Branstad issues statement on closing of the 2016 legislative session

(DES MOINES) – Iowa Gov. Terry E. Branstad today reflected on the legislative session by issuing the following statement:

“The future of our state is bright.  This year, we worked with the Iowa Legislature to build consensus and come together for Iowans on taxpayers’ priorities.   Over the next thirty days, Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds and I will carefully review the bills passed during the final days of the legislative session to ensure the budget balances, continues to fit within our five-year budgeting projections, and honors the commitments we’ve made in the past to the Teacher Leadership system and property tax relief.  We will adhere to the conservative budgeting principles that Iowans elected us to implement, and will continue to reject bad budgeting practices that led to reckless across the board cuts.

Just before my Condition of the State address in January, Lt. Gov. Reynolds and I stood up with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and education and agriculture leaders from around the state and offered a bold plan to dedicate long-term funding for both water quality and education infrastructure in our state without raising taxes.  From the beginning, we offered this plan as a framework and welcomed ideas that others may have in addressing water quality.

The Iowa House of Representatives responded by approving bipartisan legislation, providing a distribution system similar to the one we recommended, while allocating more than $732 million over the next 13 years to water quality projects.  We worked closely with legislators on this proposal and supported the progress and approach that was taken.  However, we’re very disappointed that Senate Democrat leadership decided to bury the House bill with no debate and offering no alternative.  Water quality is a critical issue and we will continue to work to build support for a long-term funding solution to address water quality efforts in Iowa.”

 

Photo by Gage Skidmore

The Great Debates of the Iowa Legislature

The Iowa Legislature has been back in session for a little over a month now. Besides the annual bickering over how much to increase public school funding, the only other topic that has drawn considerable attention is how much to increase the gas tax.

As is the case with every session of the Iowa Legislature, there are plenty of other topics being debated. For example, on Tuesday the Des Moines Register reported on a piece of legislation that would ban under-age teenagers from using tanning beds. The bill passed out of the House Human Resources Committee on Tuesday. A companion bill passed out of committee in the Iowa Senate last month.

The reason the article caught my attention yesterday afternoon is because it runs contrary to many of the other things that are being discussed in Des Moines this spring. I find it somewhat ironic that on one hand we are going to forbid a teenager from a tanning bed, but on the other hand, some in the legislature wan to allow some minors in to bars under the belief that it will somehow curb binge drinking.

The proposed ban on teen tanning is a legislative priority of the American Cancer Society to fight skin cancer. The Register’s article tells the story of Kasey Shriver who used indoor tanning beds in high school and now at the age of 22 is dealing with melanoma. The use of Shriver’s story to help encourage the passage of the ban is nothing new. For example, the sale and use of fireworks were outlawed in Iowa following a massive fire in Spencer in 1931, which was sparked by fireworks and wiped out the city’s entire downtown. Ironically, the Iowa legislature may lift the fireworks ban this year.

Last year the Iowa Legislature legalized the use of medical marijuana. This year, there are efforts afoot to now allow for the production and distribution of the product. Meanwhile there is an effort to reduce the penalty for possession of the drug in general.

So let me get this straight. At the same time are we are weakening laws on marijuana, allowing minors into bars, and lifting the ban of fireworks we are going to turn around and ban teens from using tanning beds? It seems to me like our legislature all over the place.

Meanwhile, as the legislature is also debating things like banning conversion therapy for gay and lesbian youth, and another year goes by without the legislature doing anything that protects the most innocent life, the unborn.

Americans United for Life ranked Iowa 36th on its list of most pro-life states. This is a subject that I write about every year. The most notable advancement of the pro-life cause in recent years has been the Board of Medicine’s ban of the practice of administering abortifacients via the internet. The issue is currently being litigated in the courts, but that that doesn’t mean that the legislature couldn’t pass a law that bans the practice.

