Iowa House of Representatives Statehouse News
By Mary Mascher

SMOKE FREE AIR ACT TO BECOME LAW

After a compromise was reached by the House and Senate, the Smoke Free Air Act was quickly passed by the House on a 54-45 vote, and the Senate on a 28-22 vote. The Governor is expected to sign the bill next week, and it will take effect on July 1, 2008.
House File 2212 applies to profit or nonprofit workplaces and public places. Places not covered may voluntarily be declared a nonsmoking place. A public place is defined as an enclosed area where the public is invited or permitted, including restaurants, bars, retail stores, public buildings, schools, daycare providers, and health care providers.

Exceptions to Ban:
• Private residences (unless used for child care).
• Private long-term-care rooms.
• Hotels and motels, but only in designated nonsmoking rooms.
• Stores primarily selling tobacco products.
• Private clubs with no employees when not used by the public.
• Private limos, employer owned vehicles provided exclusively to one employee, and farm vehicles.
• State and county fair grounds.
• National Guard facilities.
• Designated areas in prisons.
• The Iowa Veterans Home.
• The gaming floors only of casinos.

SALES TAX FOR SCHOOLS PASSES

Legislation making the current one cent local option sales tax for schools a statewide sales tax passed the Iowa House this week. House File 2663 is also called the School Infrastructure Local Option (SILO) tax bill.

House File 2663 replaces the current local option sales tax that a school district can impose for school infrastructure and replaces it with a permanent statewide one cent tax. All the sales tax money will go into one “pot.” It will be distributed out to school districts on a per pupil basis. The amount distributed in the first year, fiscal year 2009, is estimated to be $372 million to school districts. Another $28 million would be used for property tax relief and distributed out of the property tax equity and relief fund next year.

The bill does not increase the use tax on motor vehicles, as did previous versions of the SILO bill. Under those bills, a portion of the funds would have gone to the road use tax fund. The bill now moves to Senate Ways and Means Committee for consideration.

REAP FUNDED AT $16 MILLION

Iowa’s Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) program will receive $16 million next year under House File 2662, which is an increase of $500,000. This is the highest amount of funding since 1991.

Since last year, the majority party has increased funding for this very important and popular environmental and recreation program by $5 million. REAP, which needs $20 million to be fully funded, provides moneys for projects that enhance our natural, cultural, and recreational resources including environmental education, soil and water enhancement, parks, trails, museums, and roadside beautification. This funding was part of a larger budget bill that funds the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (DALS) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). This is the first step in determining the operations budget for these agencies for the next state fiscal year starting July 1, 2008.

The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.

STUDENT DEBT BILL PASSES OVERSIGHT

The Government Oversight Committee passed legislation this week addressing student loans by private lenders and the relationship to educational institutions. Iowa college students have the second highest student debt rate. The bill will provide better protection and guidance to Iowa students and their families.

House Study Bill 788 will provide students with more clear guidance when choosing their student loan provider. The bill will require disclosure by financial loan offices of all financial choices including private, state and federal loans. The bill will also create a student lending education fund, under control of the Iowa Attorney General. The goal is to utilize those dollars to educate students about the loan process and to reimburse borrowers who received certain inflated loan prices.

EYE EXAMINATIONS FOR CHILDREN REQUIRED

This week, Senate File 2251 passed the Iowa House and the Iowa Senate. The goal of the bill is to have every child receive an eye examination by age seven. Children need healthy eyes and normal vision development to be able to learn. Studies show that nearly 25% of all school-age children have vision programs and approximately 80% of all learning during a child’s first 12 years comes through vision.

Vision screenings vary in scope and are designed to detect potential problems but are not eye examinations. As a result, they encourage parents to have their children receive an eye examination. The bill requires that a parent or guardian who registers a child for kindergarten or preschool be given a vision card provided by the Iowa Optometric Association and approved by the Iowa Department of Education. Senate File 2251 now goes to the Governor for his signature. If enacted, the bill will apply to school years beginning July 1, 2009.