What’s on your mind this weekend, Bleeding Heartland readers? Many laws approved during the 2012 legislative session go into effect today. After the jump I’ve posted links about some of the new laws and the end of the road for the Malcolm Price Laboratory School in Cedar Falls. I also included excerpts from a good article by Steve Gravelle, who examined the impact of Iowa’s public smoking ban four years after it became statewide law.
This is an open thread.
Starting today, Iowa has a new Public Information Board that is supposed to help enforce open records law.
Under the legislation, the governor will appoint nine members of the new oversight board – representing the news media, government entities and associations, and citizens – subject to confirmation by the Iowa Senate and balanced by political affiliation and gender.
The nine-member panel will have until July 1, 2013, to hire an executive director, who will advise the board that will have the power to hear and mediate disputes between Iowans and government bodies in matters of public meetings and open records and levy fines of up to $2,500 for willful violations. The board’s authority would not extend to the governor’s office, the judicial branch or the Legislature. […]
Currently, citizen complaints on open meetings and records issues are handled by the state Citizens’ Aide/Ombudsman and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office.
The ombudsman’s office – which handled about 231 public records, meeting and privacy requests last year – can investigate complaints and issue warnings, but has no power to enforce the state’s statute. The attorney general’s office – which received about 100 public meeting and open records requests last year that mostly were handled informally without levying any fines – has the authority to enforce state statute, but its enforcement necessarily involves filing a lawsuit if penalties are going to be assessed to an offender. […]
One significant House change adopted by the Senate would keep draft or speculative documents confidential until they are brought before a governmental board for consideration and action.
That’s a big loophole. I anticipate many more government documents will be labeled “DRAFT” in the future. The governors’ office, judicial branch, and legislative branch are also exempt from oversight by the Iowa Public Information Board.
Branstad appointed the following people to the Public Information Board late last week: Kathleen Richardson, executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council; Bill Monroe, a retired Iowa Newspaper Association executive; Jo Martin, publisher of the Iowa Falls newspaper; Drake University law professor Tony Gaughan; former Republican state legislator Andy McKean; Urbandale Mayor Robert Andeweg; Sioux City attorney Suzan Stewart, who works for MidAmerican Energy; Carroll County Treasure Peggy Weitl; and Palmer Chiropractic College administrator Gary Mohr. The Iowa Senate is likely to confirm them all easily.
After the Iowa House and Senate adjourned for the year, Rod Boshart posted this list of laws that did and didn’t pass. The Des Moines Register published a partial list of laws taking effect today as a sidebar to this story in the Sunday paper.
INFUSED LIQUOR (House File 2465): Pubs will be permitted to serve infused drinks made from liquor stored in separate containers with bitters and other flavorings for up to 72 hours before they are consumed. Businesses like Court Avenue Brewing Co. in Des Moines served such drinks for more than a decade before the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division pointed out a little-known Iowa law that made it as illegal. Court Avenue owner Scott Carlson said he plans to work with lawmakers next year to increase the storage time from 72 hours to up to a week so his business can increase the flavors used to make specialty drinks. (Some flavors, like a fresh berry vodka, can take more than three days to properly infuse into a tasty drink.)
VETERAN CDLs (House File 2403): The state’s transportation department can now waive the Commercial Driver’s License skills test requirement for an active military service member or someone who separated from the service in the last 90 days. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Red Oak, noted there are numerous criteria to be met before the test is waived. The overriding goal is to show a courtesy for returning veterans who drove heavy military vehicles and are more than qualified for a commercial driver’s license. She said at least one person expressed concerns to her about possible safety issues connected with the waivers. She remains an advocate of the bill but said she will monitor its effect. […]
CO-PAYS (House File 2465): Health insurers will not be allowed to charge a higher co-pay for chiropractor-provided care than what is charged for care provided by a non-specialist medical doctor.
EMERGENCY VEHICLES (House File 2228): Penalties are increased for drivers who don’t move over or slow down when approaching an emergency vehicle on the side of the road. For example, the fine for a violation resulting in injury or death increases to $500 or $1,000, up from $100.
HIGH-QUALITY JOBS (House File 2473): Provides $15 million for a new initiative to help local businesses expand and bring new jobs to Iowa.
AUCTIONEERS (Senate File 2294): There are now clearer rules for what auctioneers without a real estate license can and cannot do when they are involved in the sale of real property. For example, independently holding an open house is specifically prohibited.
