Capitol Briefs 2-2-2010

A roundup of legislative and Statehouse items of interest for Tuesday, Feb. 2:

REAR-SEAT BELTS: The Senate Transportation Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to expand Iowa's seat-belt law to include back-seat passengers under 18 years of age. Current law requires the use of seat belts, safety harnesses or child restraint systems for back-seat passengers under the age of 10. Senate File 2055, which now is eligible for floor debate, would cover the 11-17 age range effective July 1.

INSURANCE COSTS: The Iowa Senate voted 50-0 to protect families from unreasonable increases in insurance costs when they face extraordinary life events – such as a job loss, family death, identity theft or military service. Senate File 2075 would provide some help to Iowans who saw their credit scores drop due to those major events. Sen. Rich Olive, D-Story City, said the legislation would require insurance companies to tell consumers when their rates are being raised due to a lower credit score. Affected consumers could provide documentation to reverse the increase or appeal it to the Iowa Insurance Consumer Advocate.

(With Photo) MILLION GALLON CHALLENGE: Jean Wiedenheft of the Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids visited the Capitol Tuesday to issue a “million gallon challenge” to residents of watersheds around the state, asking them to take steps to help prevent catastrophic flooding of the kind Iowa experienced in 2008. Margaret Wolter, center, of the center, and Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, joined in issuing the challenge. The center is selling 1,000 65-gallon rain barrels to collect rain water and delay its runoff into streams and rivers. It estimates that over rainfall season 1 million gallons of rainwater would be prevented from entering the waterways. Homeowners could use the rainwater on their lawns and gardens, resulting in saving water, according to the center's spokespeople. For more information on the challenge, or to order a rain barrel, visit: www.indiancreeknaturecenter.org.

QUIRKY CRIMES: Members of the House Public Safety Committee got a lesson Tuesday in Iowa's outdated or little-known criminal laws. The committee took up recommendations of a special commission charged with studying Iowa's criminal code and voted to repeal two laws – one limiting the use of cowl lamps on vehicles and one creating the criminal offense of detention in a brothel. But the bill that brought the most discussion was a technical change to the crime of simulating intoxication in a public place. The legislation approved by the committee moved the crime to another part of Iowa's criminal code. Rep. Clel Baudler, R-Greenfield, a retired state trooper, said the crime could be seen in restaurants, concerts or a large gathering of people “where they are just making a general nit-wit out of themselves, and it's really easy to immediately arrest them, cuff ‘em and get ‘em out of the area to keep control of the entire situation before it deteriorates into a huge free-for-all.”

CORRECTIONS CORRECTION: Justice budget subcommittee members were told Tuesday there is a $2.7 million “discrepancy” in the state Department of Corrections' current budget that could require more positions to be kept unfilled unless the issue is resolved by June 30. An analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency cited an “unexplained gap” in covering the agency's $35.7 million across-the-board cut ordered last fall by Gov. Chet Culver. Sen. Eugene Fraise, D-Fort Madison, expressed concern that some halfway houses may be forced to close due to budget cuts, saying “that's a totally wrong direction” to alter programs that are keeping offenders from returning to prison.

WEIGHTY DISCUSSIONS: A key lawmaker said Tuesday talks are under way to consider consolidating weight enforcement duties in the state Department of Transportation and conservation and investigative officers in the state Department of Natural Resources under the umbrella of the state Department of Public Safety. Sen. Tom Hancock, D-Epworth, co-chairman of the Legislature's justice systems budget subcommittee, said the discussions are very preliminary but the new organizational chart could save state money and improve chain of command issues. He said the DOT and DNR employees are certified peace officers who graduated from the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy and could better coordinate their duties if part of the state's public safety operation.

ADDED SERVICES FOR VETERANS IN JAIL: Jailers would have to notify inmates within 24 hours of their incarceration that if they are a veteran who has been released from active duty within the past five years they may be entitled to a visit from a veteran service officer under HF 2102, which was approved by the House Veterans Affairs Commission Tuesday. The visit would be to determine whether veteran services are available or required.

REAL TROOPERS:  Iowa public safety commissioner Eugene Meyer said Gov. Chet Culver's budget plan will allow his agency to maintain status quo and avoid further erosion of the Iowa State Patrol division that already is down 80 troopers from its peak year. Meyer told a legislative budget panel the nearly $7 million funding increase in fiscal 2011 will allow the trooper level to hold steady and he hopes to be able to replenish the numbers by 10-12 annually as the economy improves. Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, told committee members that Culver's across-the-board cut has been “a train wreck” for public safety. Meyer acknowledged that fewer troopers means “there's less coverage and it's taking us longer to respond to accidents. There is an impact.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “What I'm afraid of is that Kinnick Stadium at some point, that if the university got in financial trouble, that they would sell the naming rights of it and make it Halliburton Kinnick Stadium or Blackwater Kinnick Stadium just to get the funding. This is pre-emptive stuff so if there's a budget crash and the regents want to get some quick money and use that as an advertising mechanism for the corporations, they couldn't do it.” – Rep. Ray Zirkelbach, D-Monticello, discussing House File 2167, a bill he introduced that bars a state agency from selling naming rights for any building, facility or property under its control.