Adjournment Sine Die

The 2010 legislative session adjourned Tuesday afternoon sine die at 12:22 in the House and 12:48 in the Senate.

“Sine die” is a Latin phrase meaning, “without day” or, “without assigning a day for a further meeting.”

The final bill to get passed in both chambers was the Standings bill, HF2531.

Despite direct calls from the governor’s office to wavering senators, the trial-lawyer led effort to expand awards in wrongful death cases, HF758, did not pass the Iowa Senate, and it is now dead.

The session ended successfully during daylight hours on the 79th day this year. A year shortened to 80 days down from the usual 100 days to save the state money in the midst of hard economic times.

CSG is continuing to monitor bills that have passed both houses as they make their way down to the governor’s office.

"Shall Issue" Passes House

Both chambers of the Iowa State House adjourned late last Saturday night. They returned Monday in attempt to end the 2010 legislative session before per diem pay runs out on March 31.

The House passed the NRA bill, SF2379, after beginning debate on it mid-Monday afternoon. Perhaps most significantly, the bill changes Iowa code language to provide that sheriffs shall issue permits to carry rather than may issue them. “May issue” leaves it up to the sheriff’s personal discretion whether to issue a permit or not. The effect of this was to have 99 different issuing policies for every sheriff in the state.

Permits to carry will be issued to a person who is not subject to the disqualifying criteria laid out in the bill, and are good for five years. Applicants for permits will still have to demonstrate firearm safety by completing certain firearm safety courses or training programs, participation in shooting competitions, or by completion of a small arms course while serving in the armed forces of the United States. The bill will also make it a crime of a serious misdemeanor to carry a firearm while under the influence.

The NRA bill picked up an amendment in the House, requiring it to go back to the Senate for final approval.

Colorful Attire Signals Sine Die

Both chambers adjourned last night just in time to watch the UNI game, but reconvened Saturday in effort to bring the legislative session to a close.

Last night, the Senate passed out the Standings bill and messaged it over to the House. That and the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund bills are the two major pieces of legislation that are left to debate. Also in the fray is a NRA sponsored bill that some feel is a must-pass in an election year where legislators depend on their NRA ratings to gain support.

The House was scheduled to reconvene Saturday at 9:00am, but by 11:30 had just said the Serenity Prayer and gaveled in. The concern in the lobby is that both caucuses on the House side have spent the morning writing amendments to the Standings bill. If the House doesn’t accept the Senate version as is, any new amendments the House adopts will send the bill back to the Senate for approval.

The Senate has spent a majority of the morning debating the NRA bill.

Senator Rielly was seen wearing a pink blazer this morning, and just a few other lobbyists and legislators were similarly seen wearing bright pink and orange shirts and seersucker. Such attire is meant to signal the last day of session; however it may be premature. Missing is the distinguished green-paisley jacket worn by Senator Gronstal’s Chief of Staff Eric Bakker which signals the assuredness of sine die.

Wrongful Death Bill Stalls in Senate

Wednesday night the Senate called up HF758, a bill which would increase damages recoverable for wrongful death. Specifically, the bill allows recovery of damages for the decedent’s loss of enjoyment of life. This is in addition to damages for loss of consortium and lost economic productive value of the decedent.

Somewhat cleverly, Senator Merlin Bartz (R-Worth) filed a strike-all “abortion amendment” which would allow recovery for expense and actual loss of services, companionship, and society resulting from the injury or death of an unborn child. The amendment would allow a personal representative of the estate of the unborn child to file a wrongful death action on behalf of the unborn child.

In connection with this amendment, Bartz has also filed a “gay marriage amendment.” This amendment specifies that for the purposes of that section of the code, “spouse” means a person of the opposite sex who was married to the decedent at the time of death.

Between frequent breaks for the parties to caucus, the abortion amendment was withdrawn. At 6:09pm the Senate again stood at ease for Republicans to caucus.

Report on Texting Ban Receives House Approval

Tuesday afternoon the House voted to adopt the conference committee’s report on HF2456. The report combines the two previously adopted texting-ban bills from the House and the Senate. Approved by a vote of 66-33, the report will now be sent over to the Senate for a vote. Passage in the Senate will mean passage of the overall bill.

