Around Des Moines

The future was on the mind of many Iowa state legislators this week. The immediate future comes at the end of Week 8 when what is known as the first funnel hits. If a House bill does not make it out of a House committee or a Senate bill is not reported out of a Senate committee by March 7th, it will not be considered on the given chamber’s floor. Exceptions to this date include appropriation bills and bills co-sponsored by a chamber’s majority and minority leaders. To give you an idea of the quantity of bills that are submitted, under Daily Legislation and Analysis (see “Track Legislation” on the General Assembly’s website) I counted 96 House bills and 47 Senate bills submitted in Week 7 alone, excluding study bills and resolutions. These and other bills must be funneled through 19 House and 17 Senate standing committees if they are to be discussed by the entire House or Senate.Another look into the future officially started on Monday, February 25th, as the candidate filing period for state House and Senate seats opened. Candidates have until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 14th to submit their papers. I heard one sitting representative who is seeking re-election admit to not wasting time in getting the appropriate papers submitted. The Secretary of State’s website has more information on filing deadlines and candidate requirements.

While I had a busy week talking about legislation and upcoming elections, I did not make it to the Capitol this week. Looking at the Social Calendar I see that I missed some interesting events. The African American Business Association held a legislative breakfast on Wednesday morning. Ed in ‘08, which I learned about when I was at the GOP Straw Poll in Ames in August, had Starbucks coffee and Palmers desserts on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, Upper Iowa University held a legislative reception in the evening at the Botanical Center, while the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation held its reception at the Embassy Suites. The Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO made people go out to Adventureland Inn in Altoona for its hospitality night on Monday.

Gov. Chet Culver signed HF2233 on February 28th. This bill provides exemption from certain sales and use taxes that would otherwise be incurred by a certain web-search portal business. Given the legislation requires such a business to make an investment of at least $200 million in an Iowa location in its first six years of business, this bill has to apply to Google’s Council Bluffs data center On Thursday, SF2059 was sent to the governor. This is the Senate version of a House study bill I wrote about when it was discussed in subcommittee. It makes an administrative change so that the state historical society and not its board of trustees administers the Iowa Heritage Fund. Seeing these bills in which I have no direct stake reach the governor’s desk made me realize how much these weekly reports have helped me appreciate the legislative timeline.

M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.