High-profile bills take center stage in Des Moines
Local lawmakers talk budget cuts, fetal heartbeat and sanctuary city bills
DES MOINES — Lawmakers in at the Iowa Statehouse are more than two months into the 2018 session, and several controversial bills are moving through the legislative chambers; some have reached the desk of Gov. Kim Reynolds.
One such bill calls for de-appropriations, or cuts, totaling about $35.5 million from various state agencies; the biggest chunk of that funding, about $11 million, would come from two state regent universities: Iowa State University and the University of Iowa.
“I felt that it was, once again, an example of everyday Iowans not getting the return for the tax dollars that they’re paying,” said state House Minority Leader Rep. Mark Smith, D-Marshalltown, on the de-appropriations bill ready for Reynolds’ signature. “It’s a substantial hit to the universities and other very important services that we have across our state.”
Under the bill, other areas to be hit with cuts in the current fiscal year are the Iowa Department of Human Services, the Iowa Department of Corrections and the state judicial branch; $500,000 is also called to be cut from the state’s community colleges.
“I was very glad to see that we were able to limit (cuts to) our community colleges,” said state Sen. Jeff Edler, R-State Center, adding the cut in this bill is far smaller than the $5.4 million proposed by Senate Republicans earlier this session. “I know the original Senate version I had a lot of discomfort with.”
He said he was also happy to see K-12 and Medicaid funding “essentially untouched” in the de-appropriations bill that passed both chambers this week.
“Clearly, we’ve got to keep the budget balanced; we have to respond to the fact that the revenue did not materialize as predicted,” said state Rep. Dean Fisher, R-Montour, of the need for the mid-year cuts, adding of the cuts to the regent schools “I think they are probably the most able to withstand that kind of a reduction.”
He added he was also glad to see only $500,000 called for in cuts to community colleges.
Another bill receiving a lot of attention in Des Moines is Senate file (SF) 481, a bill meant to stop so-called “sanctuary cities” from forming in Iowa and to ensure local law enforcement cooperates fully with federal immigration agents.
“I’ve had discussions with law enforcement about that, in our local district, and there is some disparity even amongst law enforcement people,” Edler said of the bill, adding he supported it when it passed out of the Senate during the 2017 session.
He said he is waiting to see if the House makes any amendments to SF 481 from last year.
“I still believe in the concept that the law is the law and people should follow it,” Edler said.
Fisher said supports the bill in the House.
“The House Public Safety Committee, which I sit on, passed it a couple of weeks ago, and we’re hoping to get it to the floor shortly,” he said, adding it’s possible the bill will come to a vote this session. “I can’t say for certain, but I’m pushing for it, I’m fairly positive about it.”
He described SF 481 as “common-sense” legislation.
“We have issues with Iowa City making moves toward being a sanctuary city, we simply can’t allow that,” Fisher said. “We have to cooperate with federal authorities and do our jobs … I would point out that Marshall County and Marshalltown are following the law.”
Smith said he would vote against SF 481.
“I think it is an extremely high unfunded mandate, and that these are issues the federal government should be addressing,” he said, adding the bill has not yet shown up on the House debate calendar.
Another bill that drew a crowd to the State Capitol this week calls for a ban to abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, usually around six weeks into a pregnancy. That bill is currently in the House after being passed by the Senate.
“There are mixed views on it, but I’m pushing hard to get it to the floor,” Fisher said of the bill, adding he would “absolutely” vote in favor of the legislation. “I think it’s common sense; an unborn child in the womb is a human being, and we need to give them the same protection and rights that we do the rest of our citizens.”
Smith said he would vote no on the bill.
“I oppose the bill, I think that it’s extreme and does not take into consideration many factors that should be taken into consideration with this very difficult and painful decision,” he said, adding legal challenges are expected if the legislation passes into law. “I believe that these are decisions for the woman in conjunction with health care providers.”
Fisher said he isn’t concerned about potential legal challenges.
“I’m not responsible for what other people do in terms of trying to stop us from being responsible and protecting life,” he said.
Edler said he voted for the bill in the Senate.
“I’m not about telling people what choices they can and can’t make, but there comes a point that, when we define life, there is a consequence to your actions,” he said. “If we can’t come to a conclusion that life begins when the heart starts beating, because we know it ends when it stops, where is our consistency as lawmakers?”
A statehouse rotunda rally earlier this week drew a crowd of people both for and against the legislation.
Edler also said a mental health care bill, House file (HF) 2456, has been passed in both chambers and awaits the governor’s signature.
“It sets up critical access centers to where we can give law enforcement that direct diversion, to where they aren’t waiting in emergency rooms with patients for days, trying to figure out what bed they can get the patient treatment at,” he said. “That’s huge.”
Edler said he has worked on such legislation in the Senate for several months.
“I intend to continue working on the bed tracking system, and trying to modernize that, and hopefully trying to get it into real-time capacity so any stakeholder around the state can get on a platform and figure out where the right bed for that patient is,” he said.
The lawmakers had varying thoughts on when the end of the current session will come. Their daily, or per diem, expense funding ends April 17.
“I think we’re going to be here longer after the April 17 deadline,” Smith said. “At this point, the one thing that we have to do is pass a budget, and we’ve not even gotten targets.”
He said the majority party, the Republicans in the House, must provide an outline for the overall FY 2019 spending plan before individual line items can be funded.
Fisher said it may be possible for the session to end by the mid-April cutoff of per diem funding.
“I think it’ll be close,” he said. “We could end up spending a lot of time debating some of these more controversial bills, and, of course, we still have all of the budget stuff to do.”
Edler was more optimistic about closing the session on time.
“I think there should be a real, likely possibility we’re out of here,” he said of meeting the deadline. “I would like to think we could get our business done and be out even earlier, if possible.”
To follow bills through the Iowa Statehouse, visit https://www.legis.iowa.gov/
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Contact Adam Sodders at (641) 753-6611 or asodders@timesrepublican.com