Iowa Legislative Digest

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By Times Staff | Thursday, April 19, 2007 12:44 AM CDT | () comments

IOWA LEGISLATIVE DIGEST

August class starts debated: The Iowa Senate deadlocked Wednesday over the question of when local schools should be allowed to end summer and start classes.

Senators voted 25-25 to defeat a measure that would have barred districts from starting the school year before Aug. 25. Current state law requires a start date after Sept. 1, but most districts receive a waiver from the Iowa Department of Education allowing an earlier start.

The defeated proposal would have eliminated waivers. This year, 352 of Iowa’s 365 school districts received a state waiver.

“The waiver loophole has become the law,” said Sen. John Putney, R-Gladbrook, whose push to lengthen summer has become an annual, though quixotic, crusade.

In his other life, Putney leads the Iowa State Fair’s Blue Ribbon Foundation. The fair is just one late-summer tradition harmed when schools open classes in early or mid-August, he claims. Recreation and tourism businesses that need visitors and young workers also are affected.

But Sen. Frank Wood, D-Eldridge, a school administrator, said setting the start date should be a local issue, not a state legislative edict.

“Here are the keys to the schoolhouse,” Wood said to his colleagues, shaking a set of keys over his head, before arguing against Putney’s plan.

Ready for his close-up: Sen. Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo, guided legislation through the Senate on Wednesday providing incentives to filmmakers who shoot movies or TV shows in Iowa.

The bill, approved 48-2, would create a series of tax breaks and incentives for filmmakers and Iowa businesses that play a role in production. Passage sends the bill to Gov. Chet Culver for his expected signature.

“When we create these films in Iowa, we have an economic echo effect that goes on and on,” Dotzler said.

The bill would provide assistance to film projects spending $100,000 or more. Obscene or X-rated films would be ineligible for state help.

The bill’s only two opponents came from opposite ends of the political spectrum. Sen. David Hartsuch, R-Bettendorf, a staunch conservative, and Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, one of the chamber’s most liberal members, voted no.

Hartsuch said the bill doesn’t require that the films or shows be set in Iowa, only filmed here. He questioned what Iowa would get for its money.

“It could be a movie about Nazi Germany and it would still be eligible for a credit,” Hartsuch argued.

Stars and stripes: The Iowa Senate passed restrictions on desecration of the American flag on Wednesday, part of a larger bill that deals with veterans’ programs and benefits.

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, was the only legislator who rose to speak against the portion of the bill dealing with the flag.

“I think that this is fatally flawed,” he said.

Quirmbach thinks the bill violates the constitutional right to free speech. The part of the measure that deals with the flag was drafted in response to a court ruling that struck down a previous flag-desecration ban.

Sen. David Hartsuch, R-Bettendorf, supports protecting the flag.

“Respect of the flag as a symbol of our society is absolutely essential,” he said.

The Senate, which passed the bill 45-5 Wednesday, revised some of the provisions that deal with veterans’ programs. The measure now heads to the House to consider the Senate changes.

Cable bill to Culver: The Iowa Senate gave final approval Wednesday to a bill that backers say will expand competition in cable television, a measure that now heads to Gov. Chet Culver.

The bill, approved 44-5, lets cable-television providers apply for the right to sell their services statewide. It would replace a system in which cable companies must apply to individual cities. Most cities only allow one provider.

The main backer of the measure is Sen. Steve Warnstadt, D-Sioux City, who said the new rules will lead to lower prices and more options.

Qwest, the phone company, is among the businesses that would likely begin to offer cable television if the bill is signed.

City governments have opposed the bill because they have concerns it will take away franchise fees and lead to an interruption of public access channels and other services.

— Times Des Moines Bureau