During week #9 of the legislative session, I had the honor of presenting the “Liberty Legacy Vignette” to the House. As we prepare for our nation’s 250th anniversary, the Iowa House of Representatives reflects on significant foundational moments of our amazing nation.
My talk focused on education. Even before the Constitution was ratified, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 required new territories to provide for the education of children. It declared “religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” The Bible and the New England Primer, the first textbook published in America, were used by all schools.
The following quote by Noah Webster, considered the “Father of Education,” is directly applicable today.
“Every child in America should be acquainted with his own country. …. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country; he should lisp the praise of liberty, and of those illustrious heroes and statesmen, who have wrought a revolution in her favor.”
This week the House passed several bills and sent them to the senate. Here are a few of those bills.
HF2510 – Specifics for Iowa Social Studies standards. Should students know the Constitution? Bill of Rights? Declaration of Independence? Emancipation Proclamation? Of course they should! Should Iowa students learn about the United States’ Constitutional Republic form of government compared with different forms of government including dictatorship, monarchy, oligarchy, theocracy, socialism, communism, and autocracy? Again, of course! These documents and more are listed in the bill. (Noah Webster would be proud.)
HF2538 – Empowering Teachers and Improving Learning Environments by addressing disruptive behavior. This bill ensures that teachers are being heard by administrators when dealing with a disruptive student, and that students with disabilities are in the best learning environment for their success.
HF2694 – Governor’s Emergency Powers
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed how easily executive overreach can occur. We watched as governors across the country abused their power in the name of an emergency. This bill ensures that a Governor’s emergency powers cannot be used to suspend the fundamental rights of Iowans. If passed by the Senate, the Governor of Iowa cannot:
• Close places of worship.
• Unilaterally change election law.
• Mandate a vaccination.
• Regulate conduct within a private residence.
A Glimpse into the Life of a Bill
This is an example of just one small piece of legislation that may have a huge impact, if passed by the Senate and signed into law by the Governor.
HF2642 – Beneficial Use and Water Permits. This requires the DNR to determine quantity of water available before granting a permit. I was please to floor manage my own bill (a rare opportunity) to help protect one of our greatest natural resources – water. As pressure for water use by industry increases, this bill would ensure the DNR would have the means to consider the impact on other water consumers before issuing a permit.
This problem became obvious after wells in western Iowa died up over the past couple of years. This situation is not unique to western Iowa. A few years ago in my township, several of us had to drill our wells much deeper after the city drilled 14 new wells, supposedly only drawing river water (but clearly impacting the aquifer).
Why is this important to address this issue through legislation? Currently the Iowa Code directs the DNR to allocate water permits based on the beneficial use for the category of industry, not the availability of water. In other words, the DNR can issue a water permit without considering whether the water use will deplete the aquifer we all share.
If you look up this bill number, you’ll probably wonder what in the world “distillery waste water” has to do with the DNR allocating water permits. This is a perfect example of the lengthy legislative process to fix a problem. I submitted this concept as a simple bill last year to address the process of allowing water permits after we learned of wells drying up in western Iowa. My bill passed the House Natural Resources Committee but died when it wasn’t taken to the floor for a vote.
I decided to take a different approach this year. When submitting a piece of legislation, a representative must consider all the sections of Iowa Code that will be impacted by a seemingly simple change. The Legislative Service Agency (LSA) helps, but I have found that it’s best to have a good idea before submitting a bill to the LSA. There are 8 volumes and 916 chapters of Iowa Code. Figuring out how an idea will actual work is very difficult.
When I started the process again this year, several corporate lobbyists added language for their benefit that diluted the purpose of the bill. Then, Iowa distilleries came to the committee with a concern that the DNR was inconsistent in its application of wastewater rules. Since my bill dealt with DNR water permits, that became a place to attach the amendment to address DNR rules.
So, I shepherded the bill through the subcommittee and committee process. It took considerable effort on the part of subcommittee members to present a bill to the entire House that accomplished the original intent to protect our water. In the end, it also addressed an additional problem of water conservation.
The bill passed 90-1 in the House. Now it’s on to the Senate, which must pass it before it can be sent to the Governor so it can become law.
You can help protect your water. E-mail the Senate requesting they pass HF2642, the bill addressing DNR water permit allocations.
Over the next several weeks city councils in District 83 will be hosting community forums where we will discuss property taxes and other issues. Watch for an announcement from your elected leaders.
I appreciate your input. Write to me at [email protected]