NURSING HOMES (Senate File 2160): A nursing home resident living in a private room can stay in that room when switching to Medicaid coverage, if the resident or family will pay the difference.
RULES & REGULATIONS DATABASE (House File 2465): The state is to develop a new database of state rules that is user-friendly, searchable and informative to the public.
SKILLED WORKER GRANTS (Senate File 2321): Provides $5 million in tuition grants available to students to get training in key worker shortage areas through community colleges.
GAP TUITION ASSISTANCE (Senate File 2321): Need-based assistance for worker training in short-term, high-demand certificate programs like information technology, health care and advanced manufacturing.
BACKGROUND CHECKS (Senate File 2164): Under current law, a nursing home or child care worker who has undergone a background check and been approved to work would still have to go through another check before taking a similar job with a new employer. Beginning today, the background check would be waived if the worker had been previously cleared for work and had not had any criminal conviction or founded abuse report since the last check. This will allow nursing home and child care staff to get to work in their new positions more quickly.
ACCESS TO PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS (Senate File 2165): Physician assistants must practice under the supervision of a doctor. Doctors are currently limited to supervising just two assistants. Starting today, this number will be increased to five, which should help ensure access to quality health care in rural and urban Iowa, advocates say.
FOSTER CARE LICENSE RENEWAL (Senate File 2188): Under current law, foster parents must renew their licenses and go through continuing education every year. Foster parents with two years of experience, starting today, will be able to get a two-year license that requires continuing education only in the year of license renewal.
SALVAGE DEALERS (House File 2399): This prohibits the selling of scrap metal without proper identification and other basic information for most scrap metal sales above $50. A first-time violation is punishable by a $100 fine.
OBSCENE MATERIALS (House File 2390): Allows for a charge to be filed for each child in a pornographic pictorial representation.
CHURCH NIGHT (Senate File 2237): Allows churches to hold an annual game night and award cash prizes, such as veteran and firefighter organizations.
SOLICITATION TO COMMIT MURDER (Senate File 2296): A person who attempts to persuade another to commit murder would face increased criminal and felony charges.
TAX CREDIT (SENATE FILE 2322): Provides volunteer firefighters and emergency medical services personnel with an individual income tax credit. The credit would equal $50 to compensate the taxpayer for voluntary services if the volunteer served for the entire tax year. If they didn’t serve the whole year, the tax credit would be prorated. (The change technically begins in the tax year that starts on Jan. 1, 2013.)
SNOWMOBILE FEES (House File 2467): A $15 resident user permit fee will be required to operate on public lands and trails. The money, requested by snowmobile advocates, will be used for trail development and maintenance.
The end of this fiscal year was sad for Iowans with a connection K-12 Malcolm Price Lab school in Cedar Falls, run by the University of Northern Iowa since the 1950s. The Board of Regents approved plans to close the school in February, just days after UNI President Ben Allen proposed the cost-cutting measure. Legislators from the Cedar Falls/Waterloo area tried but failed to convince Attorney General Tom Miller to declare the closure illegal. Lawmakers including Price Lab alum Iowa House Republican Chris Hagenow were unable to enact language to keep the school open. Last week a judge in Waterloo dismissed a lawsuit brought by Price Lab parents and teachers, who challenged the Board of Regents’ authority to close the school.
The public smoking ban was one of the most contentious issues of the 2008 legislative session. Despite efforts by Iowa House members to water down the bill, a fairly strong version (aside from the casino exemption) was eventually approved and signed by Governor Chet Culver. Bleeding Heartland strongly supported the law and the Iowa Department of Public Health’s commitment to enforcing it. Four years later, the doom and gloom predictions of bar and restaurant owners have not come to pass, Steve Gravelle reports in this piece on “Iowa’s Clean Air Act, 4 years later.” The health benefits have been measurable, though:
Dr. Christopher Squier, director of the University of Iowa’s global health sciences and oral sciences programs, found monthly hospital admissions for cardiovascular diseases and conditions dropped 24 percent between June 2008 and June 2009 – “representing 2,324 fewer Iowans with this condition.”
“We saw significant reductions in hospital admissions in Iowa for individuals suffering from diseases related to exposure to tobacco smoke such as heart attacks (myocardial infarcts) but NOT for diseases unlikely to be exacerbated by smoke, such as broken bones,” Squier wrote in an email. “This is real data gathered by the Iowa Hospital Association.”
Public smoking bans in other places produced a similar decrease in hospital admissions, especially for non-smokers.