Local legislators push their plans as session nears end

CHARLOTTE EBY,
Courier Des Moines Bureau

DES MOINES --- With just three weeks remaining until the Iowa Legislature's scheduled ending, Cedar Valley lawmakers are hoping their key priorities make it through before the gavel falls upon adjournment.

At the top of the list for Rep. Mark Kuhn, D-Charles City, is new livestock regulations that have proven controversial this year and previous years in the Legislature.

Kuhn has co-sponsored a bill that would extend the distance new livestock confinement facilities would have to be built from homes, businesses, tourist destinations and other protected areas. Other standards are in place to protect water sources.

Ag groups, including the Iowa Farm Bureau, have opposed the legislation, but environmental groups support it.

House leaders gave the bill new life last week by referring it to another committee after it faced opposition in the House Agriculture Committee.

Kuhn wants to see good faith negotiations between farmers and environmentalists to find something they can agree on.

"We have to find some common ground," Kuhn said. "We have to work to balance the ability of the industry to grow, yet restore some of those rights to neighbors."

A wide range of other bills are topping the to-do lists of other area lawmakers.

State Sen. Bill Heckroth, D-Waverly, is hoping to see the final passage of legislation that would help a local business.

An Iowa law that prohibits emergency vehicle manufacturers from also selling them is hampering a Sumner ambulance dealer, Heckroth said.

Legislation sponsored by Heckroth would help Life Line Emergency Vehicles and other manufacturers.

"It was a specific thing that helps them. They've got 180 employees up there, and it's only a problem in the state of Iowa," Heckroth said.

The measure already has cleared the Senate 50-0 and is awaiting consideration in the House.

Rep. Tami Wiencek, R-Waterloo, wants to see approval of a measure she co-sponsored that is intended to help keep new college graduates in the state. The plan, called the Iowa Advantage Fund, would extend tax credits to Iowa employers that agree to help pay down student loan debt to new employees who have just graduated from college.

Wiencek said she is optimistic it will be passed in the closing weeks of the session.

"I think there's a chance it will still get through," Wiencek said.

Rep. Bob Kressig, D-Cedar Falls, is eager to see an early childhood education package that passed the House gain approval in the Senate.

The plan would help expand pre-school programs around the state and provide for a licensed instructor at least 10 hours each week. He said quality pre-school programs are important for early brain development and help prepare children for school.

"It makes so much sense to me that we really focus on that," Kressig said.