Around Des Moines

Fewer than ten days have passed in the 2008 session of the Iowa legislature, but already bills have passed through committees and at least one chamber. There are a couple features on the General Assembly’s web site that are going to prove very valuable to the average citizen who has no time to follow legislation on a daily basis.

On the left side of the home page, click on Track Legislation. In about the middle of the screen that will appear is a heading called “Find a Bill.” Under that is an option to find legislation by subject. I used this to get the file numbers for all legislation related to bottle deposits. It was so much easier than trying to look through a list of bills for the ones that I wanted to read.

Go back to the main Track Legislation page and find under “Popular Tools” a new feature for daily legislation & analysis. If you hear something on the radio while driving home or catch a comment about some legislation that was passed while the TV is playing in the background, go to this option. You can find out which legislation moved out of committee, passed a chamber, or was signed by the governor on a daily basis.

On January 24th, the House passed HF 2065 (formerly HF 2001) relating to military leaves of absence and reemployment. It passed on a vote of 97-0 On the 22nd, the Senate passed SF 2023 (formerly SSB 3024), on a vote of 46-0. The legislation relates to the distribution to counties of certain utility replacement tax revenues credited to the property tax relief fund. These are the only two bills listed as having passed a chamber, but other legislation has passed committees. SF 2023 appears on the House Journal for January 24th. The bill was referred to the appropriations committee.

Legislative Breakfasts: I was at the capitol on January 22nd for a legislative breakfast hosted by the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women (ICSW). Two other breakfasts (pastries, coffee, juice) were being held that same day. They were hosted by the Iowa Council on Homelessness and by the Iowa Taxpayers Association (ITA). Representatives from the groups have literature available on table displays then stand around waiting to talk with legislators and other interested persons. ICSW is a division of the Department of Human Rights, part of the executive branch. The Council is made up of representatives from numerous state agencies, such as workforce development. ITA is a private organization serving the interests of businesses in the state since 1935. Several agencies and organizations have registered lobbyists. When you look on the General Assembly’s web page at the history of any bill, there is an option you can select to see which lobbyists have registered support for or opposition to that legislation.

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