Week 12 Legislative Recap - March 29 - April 2 The House and Senate met for short floor sessions last week, with the primary focus being committee work ahead of the second funnel deadline of Friday, April 2. The second funnel requires policy bills to pass through both House and Senate committees to remain eligible for further work this legislative session. Policy bills that did not make it through committee by Thursday are removed from further consideration this session. A tool that can be used as a placeholder is the "unfinished business" calendar, which allows bills to be considered next legislative session in their current position, rather than requiring a new bill to be filed next year. Bottle Bill policy (SF 470) was referred to the Ways and Means Committee in the Senate and passed out of subcommittee last week. Ways and Means bills are exempt from funnel deadlines, so we may expect this bill to make it to the Senate floor for consideration. The main industry groups supporting the bill are the Grocery Industry Association and their members such as HyVee, Fareway, and other retail establishments. The bottle distributors, both beer and soft drink companies, are opposed to the measure, which would remove empty bottles and cans from the stores and revert unclaimed deposits back to the state. Conservation groups are also registered opposed, largely because eliminating grocery stores as a place to return empty containers will likely reduce consumer recycling. Senator Pam Jochum, who served on the subcommittee, raised the issue of a "replacement system" to the current bottle deposit law, and suggested that Iowa look toward Delaware's single stream recycling infrastructure, which has successfully increased the volume of recyclable materials. What didn't pass the funnel? HF 801: Water Quality Projects received some indications of support early on in the House, but stalled due to concerns raised by the agricultural industry around creating a more extensive definition of soil health. Get more details in the water program write up below. HF 486: Scenic Byway Fund was introduced for a second year, however, this priority did not move forward for further funding considerations. Get more details in the water program write up below. HJR 8: A Constitutional Amendment to protect Iowans' rights to hunt and fish did not advance. SF 565: Bottle Bill II did not advance in favor of another bottle deposit related bill, SF 470 (referenced above). HF 496: Eliminating Tenure received sharp criticism for proposing to eliminate a cornerstone of Iowa's public academic institutions without consideration for how that would negatively impact the state's colleges and universities. The bill was introduced by Representative Wheeler (R-Orange City) and passed quickly out of committee in the House in February, but did not reach the House floor for a vote. IEC registered against this bill. As a science-based organization, we partner with researchers at all three state universities to ensure our policy proposals are grounded in good science. This bill would have done significant damage to professors whose research is vital to understanding everything from drinking water contamination to the projected effects of climate change on agriculture in Iowa, and it would have made it more difficult for the universities to attract and retain top academics. IEC supports and defends science, and if the bill is taken up next session, we will continue to voice our opposition to such an egregiously punitive bill. SF 465: Litter Offense establishes additional offenses for littering, such as revocation of privileges, however, this bill did not advance to the Senate floor for a vote. Read the program updates below for more detailed information on some of these bills and view this week's bill tracker for updated details on bills IEC is watching this session. |