It is also somewhat disturbing that legislators seem more likely to pass the ban on teen tanning so long as there is a parental consent exemption. So the State of Iowa can pass parental consent laws for tanning, tattoos, and piercing, but the state legislature can’t pass a true parental consent law (not just our toothless notification statute) when it comes to the issue of abortion.

As I read the all the issues that the legislature is debating, I wonder if these are the issues that Iowans feel should be addressed. Are tanning regulations, fireworks, and allowing minors into bars and clubs really the pressing issues of our day? Maybe Iowa is such a great place that our only issues are how much more we should spend on public education next year and figuring out the best way to sell a 45 percent increase in the gas tax.

Maybe it’s just me, but I think what we are lacking in Iowa is visionary leadership. The legislature seems content to just trim around the edges and do business as usual. The big issues in Governor Branstad’s last campaign were mainly things that he had already accomplished, not things he was eager to do.

Iowa Redistricting Plan

By Craig Robinson

At 8:15 this morning, the Legislative Services Agency released its first redistricting plan to the legislature. After it was delivered to the legislators, the governor, and the congressional delegation, the plan was made available at on the legislative website.

Every ten years the redistricting plan is highly anticipated because it can make a major impact on the political landscape of the state. The boundaries of the congressional and legislative districts can which party controls each chamber of the legislature and Iowa’s congressional districts.

Adding to the anticipation this year is that Iowa is going from five congressional districts down to four. That means two members of congress will be put into the same district no matter what happens. Thus far, none of Iowa’s five members of Congress have shown any willingness to retire if such a scenario involves them.

Congressional Maps:

King and Latham are in the same district.

Braley and Loebsack are in the same district.

Christie Vilsack has an open district to run in.

Below are the maps. TheIowaRepublican.com will have further analysis shortly.

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How Redistricting Works in Iowa

By Craig Robinson

At the end of this month, the first redistricting plan for the state of Iowa will be presented to legislators and made available to the public.  Iowa’s redistricting process is deemed to be one of the fairest and most nonpartisan processes in the country since a non-partisan state agency, the Legislative Services Agency (LSA), is responsible for drafting the three possible redistricting plans.  The LSA develops its plan base on population equality, contiguity, compactness, and respect for political subdivisions (counties, cities, districts, etc.).  Below is process that the legislature will follow in adopting new legislative and congressional districts

First Plan

The LSA releases its proposed redistricting plan to the legislature.  The bill, maps, and summary of the redistricting standards used to develop the plan are made available to the public.

The Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission is then required to schedule and conduct at least three public hearings in different geographic regions of the state.  The five member commission is made up of four members selected by the respective Majority and Minority Floor Leaders of the General Assembly convening in each year ending in zero.  The members are Rose Brown, Lance Ehmcke, Matt Paul, and Eric Turner.  The four members elected Maggie Tinsman as the fifth member and chair of the commission last month.

The House and Senate each vote on the plan.  They can only vote yes or no.  They cannot amend the LSA’s proposal.

If the plan is approved, it goes to Governor Branstad for his approval or veto.  If it fails, the LSA begins work on its second plan.

Second Plan

The LSA releases its proposed redistricting plan to the legislature.  The bill, maps, and summary of the redistricting standards used to develop the plan are made available to the public.

The House and Senate each vote on the plan.  They can only vote yes or no.  They cannot amend the LSA’s proposal.

If the plan is approved, it goes to Governor Branstad for his approval or veto.  If it fails, the LSA begins work on its third plan.

Third Plan

The LSA releases its proposed redistricting plan to the legislature.  The bill, maps, and summary of the redistricting standards used to develop the plan are made available to the public.

The House and Senate each vote on the plan.  They can make amendments to this proposal.

If the plan is approved, it goes to Governor Branstad for his approval or veto.

Fourth Plan

If the legislature and Governor Branstad are unable to agree on one of the first three plans, the Iowa Supreme Court is then given the authority to select a redistricting plan or create their own.

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