CHRISTIAN COALITION OF IOWA

LEGISLATIVE REPORT

Norm Pawlewski – Lobbyist

April 18 – April 22, 2005

            SF406 No Bullying Policies bill made it out of committee and on to the Senate Calendar as available for debate.  Leadership tells us it will not be debated.  That’s a good thing.  This bill, like five others that were introduced and killed, contains a section that could be interpreted as conveying civil rights protection on homosexuals, bisexuals and transgendered people.  If the Governor and his liberal allies in the Legislature were serious about improving anti-bullying policies and enforcement in Iowa’s school system, he and they would agree to amending out the section of the bill which defines the “traits and characteristics” protected from bullying.  That is the only section of the bill which is objectionable to us and to Republicans in both Houses.  It is also unnecessary to the stated objectives of the anti-bullying bills that have been introduced.  The Governor doesn’t want the bill without that section.  That tells me something about his real objective for getting an anti-bullying bill enacted.  What is it with this Governor and his aggressive efforts on behalf of the homosexual agenda?

            The House passed HF619 Sex Offender Registry Task Force and it is still being maneuvered through the Senate.  This bill will improve the enforcement of authorities to deal with sex offenders.  It is being held up by the Republicans’ desire to debate the death penalty for certain offenses and the Democrats’ desire to leave Iowa as a non death penalty state.  If you feel strongly about the death penalty, on either side of the issue, call your Senator.  Let them know why you support yes or no on the death penalty.

            We have reported to you before on why we do not support HF787 Minor Abortion Notice without an amendment that would improve data integrity.  S-3128, an amendment offered by Senator David Johnson, would do that.  Kim Lehman of the Iowa Right to Life Committee is the lead person on this bill.  The CCI and IFPC are supporting her efforts.  We have put the IRLC “Action Alert” about HF787 on our web site.  We urge you to respond to the IRLC call for ACTION by contacting your Senator and Representative by phone, if possible, and also contacting House and Senate leaders urging their support of S-3128 – The Court Amendment.  Without this amendment, we prefer that the bill die on the Senate Calendar.

To find complete contact information for your State Senator and State Representative,

visit http://www4.legis.state.ia.us/find-leg/ . Key in your street address, city, state and zip code and you will instantly have all the contact information you need for both your Iowa and U.S. Representatives and Senators at your fingertips.  

            HSB302 An act creating a starvation and dehydration of persons with disabilities prevention and providing remedies has been drafted by Representatives Alons and Eichhorn.  It is too late in the session to get this bill moving this year.  Besides, the authors of the bill want full and open debate on the issues raised by the Terry Schiavo case in Florida.  Hopefully, during this summer and fall, there will be opportunities for public hearings and other debate venues to fine tune this important protection for the disabled of Iowa.  HSB302 should be available on the Legislature’s web site. If it’s not, e-mail or call us and we’ll get a copy to you. 

            The Legislature is supposed to go home at the end of this week.  They will have been in session for 110 days on Friday the 29^th of April.  The betting around the Capitol is that they will continue in session for at least part of the first week in May.  So our next report may not be our last for this session.  

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