Bills in Action - Week Nine

By this time of the session, not may new bills get filed, and it is apparent that the session is starting to wind down.

The Senate this week resisted the House’s amendment on the texting ban, HF2456. The amendment changed the language to prohibit teens only from all cell phone use while driving. The bill was then sent back to the House and will likely be referred to a conference committee. There, members from both houses will meet to resolve their differences in effort to get some form of the bill passed.

This week, Governor Chet Culver signed into law SF2246, which, among other things, ensures home rule power to decide which taxi cab companies can operate within a municipality. Cities now have the authority choose safe, reputable, and accountable cab companies to service their citizens, and to bar other companies that don’t meet their standards.

Also on its way to the Governor is HF2452, which cleans up part of the OWI code section, and also allows OWI offenders to obtain a temporary restricted license by first installing an ignition interlock device. The bill allows this to be done within 45 after the license is revoked instead of one year.

This is a measure supported at the federal level and also by MADD. Studies have shown that despite having a license revoked, people will drive anyway. The ability to get a temporary restricted license sooner, along with an ignition interlock device, will prevent the offender from driving drunk again during the revocation period.

In a signing ceremony on Wednesday, the Governor signed into law the Government Reorganization Bill. The bill reorganizes state government in a way that is projected to save the state $126 million. The Revenue Estimating Conference is expected to update its revenue forecast today, which will determine exactly how much more will need to be cut from the state’s budget.