 49-0, will allow up to 100 percent of campsites in each individual campground to be reserved. Sen. Tom Shipley, R-Nodaway, said the change was designed to bring Iowa's reservation system into 21st century.

'Some campsites sit empty because the DNR will only allow reservations for 75 percent of them, and fewer and fewer campers are willing to pack up the kids and tents and sleeping bags and fishing poles and drive to the campground if there's a chance there won't be a site available when they get there,” Shipley said. The bill now goes to the House for consideration.

HEADLIGHT REQUIREMENT: Iowa motorists would be required to display lighted headlamps on their motor vehicles during any period of fog, snow, sleet or rain while operating on streets and highways in Iowa under a bill that passed the Iowa Senate 48-1 on Monday.

Under current law, a motor vehicle is required to display lighted headlamps at any time from sunset to sunrise, and at other times when conditions such as fog, snow, sleet or rain provide insufficient lighting to render clearly discernible people and vehicles on the highway at a distance of 500 feet. SF 2067 removes the distance provision and requires the headlamps' operation. A violation of the provision, which Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, R-Fort Dodge, described as 'a common-sense safety measure,” would be punishable by a $30 fine. The bill now goes to the Iowa House for consideration.

SNOW PLOW LIGHTS: Iowa senators voted Monday to make permanent the installation of blue and white lights on snowplows clearing state roadways.

An Iowa Department of Transportation pilot project to mount $500 lighting units on plows in 12 counties since 2015 proved very cost-effective, with collisions with average costs of about $7,700 down significantly after equipping the road-clearing vehicles with blue and white lights. The experiment was slated to end in July 2019, but SF 2163, which passed 45-4 en route to the Iowa House, repeals that sunset. Opponents, such as Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Waterloo, were concerned the $335,000 for a safety-related item was coming from road use tax proceeds and represented an instance of DOT 'mission creep” into public safety enforcement. But bill manager Sen. James Carlin, R-Sioux City, called the measure a 'good bill” that will save the state 'a lot of money.”