School Start Date-SSB 1036: Changes the earliest school start date for school districts from August 23rd to the second to last Monday of August. This means the start date would range from August 18-24.
“Right to Try”-SF 56: Expands Iowa’s “Right to Try” Act to include “individualized investigational treatment”. Also allows a patient that has a life-threatening or severely debilitating illness, as confirmed by a doctor, to participate in the program.
Double Up Food Bucks-SSB 1012: Appropriates a $1 million grant to the Iowa Healthiest State Initiative for the Double Up Food Bucks program to assist those on SNAP to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables sold at farmers markets, grocery stores, and other participating locations.
Prior Authorization Reform-SSB 1016: This bill implements timeliness requirements for an insurance company to respond to prior authorization requests for medical service. It also requires annual review of all services for prior authorization and eliminates the requirements that do not promote health care quality or reduce health care spending.
Teacher Recruitment and Retention Incentives-SSB 1027: This allows schools to pay either recruitment and retention incentives for teachers or early retirement packages out of the district management levy in a year. Certain limitations apply.
Moving in Subcommittee
Governor Cell Phone Bill-SSB 1065: Each school must adopt policies regarding student use of personal electronic devices (cell phones) during school hours. The policies must restrict student use of such devices during classroom instructional time.
Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) Reform-SSB 1074: This bill implements safeguards in the pharmaceutical market by prohibiting burdensome and unfair business practices by PBMs that hurt independent and rural pharmacies. This bill also implements payment models to address price disparities and to ensure sufficient payments to pharmacies. This is intended to protect patient access to drugs, pharmacists, and pharmacies, especially in our rural areas.
Update to Chronic Absenteeism Law-SSB 1077: This bill makes some changes to the chronic absenteeism law passed last year based on constituent input. Additional exceptions to the chronic absenteeism law have been added so students will not be considered as truant if they are absent for the following reasons: military entrance processing, engaging in military service, or attending a wedding or a funeral. Travel time must be considered. Notification that a child is chronically absent can be sent by regular mail, email or in-person. If a child is chronically absent, school officials must consider whether the absenteeism has negatively impacted the child’s academic progress before initiating a further meeting with parents.
“School of Intellectual Freedom”-SF 127: Establishes a school of intellectual freedom within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Iowa.
Obscene Performance-SF 116: Establishes criminal offenses for exposing a minor child to an obscene performance, prohibits obscene performances using public facilities and funds, and removes the exemptions for libraries and educational institutions from the obscenity laws.
Drug Prescribing/Dispensing Authority-SF 117: Health boards are prohibited from restricting the normal and long-held prescribing authority and prescription-filling authority of a doctor or pharmacist. They also cannot subject them to disciplinary action for acting according to their best professional judgment.
School District Revenue Bonds-SF 82: This bill would require that revenue bonds by school districts over $5 million for infrastructure would need to go before the voters for a vote just as general obligation bonds are.
Medical Examiner’s Bill-SF 128: This bill requires the report issued by medical examiners for the death of a child 0-3 years of age include a request for information on the child’s last vaccination(s).
Opt-In for Sex Ed.-SF 115: This bill says schools must get prior written consent from parents for students to attend sex ed. classes or conferences. Full disclosure applies to curriculum and conference content. Procedures for inspecting curriculum and materials used must be provided to parents.
HPV Vaccine-SF 120: This bill requires parental consent for a minor to receive the HPV vaccine, which is a vaccination against a sexually transmitted disease (STD) or infection (STI). Parental consent is a requirement for all other vaccinations received by a minor.
Immunity from Liability for Chemical Manufacturers-SSB 1051: This bill removes the ability of a person to sue and protects the manufacturer of a pesticide, insecticide, or herbicide from being sued under a “duty to warn” claim. A “duty to warn” means companies are obligated to warn users of the damaging or deadly effects of their product and if they don’t, and a user is harmed, a user can sue. This bill removes the ability of a user to sue under a “duty to warn” claim.
