Iowa Legislative Report
87th General Assembly, 2018 Session
Iowa State Police Association
Week 2: January 16th - 19, 2018
Paula Feltner and Mike Heller, Lobbyists
The second week of the session was abbreviated by the Martin Luther King holiday and a special election on Tuesday in Woodbury County to fill a vacant House seat. Republican Jacob Bossman was elected, maintaining the solid republican majority in the House (59-41). Neither chamber did any floor work this week but instead the bodies concentrated on committee and subcommittee work.
During this time of session each year, subcommittees and committees are meeting on bills from this year and last year, with an eye on upcoming deadlines. Legislators are already facing the first committee funnel is about a month away (February 16), which is the date for Senate bills to be reported out of Senate committees and House bills out of House committees. Bills that don't meet this deadline will be dead for the session unless they are budget or tax bills, with a few exceptions.
Two bills of interest to ISPA passed out of subcommittee:
Senate Judiciary Committee: Voted Out SF 2010 CARRYING ON SCHOOL GROUNDS (now SF2051) which allows a peace officer or reserve peace officer, whether certified or not, and federal peace officers whose duties include carrying a gun, to carry a gun on school grounds, whether the officer is in performance of official duties or not. PASSED 13-0; FM: Kinney
House Human Resources: Voted Out SF360 SAFE HAVEN ACTwhich includes various first responders (emergency and health workers, police and fire fighters) as persons to whom a child can be left under the newborn Safe Haven act. It includes requirements on being open 24 hours a day and allows parents up to 30 days to surrender a child. It also allows a parent to call 911 and release custody to first responders. Includes confidentiality provisions. PASSED 21-0; FM: Holt
There was not a lot of activity in the budget subcommittees because it is difficult for those committees to do a lot of work until decisions have been made about the extent of de appropriations to the current fiscal year budget (FY 2017). Remember that spending levels are based on revenue projections from the Revenue Estimating Conference, a three-member panel that derives the budget projection using numerous economic indicators.
As referred to last week in the Governor's address, while the Iowa economy continues to grow, it has not kept pace with the level of growth as predicted by the recent Revenue Estimating Conference estimates. In fact, revenues have stalled due to hits taken in the agriculture economy and little to no growth in the state sales tax receipts. This sluggish growth resulted in recent shortfalls in the state budget, causing a need to make necessary cuts for this fiscal year. It is likely that a de -appropriations bill will be one of the first budget bills considered this session because the cuts have to be implemented in the current fiscal year that ends on June 30th.
Legislators finished the work week early on Thursday before heading back to their districts. Neither chamber met on Friday.
To find out who your two Legislators are, go to “FIND YOUR LEGISLATOR” at Enter your address on the right side of the page and you will get both your State Representative and your State Senator. Click the two names and you will be taken to a site where you can find out all kinds of information about each person(district, home address, home phone, committees, etc). YOU CAN ALSO SIGN UP FOR THEIR WEEKLY NEWSLETTERS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS.
Attend Legislative forums in your district! The legislature most commonly adjourns Thursday afternoon so legislators are in the district Friday and Saturday and most hold weekly forums each Friday and/or Saturday. THE TIMES AND PLACES ARE USUALLY IN EACH LEGISLATIVE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER. This is a great opportunity to get to know them, to educate them on issues important to you, to get to know them, and to get the latest news on what's happening at the Capitol. There is a sign in sheet at the forums and, although no one has to talk directly to a legislator, they are very in tune with who and which groups attend their forums. You can also go to the links below every Wednesday to find legislative forums by chamber or party:
that are vital to counties. A link to these forums can be found here
SF 2067 / A bill for an act relating to lighted headlamps on motor vehicles, and making penalties applicable.
HSB 555 / A bill for an act relating to sexually violent predators, the accumulation of earned time by offenders, and providing penalties.
HSB 553 / A bill for an act relating to an ex parte court order authorizing the interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications by special state agents.
HSB 552 / A bill for an act relating to 911 emergency telephone and internet communication systems, making appropriations, and including effective date provisions.
SSB 3045 / A bill for an act relating to the penalties for the commission of sexual misconduct with juveniles, and including effective date provisions.
SSB 3042 / A bill for an act creating a capital murder offense by establishing the penalty of death for murder in the first degree of a peace officer, and including effective date and applicability provisions.
SSB 3034 / A bill for an act relating to sexually violent predators, the accumulation of earned time by offenders, and providing penalties.
SSB 3032 / A bill for an act relating to an ex parte court order authorizing the interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications by special state agents.
