Capitol Briefs 2-25

A roundup of legislative and Statehouse items of interest for Thursday, Feb. 25:

PERFECT 10: Iowa lawmakers could be the first in the nation to address all 10 of the U.S. Department of Defense's top quality-of-life issues for military families. All 10 issues have been passed by either the House or the Senate and Democratic leaders said the entire package will be on Gov. Chet Culver's desk by the time the shortened 2010 session ends. The list includes jobless compensation for trailing spouses, child custody and visitation during deployment separations, absentee voting, access to child care for military families and certain support benefits for National Guard and reserve members and their families. “Iowa really is going to be out front, we're going to stand ahead of the pack on veterans' issues and support for activated service members,” said Sen. Steve Warnstadt, D-Sioux City, a colonel in the Iowa National Guard. Rep. Ray Zirkelbach, D-Monticello, an Iraq War veteran, said the enhanced benefits are timely with nearly 4,000 Iowa soldiers on the verge on what he described as “a rough deployment” to Afghanistan.

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS: A bill that would establish new regulations for amateur mixed martial arts matches in Iowa cleared the House Labor Committee without opposition Thursday. Venues that host the matches would be required to obtain a permit, and only those 18 and older would be allowed to participate in the matches. Some have complained that some of the participants are fighting under the influence of alcohol or drugs, are not being tested for hepatitis or HIV/AIDS, and fighting again too soon after being knocked unconscious.

Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, D-Des Moines, said the new regulations would provide a safety net for individuals who practice mixed martial arts. The bill has cleared the Senate, and now goes to the full House for consideration.

MORE TEXTING: House leaders said Thursday they were uncertain how a Senate change to measure seeking to ban text messaging distractions while driving would affect the bill's legislative future. Under the Senate version of House File 2456, Iowa drivers would be barred from writing, reading or sending text messages, instant messages or electronic mail via their cell phones or other hand-held devices while operating a motor vehicle. The House version allowed drivers to read texts. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, said his caucus would discuss the proposed change next week but he expressed concern lawmakers will putting in Iowa code for the first time a reason for law officers to stop a vehicle “on a hunch” rather than for probable cause of a crime, an emergency situation or other authorized purposes.

FEDERAL BLOCK GRANTS: Iowans interested in commenting on how state officials should allocate federal block grant funding for the fiscal 2011 budget year can make their feelings known next Monday. A public hearing on House Study Bill 728 is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. in Room 102 at the state Capitol building in Des Moines. The event is sponsored by the House Appropriations Committee. Speakers who show up will be given three minutes to state their views, but organizers encouraged written testimony to be submitted via lioinfo@legis.state.ia.us. Anyone wishing to speak may sign up at the Legislative Information Office, Room G16, at the state Capitol building.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “No matter how big the cake is, when you cut it into 1.3 billion pieces, each piece for everybody is quite small.” – Ping Huang, Chicago-based Chinese consul general to Iowa and eight other Midwest states, in discussing his country's nearly $5 trillion gross national product and population of 1.3 billion people during a speech to the Iowa Senate Thursday. He noted China has raised its average life expectancy from 37 years to 73, reduced the number of people in poverty from 250 million to 20 million, cut illiteracy from 80 percent to 3.8 percent and has 400 million Internet and 700 million cell-phone users, but still has 135 million living on less that $1 a day and 10 million people with no access to electricity.