This bill was requested by Bayer (Monsanto) in response to continued and ongoing lawsuits over Roundup and its alleged link to cancer.
Current federal law says a company’s products must have a compliant EPA or Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) warning label in order to be sold in the U.S. With the changes in this legislation, a user cannot sue if the user has developed damaging or deadly bodily conditions (as long as the product is not defective, been manufactured correctly, and the user has handled the product per the label).
However, the label on Roundup does not say it is carcinogenic (meaning it causes cancer) because studies so far have produced conflicting results and so are inconclusive. Some lawsuits have been successful with cancer patients claiming that the company failed to warn that Roundup is carcinogenic and being able to prove that. To date, the company hasn’t put a warning on the label on Roundup, presumably because studies are inconclusive so far. Across the country, Bayer has won and sometimes the cancer patient has won.
An additional issue is that the only viable way it appears for a patient to sue Bayer has been under a “Duty to Warn” claim, saying that Roundup is carcinogenic and that the warning was not on the label. And under this legislation, that “Duty to Warn” claim, the only practically viable way for a patient to sue, is being cut off.
This bill, for all practical purposes, cuts off the ability of cancer patients to hold the company accountable and to have a chance at getting justice. I do not think that is compatible with the Iowa constitution’s right to a jury trial and the goals of our judicial system. So I do not support it. Last year, we had this same bill in the Senate and it passed, although I voted No. (It never became law because the House did not pass it.)
A company should be held responsible for their products. Does the company have studies showing the link between Roundup and cancer?? We don’t know. But lawsuits can force the truth out. And what about the EPA?? Does that agency have studies that have not been brought out in the open?? We don’t know. But again, lawsuits can force the truth out.
During debate some argued that farms are so dependent on Roundup that agriculture and chemical companies will suffer tremendously if a link should be proven conclusively that Roundup causes cancer and sales of Roundup and other chemicals drop sharply to the point of the companies going out of business. I’m not convinced that would happen. I believe agriculture would continue to use chemicals even if it was discovered conclusively that a link exists between cancer and chemicals. It would then become recommended that a warning be put on the label and preventative measures (like personal protective equipment – PPE, for example) be taken by users in handling the chemicals. And those chemicals would then continue to be used, and perhaps even improved and made safer if that were possible – because……….there will always be a demand for food.
Bills I Have Introduced this Week
Pedophiles & Civil Rights-SF 208: This bill ensures that pedophiles (euphemistically called minor-attracted-persons) would not be part of a protected class under Iowa Civil Rights law.
Child Abuse Law Reform-SF 221: This bill moves investigation of child abuse occurring at school to the Dept. of Health and Human Services.
Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC) Meeting Requirements-SF 224: This bill requires all members of the commission to be present for hearings related to issues regulated by the commission.
CO2 Pipeline Permit Renewals-SF 225: The IUC is prohibited from renewing permits for CO2 pipelines. A CO2 pipeline cannot be permitted to operate for more than 25 years.
Judicial Procedures for Eminent Domain-SF 226: This provides that when the Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC) considers whether private property should be subject to the power of eminent domain, that the affected landowner can petition to the court to determine if it would be a constitutional exercise of the power of eminent domain. This would have to be done before the Commission makes its final decision. This is so landowners would have the chance to avoid much time and effort being spent on preparing for and participation in weeks and months of hearings. A decision of the court could be made ahead of proceedings. The bill would also repeal the requirement that a bond be posted to appeal a decision of the Iowa Utilities Commission regarding the exercise of the power of eminent domain. This bill passed the House last year but did not pass the Senate.
Intervenors Bill-SF 228: The IUC is prohibited from threatening or imposing sanctions on an intervenor unless they knew the person was dishonest or in violation of a crime.
Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA)-SF 229: This bill changes the OCA from a division of the Attorney General’s office to an independent agency.