The report provides that graduated drivers license holders are prohibited from using any electronic communication device or electronic entertainment device while driving – unless the device is permanently installed in the vehicle. No drivers in Iowa will be able to write, send, or read a text message while driving. This does not prohibit adult drivers from using their phones’ mapping or GPS features while driving.

In other Statehouse news, the infamous Standings Bill was dropped last night – the catch-all bill that signals the near end of session. Most people are still predicting session will end by this weekend even though Obama’s visit to Iowa City Thursday may draw a few loyal supporters away from Des Moines for the day.

Committee Close to Compromise on Texting Ban

The conference committee on HF2456, the texting ban, met yesterday to discuss their goals and concerns for the House and Senate versions of the bill. By rule, the committee can only consider and discuss the versions of the bill that were approved by the House and Senate.

The House approved-version of the bill would ban all teen drivers under 18 from using any electronic communication device or electronic entertainment device while driving. The Senate version banned all drivers from writing, sending, and reading a text message while driving. This morning, the committee released a rough draft of the bill that combines the language from each version.

Representative Rick Olson (D-Polk) wanted to ensure that the texting ban provided an exemption for safety officers and truckers to read necessary communications they receive on the job. Olson also wanted to ensure that officers would not be able to using a texting stop as probable cause to charge the driver with another crime.

Olson also made an important point that officers will not be able to confiscate or look into the phone of a driver without a warrant. A warrantless search would be unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated . . . .”

Several exemptions to reading a text message while driving were discussed for truckers, medical personnel, public safety officers, volunteer firefighters, and even organ donor coordinators. Senator Heckroth voiced concern over providing too many exemptions to reading a text message, wondering where the line would ultimately be drawn. However, he is open to some exemptions.

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced in January a ban on texting for all commercial truck drivers. See the press release here. For CRST and TMC trucks, it is company policy not to write, send, or read a text while driving.

Most of the committee members agreed that they have an important opportunity to make Iowa roads safer. The committee will meet today at 11:00 to continue the discussion.

Findley, Jamison Speak at Conservative Breakfast

GOP candidates Brenna Findley for Attorney General and Dave Jamison for State Treasurer both spoke Tuesday morning at the Conservative Breakfast Club in Des Moines.

Dave Jamison has been the Story County Treasurer for twenty-eight years and recently traveled twenty-eight counties announcing the launch of his campaign for State Treasurer. I personally know Dave from my years as an Iowa State College Republican. Dave, and the rest of the Story County Republicans, volunteered many hours and give invaluable advice to help the ISU CR’s obtain and maintain a strong presence on the Iowa State campus and in the Ames community.

Dave is running on a platform which emphasizes the need to place Iowans first: first in treasury and management, first in transparency, and first in protecting taxpayers’ dollars. Dave also emphasized the need to change the culture within the State Treasurer’s office to one that values fiscal restraint and economic discipline. He also intends to use the office as a bully pulpit to spread those values to other areas of state government.

Brenna Findley spoke next, and within minutes it was evident that the group at breakfast was impressed. Findley grew up on a farm in Dallas County Iowa where she learned firsthand, conservative values and hard work are the keys to success. For the last seven years she has served as Congressman Steve King’s Chief of Staff, advising him in his role on the House Judiciary Committee.

She said that on occasion she has been asked how old she is. Her reply is that she is 34 – the same age current Attorney General Tom Miller was when he first won the office thirty-two years ago. Findley, who received her law degree from the University of Chicago, said a lot has changed in the legal profession in the last thirty-two years, and she plans to bring that knowledge to the office of Attorney General.

Findley also intends to fulfill the AG job description by protecting all the rights of Iowans, as opposed to prioritizing the office as an advocate for consumer protection issues, as it would appear today. Through her travels across the state thus far, she has found that most Iowans don’t know exactly what the AG does for them, but they do know that their rights as Iowans have not been fully protected. Findley also stated that the AG can play a key role in shaping Iowa’s business climate by controlling what law suits the office files and what regulations it tries to pass. As AG, Findley will advocate for Iowans and work to make the office open, accountable, and transparent.

Iowans can have confidence in these two GOP candidates and have much to look forward to in this year’s state elections.