Under the Golden Dome

The three state universities are asking for $26 million more for the next fiscal year. A House subcommittee advances a bill that would not allow public or private colleges to implement a mask or social distancing rule for students and employees when they are off-campus. And the governor’s broadband bill is discussed in a Senate subcommittee.

States decide how to prioritize COVID-19 vaccines. In Iowa, there are two phases that involve nearly one million Iowans. The will be around 50,000 doses per week in February. While it’s expected to increase, it will be awhile until the supply begins to meet the demand.

The Iowa House and Senate committees and subcommittees are available to the public using video conference systems but both have different rules. There are also changes to the House rules for this new Iowa General Assembly, but those changes do not include amendments from Democrats that would require masks to be worn at the Capitol.

As the 89th Iowa General Assembly begins, House Republicans have more seats from the November election and the party maintains a majority status in the Senate. With a Republican governor, this is the fifth year for the party’s trifecta. As is common in a session’s first week, leaders lay out their goals including the governor as she delivers her Condition of the State.

During the last week of the 2020 legislative session a series of changes about absentee voting passes in the Senate, but the House changes the bill dramatically. A proposal titled "More Perfect Union" is drafted and passes unanimously in both chambers during one afternoon. And in the last 24 hours of the session a newly-introduced abortion restriction amendment passes. Also, the budget is amended with a new requirement about how county auditors must contact voters when there is incorrect voter identification information on absentee ballot request forms.

While the session was suspended for 12 weeks, 564 Iowans died from COVID-19 complications. Before returning, the legislative council met to discuss how to come back to the Capitol with new health and safety measures. The Revenue Estimating Conference also met to provide the legislature with a new number on which to base the FY 2021 budget. A legislative proposal, “More Perfect Union” is aimed at preventing violent conflicts between law enforcement and Iowa residents. And a constitutional amendment to restore the voting rights of felons moves forward in the Senate.

With the coronavirus reaching community spread, Gov. Kim Reynolds and legislative leaders are suspending the 2020 legislative session. In order to do this, first the House and Senate must meet to pass some spending measures and a resolution. In this podcast episode, we bring you the final day of the session before they pause for 30 days.

The Revenue Estimating Conference meets to share a forecast of how much revenue the state will take in. For Fiscal Year 2020, things are on track from previous estimates, but FY 2021 is revised downward a bit over concerns about coronavirus. As of Thursday March 12, legislative leaders and the governor have not called to pause the session or restrict public access to the Capitol over coronavirus concerns. The 2017 Cannabidiol Act is revised this year in the House. The same was attempted last year, but the governor vetoed the bill. This year’s proposal has the THC at a lesser potency than last year’s bill. A bill passes the House that would require more information for asbestos lawsuits, including a complete work history.

Three weeks ago the Senate and House passed different funding levels for K-12 public education. This week the chambers announced a compromise and now schools know where to set the budgets they will be submitting in April. A bill to help citizens of Puerto Rico move to Iowa for jobs passes a subcommittee, but with a much lower level of funding that originally proposed. Another House subcommittee moves forward a bill that passed in the Senate last year changing language and penalties in Iowa’s code concerning the termination of a pregnancy without the mother's consent. And the Senate passes a bill that puts additional requirements on a proposed constitutional amendment restoring a felon’s right to vote.

The governor appoints hundreds of people to positions requiring Senate confirmation. This week some of the individuals making it through the required two-thirds majority vote are Department of Natural Resources director Kayla Lyon and Department of Human Services director Kelly Kennedy Garcia. The Senate takes up a bill requiring a third-party vendor to verify the income of a person on a public assistance program. And the House holds a public hearing on a controversial constitutional amendment stating the state constitution does not guarantee access to abortion services.