Stories

Interest groups spent $235,828 for functions designed to lobby legislators during the 2009 session, according to reports made public Thursday by the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, or IECDB.

Despite some efforts to cast the long nights at the capitol this weekend as a sneaky way for Democratic leaders to push through their agenda, no major policy surprises emerged from the waning hours of the 2009 legislative session.

In a flurry of activity over two marathon days, Democrats in the House and Senate managed to pass a $715 million, multi-year bonding plan (in addition to $115 million for flood recovery), despite fierce opposition from Republicans in both chambers.

A bill that authorizes the state to borrow $105 million was approved late Friday night by the Iowa Senate.
On a vote of 30-19, lawmakers gave approval to Senate File 477, which would allow the state to issue bonds totaling $100 million for vertical infrastructure improvements and $5 million for alternative energy projects.
The bill is expected [...]

A $545 million bonding proposal passed the Iowa House at around 1:45 a.m. Saturday morning.
The bill, Senate File 376, marks the biggest chunk of what will eventually be more than $800 million in bonding bills aimed at flood recovery and infrastructure repair. The measure passed on a 53-43 vote.

The Iowa House Friday passed a $115 million bonding bill to help University of Iowa officials rebuild flood-ravaged areas of the Iowa City campus.
The Senate passed a $100 million bonding measure earlier this month. An amendment to the House version, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Cohoon, D-Burlington, adds another $15 million to the bill for veterinary [...]

Despite a spirited debate that pitted Republican against Republican, the Iowa House passed revisions to the state’s sex offenders laws this afternoon by a vote of 93-3.

If you are wondering why the latest sex offender bill passed the Iowa Senate 49-0 last night, here’s a guess: it is dangerous to be on the losing side of anything related to sex offenders.
There are few images more effective in a campaign mailer than a photo of a sketchy guy’s shadow superimposed on a [...]

Iowa’s sex offender laws would no longer include residency restrictions, instead using exclusionary zones and better tracking of individuals convicted of sexual crimes, following a unanimous vote in the state Senate Thursday night, but House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, said House Republicans were expected to oppose the measure, aimed at reforming Iowa’s so-called “2000-foot rule.”

Former Democratic state Rep. Ed Fallon has filed a formal ethics complaint against Republican state Sen. Merlin Bartz for “encouraging Iowans to pressure county recorders to break the law when same-sex couples begin to request marriage licenses.”
Bartz has begun a petition drive asking opponents of same-sex marriage to collect signatures and deliver them to county [...]