E-cigarette ban among bills Gov. Branstad signs

DES MOINES – Gov. Terry Branstad signed 11 bills into law Friday, including a ban the sale of electronic cigarettes and alternative nicotine products to minors in Iowa and a separate measure designed to create parameters for the use of drones, otherwise known as unmanned aerial vehicles.

Other bills passed by the split-control Legislature that garnered the governor's signature would expand the criminal charges and penalties for sexual exploitation to include anyone issued a school coaching authorization and toughen laws relating to elder abuse.

House File 2109, which Branstad approved with some concerns, would ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors as well as the possession by minors of the battery-operated products that heat liquid nicotine and produce a vapor users can inhale. Lawmakers agreed to expand the ban to include the sale of fruit-flavored, nicotine-free e-cigarettes to children.

'This piece of legislation I think some of the health proponents don't think it goes far enough,” Branstad said during a Friday taping of IPTV's 'Iowa Press” show, 'but it does at least ban the sale to minors and so I think it is something that is in the interest of the health of the people of Iowa.”

In approving the bill, backers said it would go beyond recent FDA guidelines with an enforceable state law. Lawmakers, however, balked at more-expansive approaches that would have curtailed the marketing, promotion and widespread sale of what some viewed as potentially harmful products or giving local governments authority to enact stricter regulations than the state law.

The legislation dealing with the use of drones, House File 2289, would prohibit state or local law enforcement authorities from using unmanned aerial vehicles for traffic enforcement. The bill also states that evidence obtained by law enforcement using an unmanned aerial vehicle is not admissible in a criminal or civil trial unless it was obtained legally pursuant to a search warrant or in a manner that is consistent with state and federal law.

Another provision directs the state Department of Public Safety, in consultation with the Iowa Attorney General's Office, state and local agencies, and other interested organizations to examine whether the Iowa criminal code should be modified to regulate misuse of unmanned aerial vehicles. The study group also was directed to develop model guidelines for law enforcement's use of unmanned aerial vehicles and report its findings to the Legislature by Dec. 31.

Federal licensure for drones takes over a year, backers noted, which will give lawmakers time to evaluate the study findings and proceed with addition legislation next session if need be as the industry and technology evolves.

Branstad also signed Senate 2239, a measure aimed at protecting Iowa seniors against abuse, neglect and financial exploitation. The version that emerged from a House-Senate conference committee providee for the filing of a civil petition for a protective order or temporary emergency orders for vulnerable Iowans aged 60 or older.

Initially, the bill provided criminal and civil protections to older individuals and directed the state Department on Aging to create an elder resource and referral program – but the approach proved too costly to advance this year and supporters scaled back the measure with hopes of expanding provisions next year.

Branstad also signed House File 2474, a measure that arrived late in the 2014 session to redefine coaches as school employees after the Iowa Supreme Court cleared a high school coach who had consensual sex with a 16-year-old student.

The ruling quickly earned a response from Branstad, school officials and others who said the law puts Iowa's children at risk by shielding people in a position of trust from criminal penalties.