Iowa
State Capitol News – Weekend Recap

Iowa
State Capitol News – Weekend Recap

by Paul Deaton

[Editors'
Note: Following is a weekly recap of stories from Des Moines that
came through the Weekend Editor's in-box in the tenth week of the
legislative session. Check out the House Democrats page for a
different take on the week here.
Senate Democrats are here.
Watch for this feature every Saturday while the legislature is in
session.]

During
a one hour Commerce subcommittee meeting on Thursday, Iowa Senators
quizzed MidAmerican Energy President Bill Fehrman about SF 390, this
year's second of many steps in determining whether Iowa should be “open
for business” for nuclear power. To
MidAmerican's credit, they were quite open about their plans to remove
risk from investors and transfer that risk to rate payers. MidAmerican
attorneys designed the bill so that the mechanisms to collect
development costs, should a nuclear plant fail to be built, would be formalized in the Iowa Code.
That is a lesson they learned in their failed effort regarding a power plant in Marshalltown where a special legislative fiat was
required for them to recover development costs from rate payers.
Likewise, the scheme to enable MidAmerican's parent company, Berkshire
Hathaway to transfer wealth from rate payers to
the company of one of the richest men in America was disclosed. Under current Iowa code, that is prohibited.
Subcommittee Chair and floor manager for the bill, Senator Brian Schoenjahn indicated that there would
be a couple of more meetings on SF 390, as there will be more
questions to ask and have answered.

At 11:30 AM on Thursday, House members were
already making their exit. According to the door man at the House
Chamber, as soon as the gavel fell at 1:00 PM most remaining House members made
haste getting out of the building. What with the impending Spring, who
could blame them? No job stimulation was noted, although some I-Jobs signs were spotted in Cedar Rapids and Coralville on Friday.


Defending Against PETA and Criminal Teachers, but No Jobs

This week, the House approved a bill that would make it illegal for
undercover activists to fraudulently get a job at livestock facilities
with the intent “to commit abuse.” Organizations
who deploy agents to journal their experiences inside livestock
operations and use such information to highlight animal treatment are
responding to the American appetite for voyeurism and sensationalism, and naturally, the Republican majority believes this kind of thing, as it pertains to livestock operators, should be stopped. However, it seems unlikely that enforcement jobs, if created, would be funded. It
was another week of similar detritus, related to driver's education
requirements, home schooling, boaters on Lake MacBride and so on.


A favorite was a measure for faculty at state universities who, if charged with a crime, would be required to repay all salary
received during a paid leave of absence, if convicted. The Republican
legislature missed the fact that shoddy research conducted by some
faculty members may be the greater crime.  Seems like Governor Culver's legacy of jobs continues to out-shine the new Republicans.

Governor Terry Branstad ordered flags to
fly at half-staff Tuesday, March 15, 2011 in remembrance of Army
Corporal Frank W. Buckles, the last known surviving American veteran of
World War I, and in remembrance of all American veterans of World War I.
This recognition is appropriate and we thank the governor. Frank
Buckles was laid to rest on March 15 in Arlington National Cemetery.

~Paul Deaton is a native Iowan living in rural Johnson County and weekend editor of Blog for Iowa. E-mail Paul Deaton