State
1. Corporate Farms:
SSB3105
—
Monitoring,
NEW
· Subcommittee recommended passage on Feb. 6th
· Restricts certain business entities (including corporations) from acquiring agricultural land suitable for farming
· References Iowa code 490 & 504, among others
2. Deappropriations:
SF2117
—
Monitoring,
NEW
· Amendment
S5005
cuts $32 million (instead of $52 million) from this year's budget
· Amendments to S5005 (that passed) include,
S5008
: prohibits DOJ reducing victim assistance grants &
S5007
: clarifies supplemental reimbursement for ground emergency transport of medicaid beneficiaries, reduces per diem for legislators to 85 days (from 90)
· Passed S5005 on a 29-21 vote out of the Senate
3. Broadband Easement:
HSB545
—Monitoring,
UNCHANGED
·
Would allow electric utilities to offer retail broadband using existing electric easement to deliver service
·
SSB3055
(Senate version) introduced Jan. 31st and subcommittee recommended amendment and passage
4. Tax Reform: Monitoring,
UNCHANGED
· Hearing potential bills could increase taxes for credit union members
5. IUB Matters:
HSB591
—Monitoring,
UNCHANGED
·
Registration instead of certification
· Dual party relay changed to flat $.03/line/month for wireless & wired, instead of variable rate for wired
· Subcommittee recommended passage on Jan. 30th
· Legislation to transfer milk directly from dairy farms, allowing unpasteurized and ungraded milk be sold
·
Most milk-related outbreaks (81%) happened in states where selling raw milk was legal (2007-2012)
7. Utility Matters:
SSB3093
—Monitoring
· Subcommittee recommended passage with amendment on Feb. 6th
·
Specifically notes natural gas in new wording, creates concerns with propane teams on giving nat. gas a leg up
· Removes state policies that are duplicative of existing federal policies
· Sen. Chapman said his focus is sustainable, long-term energy
· Moved through sub-committee meeting, Senators asked for amendments to address issues/concerns with existing version
8. Balanced Budget:
SSB3089
—Monitoring,
UNCHANGED
· Bill cuts of ~$52 million from the budget this year
· Deeper cuts than the Governor suggested
Pictured above is Kayla Lyon, Policy Advisor for Gov. Reynolds, and Katie Hall at the 2018 Legislative Welcome Back Reception.
Federal
1.
Waters Of The U.S. (WOTUS): Monitoring,
UNCHANGED
·
Defines jurisdiction of the EPA & US Army Corps of Engineers over rivers, lakes, etc.
·
Asking that it stay as is, but realistic that it will most likely change
· Continued conversations on this and the impact to farms
· Originally talked about trying to pass something in a Continuing Resolution, but that did not happen on Thursday the 8th.
