Week of February 1, 2010, by Advocacy Strategies
This week in the Iowa Legislature
Next Friday is the first funnel for the 83rd General Assembly. All bills must pass out of full committees in order to continue to be considered by the legislature (with the exception of Ways & Means and Appropriations bills). This shortened session has certainly been a whirlwind of full committees, subcommittees, and other meetings and events. After funnel week, we will see drastically fewer bills as legislators focus in on their priority issues and assembling budgets.
This week was full of flurry and many late nights as both the House and the Senate work to hammer out the details of the State Government Reorganization bill. The Senate passed SF 2088 on Monday, moving it over to the House. The House State Government Committee has been working off the Senate version of the bill and offering a number of amendments to increase additional cost savings. In an effort to keep the bill moving forward, the House passed SF2088 out of State Government committee late on Thursday night and it is expected to be debated on next week. This bill contains a number of provisions that pertain both to policy and appropriations. Therefore, the bill will also go through Appropriations Committee before being debated on the House floor. We understand there are many other provisions that are being considered to be added to this bill that have not even been seen yet. There are a number of sections we are monitoring in this bill. If there is a certain section of this bill you are monitoring, please see them identified under the Key Initiatives section of this update. We expect there will be several amendments to the bill on the House side but know the bill is expected to be debated and completed in the House sometime next week.
The Senate passed an Early Retirement bill for state employees a few weeks ago and the House passed it this week. The Governor is expected to sign this legislation as part of the overall reorganization savings initiatives. Other key topics being discussed in the flurry of committee and subcommittee meetings include several pieces of disaster related legislation, health care mandates, and a variety of Veteran issues.
The major health care reform legislation, albeit limited compared to the past several years, was discussed this week in the first of three scheduled subcommittee meetings. The primary components of the 2010 reform include expanding the Iowa Cares program, a Diabetes registry and an Iowa Exchange network of providers to provide services to Iowans. This bill will move forward in the Senate before the House takes a stab at the bill.
Looking Ahead
Next Friday is the first funnel for the 2010 legislative session. The week will be filled with back to back subcommittee and committee meetings as legislators try to keep bills alive to continue to consider them through the coming weeks. After next week, much of the legislature’s time will be spent in their respective chambers debating bills for a week or so before they gear up for the second funnel (March 5th) and work to get the first draft of their budgets out by the last week of February. Please note that whatever pieces of legislation do not move through a committee next week will no longer be eligible for debate this session. An updated bill spreadsheet will be provided next week with the status of all bills you are tracking. There are typically fewer bills to track as we move past the first funnel.
Key Initiatives this Week
This was a successful week for the Iowa Farmers Union at the Capitol. Senate File 404, the Food, Farm and Jobs bill was brought up in a House subcommittee. The bill was amended to request the study be done by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University and updated the report due date to January 10, 2011. Following the subcommittee, the bill was brought up in the full House Agriculture Committee and was passed out 19 – 2. A request has been made to House leadership to bring the bill up for a vote in the full House of Representatives soon. It would then have to go back to the Senate and re-passed since it has been amended.
There was also a productive meeting with wind energy advocates and Senators Beall and Kibbie. This meeting was in regards to the introduction of a Senate Feed-in Tariff bill. Hopefully, the bill will be assigned to the Ways and Means Committee so it will be eligible to bring up after the first funnel that is coming up next week.
AS team members monitored several bills for the Iowa Farmers Union this week including: HSB 660 - watershed quality planning advisory council; SSB 3193 - grain transactions by regulating grain dealers and warehouse operators, providing for fees, and making penalties applicable; HSB 679 - permits issued under the national pollutant discharge elimination system; and SSB 3120 - definition of agricultural property for property taxation purposes.
Dates to Note
· Week of February 8th: 1st Funnel week
· Week of March 1st – 2nd Funnel week
· March 31st: Final day of session (80th calendar day)
As always, please feel free to contact the Advocacy Strategies Team with any questions, comments, or concerns. We are pleased to be representing your interests during the 2010 legislative session and throughout the year. Contact information for your lobbying team follows. We look forward to a successful session and working with you in the days ahead.
Threase Harms
515.975.5299