Eleven of us in the Senate added a compromise amendment to the CO2 pipeline bill dealing with eminent domain. It takes some provisions of the Senate Leader’s bill SF 2067 and the ban on eminent domain for CO2 pipelines (from the original HF 2104) plus a few new ones that improve the process and puts them together. The hope is that we can find agreement on this long-standing and contentious issue. Here are the provisions:
- Ban on eminent domain for CO2 pipelines
- The pipeline company can search for any willing landowner outside of the original IUC-approved route to sign an easement in what is called the voluntary easement corridor. This is the corridor which is defined as land within the county where an informational meeting is being held and also as land within a distance of 5 miles on either side of an IUC-approved pipeline route.
- A formal record is required to be held of the proceedings of an informational meeting.
- City councils and boards of supervisors shall be notified of the informational meeting.
- A pipeline company can hold meetings to provide general information regarding a project to a community that does not include negotiating specific terms with landowners prior to the informational meeting already required by law.
- A pipeline company cannot purchase an easement within 2 miles of the limits of a city without the city’s approval.
- Certain factors that are listed in law must be considered by the IUC in the final order. A new one is the inconvenience or injury that may result to property owners or the public as a result of the project. Another new factor is the jobs the project will provide. Factors must promote the public convenience and necessity.
- Permit applications that have obtained 100% voluntary easements shall have their hearing date prioritized.
- Conditions in the permit must be met within 5 years or the company will have to reapply to the IUC.
- After the informational meeting, the pipeline company can negotiate with willing landowners in the voluntary easement corridor, whether they have received prior notice by mail or not. However the pipeline company must provide those willing landowners the materials from the informational meeting.
- The pipeline company must also provide the opt-out procedure.
- The landowner can choose to not communicate with the pipeline company by contacting them and the IUC. Then the pipeline company cannot communicate with the landowner at all except through mail. The landowner can change his mind.
Now we’ll see if we can get support for this amendment.
Bills Passed the Senate
Temporary Health Care-SF 2423: Establishes a legal way for a hospital or a doctor, on a temporary basis, to make a care facility placement decision on behalf of a patient who is unable to consent.
SPEAKS Act-SF 2300 attached to SF 2231: Protects students from discrimination on the basis of religious or political expression in class assignments, class discussions, clothing or student-led activities. Subject to the time-place-manner guidelines of the school.
Public Records Bill-HF 2490: Requires public meeting notices to be posted in a conspicuous place and visible at all times. Also requires public meeting notices to be posted on the primary webpage of a government body. Tentative agendas or amended agendas are to be noted as such. Certain employment information is to be considered a public record.
A government body may apply to the court for an injunction to restrain the right of a person found to be a vexatious requester or to impose reasonable limitations on their requests. Factors the court must consider in determining whether to restrain a vexatious requester are outlined in the bill. Vexatious conduct is also defined in the bill.
Government bodies such as cities and counties have experienced an increased number of complaints in recent years that are harassing or retaliatory in nature such that officials cannot keep up or are unable to carry out their normal business in serving the citizens of their city or county.
Rural Veterinarian Loan Repayment Program-SF 2491: Excludes the loan repayment program under the Rural Veterinarian Loan Repayment Program from income for state income tax purposes. Veterinarians in this program are required to take employment or establish and maintain a new practice in an area that has a shortage of veterinarians. This allows them to move to take new employment or establish a new practice in another area that has a shortage of veterinarians.
Failed Classes-SF 2299: If a high school student takes a course at a community college on the PSEO (school district is paying for the course) program and fails or withdraws from the course, if they are 18 or older, the school can require them to pay for the course. If the student is a minor, the school can require the parents to pay for the cost of the course.
Conscience Protections for Prospective and Adoptive Foster Parents-SF 473: This bill recognizes the freedom of foster parents and adoptive parents to decline to support or refrain from embracing any government policy regarding sexual orientation or gender identity that conflicts with the parents’ religious beliefs or moral convictions. The state cannot use a person’s sincerely held religious beliefs regarding sexual orientation or gender identity, including how they intend to guide, instruct, or raise a child, as justification to deny eligibility to foster or adopt.
To be clear, this speaks merely to eligibility to foster or adopt at all, not a right to have any particular child placed with a family. The state is still required to make every individual placement consistent with the long-standing legal principle of what is in the best interest of the child.
In addition, this bill protects faith-based foster care and adoption placement agencies from operating their services in violation of their religious and moral beliefs. The state is required to allow faith-based foster care and adoption agencies to carry out their operations in accordance with their religious and moral beliefs.
Faith-based foster and adoptive parents and agencies who help children find a loving home should be protected, not shut out for their faith.
Speed Limit Increase-SF 378: Raises the default speed limit from 55 mph to 60 mph. Primarily affects undivided, paved highways.
Classroom Disruption in Schools-SF 2428: Final version of this bill: Provides procedures for handling disruptive, disorderly, abusive, or violent behavior by students in the classroom. Sets up a pilot program for an attendance center used to provide educational services to students requiring special education and students with behavioral issues.
Vape Tax & Pediatric Cancer Research-SF 2480: This bill imposes a small tax on vape products and out of those monies, $3 million is appropriated to the University of Iowa for pediatric cancer research and any remaining monies go into the Health Care Trust Fund to be used to pay for the Medicaid program.
Township Government Reform-SF 2500: This bill updates and modernizes township government in Iowa, in particular bringing more oversight to the financial operations of townships. As a whole, township governments across the state have $55 million in taxpayer funds in their ending balances and in too many cases, not much attention is paid to township government. It has been discovered that some trustees are not aware of their responsibilities and some do not even know they are trustees. For much of Iowa’s history, townships have been more densely populated than they are today and with more thinly populated areas there are efficiencies that could be gained by providing more oversight from county government.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, township trustees and clerks shall be appointed by the county supervisors. Counties with a population above 75,000 or townships with a total property taxable valuation of over $250 million can keep their system as it currently is if they wish, be it elected or appointed. The reason for allowing more highly populated counties to keep their system as is, is because those supervisors are usually occupied more with issues related to their cities than to the rural areas. In these counties, the trustees have a more active role in taking care of their rural residents.
Trustee appointees shall have staggered 3-year terms. Clerks shall have 4-year terms. Vacancies shall be filled by appointment. All trustees and clerks will be required to attend a training offered by the county extension office. This training will include township budgets and officer duties and responsibilities including fence viewer duties.
The clerk will submit their annual financial report to the state Dept. of Management, the county supervisors and the county auditor. Each township will submit their budget to the county supervisors. In townships where the trustees are appointed, the supervisors must approve the budget. All budgets, whether township trustees are appointed or elected, must be presented at the budget hearing where the county budget is presented.
County supervisors may not use one township’s fund for another township, unless there are cost-sharing agreements in place. More provisions regarding legal or contractual agreements apply.
Cities who contract with townships for fire protection are required to establish a rural fire protection fund. All payments received from a township for fire protection shall be deposited into this fund and only used by the city for fire protections and EMS. Cities are required to report the expenditures from this fund to the township trustees and the county supervisors if the trustees are appointed. The current law does not change, which allows the trustees to levy a tax up to 40 ½ cents and an additional levy of 20 ¼ cents if needed.
The bill repeals the township’s ability to hire watchmen for a cemetery, its ability to hire police officers, and its ability to tax for township halls.
I have heard concerns from some about this taking away a layer of elected government that is closest to the people. We must keep in mind that by law county governments are the primary governmental entity for unincorporated areas and townships are a delegated authority by county government. Also to consider that voters of 70% of townships have decided to make the trustees an appointed office as current law allows them to do this.