HSB 543 / A bill for an act relating to the definition of dangerous weapons to include simulated firearms.
HSB 541 / A bill for an act relating to kidnapping in the second degree, and providing penalties.
SF 2052 / A bill for an act relating to going armed with, carrying, or transporting a firearm in a county courthouse.
HF 2032 / A bill for an act relating to subacute mental health care facilities and the psychiatric bed tracking system.
SSB 3025 / A bill for an act prohibiting the use of automated or remote systems for traffic law enforcement, requiring the removal of existing systems, and including effective date provisions.
SSB 3024 / A bill for an act relating to the criminal offenses of the illegal use of a scanning device or encoding machine and criminal mischief in the third degree, and providing penalties.
SF 2051 / A bill for an act relating to peace officers, reserve peace officers, and federal officers going armed with, carrying, or transporting a firearm on school grounds. (Formerly SF 2010.) / SUPPORT
SF 2044 / A bill for an act relating to firearm prohibitions in county courthouses by the supreme court or judicial branch.
SF 2037 / A bill for an act relating to the minimum standard of transparency for motor vehicle window tint, providing penalties, and making penalties applicable.
HSB 525 / A bill for an act relating to asset forfeiture by eliminating state civil forfeiture and limiting the transfer of seized cash or property to federal law enforcement agencies or other federal authorities for federal civil forfeiture.
HF 2028 / A bill for an act relating to motor vehicles approaching stationary motor vehicles displaying emergency signal lamps, and providing penalties. / SUPPORT
SSB 3018 / A bill for an act modifying certain criminal acts involving payment cards, and including penalties.
HF 2023 / A bill for an act relating to operating-while-intoxicated offenses causing death or serious injury, and providing penalties. / MONITOR
HF 2022 / A bill for an act relating to impoundment and immobilization of motor vehicles involved in operating-while-intoxicated offenses, and providing penalties. / SUPPORT
HSB 523 / A bill for an act relating to requirements for specific digital content-blocking capabilities of products manufactured, distributed, or sold in the state that make the internet accessible, providing for the collection and remittance of fees, and providing for criminal and civil liability for certain violations of the Act.
HSB 522 / A bill for an act relating to information reporting to the information program for drug prescribing and dispensing. / SUPPORT
HSB 521 / A bill for an act relating to peace officers of the department of public safety exercising the general powers of a peace officer in cities without a permanent police force. / SUPPORT
HSB 520 / A bill for an act relating to the issuance of prescriptions for an opiate that is a schedule II controlled substance and making penalties applicable. / MONITOR
HSB 519 / A bill for an act relating to the real-time transmittal of information to the prescription monitoring program by licensed pharmacies and including effective date provisions. / SUPPORT
HSB 518 / A bill for an act relating to operating an unmanned aerial vehicle in, on, or above a county jail, municipal holding facility, detention facility for juveniles, or institution under the management of the department of corrections, and providing penalties. / SUPPORT
SSB 3008 / A bill for an act relating to the criminal offense of manufacturing, delivering, selling, or possessing drug paraphernalia by exempting hypodermic needles or syringes delivered, sold, or possessed through an approved needle exchange program. / SUPPORT
SSB 3006 / A bill for an act relating to the definition of dangerous weapons to include simulated firearms. / SUPPORT
HSB 512 / A bill for an act prohibiting the use of automated or remote systems for traffic law enforcement, requiring the removal of existing systems, and including effective date provisions. / OPPOSE
HSB 507 / A bill for an act relating to the criminal offenses of the illegal use of a scanning device or encoding machine and criminal mischief in the third degree, and providing penalties. / SUPPORT
SF 2024 / A bill for an act relating to recording custodial interrogations in a criminal or juvenile case. / MONITOR
HF 2015 / A bill for an act relating to the administration of portable breath tests in operating-while-intoxicated cases, including the use of test results in court actions. / MONITOR
HF 2012 / A bill for an act relating to search warrants issued in the investigation of operating-while-intoxicated violations. / SUPPORT
HF 2011 / A bill for an act relating to motor vehicle operating records pertaining to arrests, convictions, and driver’s license revocations for operating-while-intoxicated offenses. / SUPPORT
HF 2009 / A bill for an act relating to the disclosure of personal identifying information of prescribing practitioners contained in the information program for drug prescribing and dispensing. / SUPPORT
SF 2003 / A bill for an act allowing the display of one registration plate on the rear of certain older, reconstructed, and specially constructed motor vehicles. / MONITOR
SF 360 / A bill for an act relating to the newborn safe haven Act. (Formerly SF 183.)