Capitol Update

April 3, 2023

Oskaloosa Christian School 7th Graders

I enjoyed the opportunity to speak with Mrs. Van Kooten's 7th grade class from Oskaloosa Christian School last week. They toured the Capitol, spoke with legislators, and learned about the political process. I was impressed with the letters they wrote and questions they asked!

Pella's Tulip Queen & Court

On Wednesday, the sounds of Dutch songs and the smells of Dutch letters filled the halls of the Capitol! Pella's Tulip Queen, Cheyne Plants, and her royal court visited us to promote Tulip Time. My clerk, Tressa, snapped a selfie with the court before they were introduced on the House floor. Tressa was also a member of Pella's Tulip Court when she was in high school.

Fairfield & Pekin FFA Groups

I also enjoyed a quick visit with the Fairfield and Pekin FFA Groups last Thursday! FFA is a dynamic youth organization that changes lives and prepares members for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.

FFA develops members’ potential and helps them discover their talent through hands-on experiences, which give members the tools to achieve real-world success.

Eggs & Issues Forum

Thanks for a great Eggs & Issues Forum in Oskaloosa! The main topics of discussion were eminent domain/carbon pipeline and the "open spaces" bill- SF 516. My last forum will take place on April 8th in Fairfield- see details at the bottom of this newsletter.

You may have heard news sources or others refer to the "funnel" deadline in the legislature. There are a series of deadlines in the legislative calendar that ensure that action is taken and help to narrow down the number of bills that are eligible to be considered in a given session.

The deadlines for this session are as follows:

February 10: Final day for individual Senators or Representatives to request a bill or joint resolution be drafted by the Legislative Services Agency.

March 3: Deadline for House legislation to be passed through House committees, and Senate legislation to be passed through Senate committees. (First Funnel)

March 31: Deadline for House legislation to be passed through Senate committees, and Senate legislation to be passed out of House committees. (Second Funnel)

There are other guidelines and regulations on what can be considered by either the House or Senate, but these are the deadlines most often referred to.

Read more about the Session Timetable here.

Recently, the Iowa House passed a bill to protect landowner rights as three major CO2 pipeline projects are in the works in Iowa. The bill gets at the crux of the issue – eminent domain should not be used for private gain. It requires that carbon capture pipeline companies reach voluntary easements for 90% of the land on their route before they could seek to use eminent domain.

What is eminent domain?

“Eminent domain” refers to the taking of privately owned land by the government. The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution as interpreted establishes the right of eminent domain… “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” Iowa code grants the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) the power to “take” private land (eminent domain) for electric power plants, transmission lines, intrastate natural gas pipelines, and hazardous liquids pipelines.

The Iowa Utilities Board is a three person board appointed by the Governor.

How can pipeline companies use eminent domain?

Iowa code allows the IUB to grant their own power of eminent domain to any company it chooses. The law says the taking must serve a public purpose, so the pipeline companies will claim its public purpose is to remove CO2 as a way to combat climate change. Companies have to go through a legal process to obtain this power to use eminent domain. The process to begin constructing a pipeline includes holding informational meetings in the area and obtaining easements from the landowners. If easements cannot be obtained, the company can reroute the pipeline or can request the use of eminent domain.

What is a voluntary easement?

A voluntary easement means that the landowner is agreeing, without requiring the company to go through eminent domain, to give the company a right to construct the pipeline on the landowner’s property. The voluntary easement may give the company broader rights than it would get through eminent domain or it may provide for a lower payment than the landowner would get through eminent domain.

The bill creates an interim study committee that will make recommendations that will improve eminent domain policy in Iowa. It will take a look at the following issue that have been discussed at length throughout this process:

• Standards for entering land for surveying purposes
• Review of land restoration standards
• Review of eminent domain public benefit and private use tests
• Engineering study analysis
• Land compensation practices and procedures
• Iowa Utility Board perspectives

The study committee shall consist of five senators, three appointed by the majority party and two appointed by the minority party, and five Representatives, three appointed by the speaker of the house and two appointed by the minority leader of the House. The legislative council is encouraged to appoint public members to the study committee or direct the study committee to seek input from or to appoint members of the public. The study committee shall meet during the 2023 legislative interim (time not in session) and submit a report containing recommendations to the members of the general assembly by December 15, 2023.

