The good, the bad, and the ugly of the Iowa legislative session
From the D.M. Register
BILLS THAT FAILED TO MAKE THE CUT:
- Requiring children younger than 18 to be buckled up in the back seat of cars
- Banning minors from getting a body piercing
- Tripling jury service fees
- Raising the compulsory school attendance age limit from 16 to 18
- Preventing abusive mortgage lending practices
- Limiting competition in the sale of gasoline to prevent price undercutting
- Creating a state law to bar people convicted of domestic abuse from owning or possessing guns
- Banning tobacco use on public school property
BILLS IN LIMBO:
- Making it a crime for adults to use Web cameras to expose themselves to children
- Putting more distance between hog confinements and homes, water supplies and tourism areas
- Requiring insurers to include coverage for a wider array of mental illnesses
- Barring sex offenders from being on school property or entering child care facilities
BILLS THAT JUST MADE IT THROUGH:
- Clarifying state law prohibiting desecration of the American flag
- Banning hunting of live animals with an Internet hookup
- Providing more state guidance on science-based sex education in schools
- Extending state civil rights protections to gays, lesbians
- Requiring lead tests for children before they enter elementary school
- Repealing a state requirement that casinos be built over water
- Ending repeat referendums for casinos
- Allowing telephone companies that want to provide TV service to apply for a statewide cable franchise
- Assessing greenhouse gas emissions in granting permits for proposed power plants
- Creating a commission to develop a plan for extending health care coverage to uninsured Iowans
- Requiring Iowa courts to honor and enforce civil rulings of the Meskwaki tribal court
- Allowing grandparents and great-grandparents to petition the court for visitation in cases of divorce or foster care
OTHER BILLS THAT ARE STILL ALIVE:
- Limiting contributions to state inaugural celebrations
- Providing public financing to candidates who choose to be part of a new system
- Adopting a stricter blood alcohol level for drunken boating
- Allowing fees to be collected from nonunion workers for services provided by unions
- Allowing cities, counties to ban smoking in public places
- Barring Iowans from buying or possessing bears and other wild animals
- Creating a statewide preschool program
- Establishing a fund to develop Iowa's renewable energy industry
- Providing more money for teacher salaries, with the goal of reaching the national average
- Requiring a training program in racism and diversity for leaders of state agencies
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