This bill may not be seen as perfect by folks on either side of this issue. House Republicans are seeking to support the ethanol industry while ensuring landowners rights are respected. The party believes this bill strikes that balance while opposing the use of eminent domain to construct the pipelines. HF 565 is now in the hands of the Senate and will be at the discretion of the Senate leadership to determine if it ultimately comes up for a vote.

House File 338 and Senate File 315 were companion bills, meaning they had identical language and could have been passed more quickly if they would have both made it through the funnel deadline.

The House version "died" before the first funnel- meaning it did not make it through the committee before the deadline for House bills to be passed out of House committees (March 3).

The Senate version is still in play. It passed through the full Senate process and moved to the House State Government Committee. The 3 legislators held their subcommittee on Wednesday and the bill passed with 2 votes in favor. Several farmers and their families attended the subcommittee to testify to the legislators.

The State Government committee voted to pass the bill on Thursday. Now that it has passed the committee, it will be eligible to be debated on the House floor. If it passes the House, it will need to be signed by the Governor to become a law.

The bill proposes:

 *  Raw milk may be distributed by a dairy with 10 cows or less.

 *  Dairy farmers would have to test cows on a monthly basis for coliform and standard plate counts, and have yearly vet visits on each cow including a blood test.

 *  Raw milk producers would only be able to take orders from individuals (not businesses or stores) and the order must be made at the dairy.

 *  Health records of the dairy animals must be public and maintained for 3 years.

 *  Raw milk producers may deliver raw milk to the individual.

 *  The consumer may not resell the raw milk.

 *  The raw milk must be in a container that is labeled with the words "raw milk"

 *  If made law, any person who violates the bill's provisions would be guilty of a simple misdemeanor.

SF 482/ HF 622- K-12 Bathrooms

The bill requires children in K-12 schools to use the bathroom of their gender on their birth certificate.

SF 538- Transgender Procedures

The bill prohibits children (persons under 18) from being subjected to surgery to remove any of their healthy reproductive organs or from being prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy if it is being prescribed to change the characteristics of their sex.

These bills both have passed the House and Senate and have now been signed into law by Governor Kim Reynolds. The Bathroom Privacy Act took effect immediately when it was signed on March 22. The transgender procedure law took effect immediately as well, but includes a 180 day delay until penalties apply.

Late last week, Iowa House Republicans released our budget target for Fiscal Year 2024. Crafting the budget has looked a little different this year, because the Government Reorganization bill needed to be passed first. But now, with the bill to streamline state government passed, our caucus is ready to hit the ground running to craft the state’s budget.

Our big budget target is $8.58 billion. This number is roughly $90 million above the Governor and the Senate’s number. There are two main reasons for this.

Our number includes the appropriations we’ve already passed this session that the Governor didn’t consider since her budget number is released prior to session. This includes money for the property tax rollback fix and increase in funding for public schools to 3% SSA.

Our number also includes about $50 million more to address a few priorities that we know are important to Iowans.

Examples of budget priorities for Iowa House Republicans that make our number higher include:

-More dollars for nursing homes by raising reimbursement rates. This would allow Iowa’s nursing homes caring for residents on Medicaid to be reimbursed at a higher rate.

-Funding increase for the Department of Corrections to help with the retaining and recruitment of corrections officers. These are very tough jobs and we know the department is having a tough time hiring and keeping folks for these roles.

-More resources to expanding Iowans’ access to quality, mental health care across the state.

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Website: https://www.helenaforhouse.com/

Email: helena.hayes@legis.iowa.gov

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Here are the dates for upcoming forums I will be at! I welcome all constituents to join me for these meetings. I want to hear what you have to say!

Fairfield Chamber of Commerce Legislative Forum at the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center (200 North Main St. Fairfield, IA)

will take place on these dates:

April 8 - 7:30-9:00am

If you have any questions about these events, don't hesitate to reach out to me. Forums and events will be posted on my Facebook page as well as here in the newsletter!

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