Helena Hayes – Capitol Update – January 30, 2025
Week 3
The week kicked off with the Prayer Rally for Life. Kristi Judkins, the Executive Director of Iowa Right to Life (pictured above), works with the Coalition of ProLife Leaders to plan the event. The event started with a documentary about physician assisted suicide called, “Fatal Flaws” and followed with a rally in the Rotunda. It was an honor to hear from our Governor and Attorney General as they acknowledge the importance of fighting for life at all stages and their promise to continue the battle.
Unpacking the Pesticide Bill
YES! THIS BILL IS BACK.
While Iowa ag land sits quietly awaiting spring, the state legislature is considering a bill that would limit civil liability for chemical companies that manufacture pesticides. The bill was recently introduced in the Senate, but has yet to be scheduled for subcommittee. We saw the Senate pass a similar bill last year, but it never went anywhere in the House.
This pesticide bill is a tort bill; tort is an action or omission that causes harm to persons or property and are civil court claims, as opposed to criminal claims. The bill would add a new section to Code Chapter 668; Liability in Tort and specifically the section .12; Liability for products – defenses.
One way to read a legislative bill is to first review the layman’s explanation at the end. This is helpful before reading the bill’s statutory language which is usually more difficult to understand. In this pesticide bill, SSB 1051, the explanation begins with its purpose, “The bill provides for a defense from civil liability associated with the use of pesticides that are registered with the EPA acting under the federal Act.” The next natural question is, how will the bill provide for this defense? It follows, “The bill provides that a label provides sufficient warning if it complies with any one of three criteria: (1) it was approved by the EPA, (2) it is consistent with the most recent human health assessment performed under the federal Act, or (3) it is consistent with the EPA’s carcinogenicity classification for the pesticide. In each case, the label is sufficient to satisfy any requirements for a warning regarding health or safety under the state Act, and any other provision of state law or any other common law duty to warn.”
Simply put, if a label on a pesticide product satisfies any one of these three criteria, the manufacture will not have any additional obligation under state law to provide further health or safety warnings, including the duty to warn of other foreseeable dangers. The duty to warn is one of the several causes of action frequently used in product liability cases where manufacturers are held liable for failing to warn users about the foreseeable dangers of their products. Other similar causes of action in product liability cases include design defects, breach of implied warranty, and negligence.
Two years ago, the Iowa legislature passed medical malpractice tort reform and the trucker tort bill. Both bills placed a cap on company liability for non-economic damages. Respecting the spirit of transparency, I would like to share that I did not support, or vote for, either bill nor do I currently support the pesticide bill.
Similar to these previous tort bills, supporters of the pesticide bill in the Senate have recently stated that this tort bill is necessary because it will protect the agricultural industry in Iowa and prevent frivolous lawsuits. Bayer, the chemical company that produces Roundup, argues that pesticide makers should not be held liable for failing to alert people of foreseeable health risks as long as their products have a federally approved label. Lobbyists for Bayer, the company that owns Monsanto in Muscatine, Iowa, testified in a House subcommittee that because the EPA found Roundup’s active ingredient, glyphosate, “not likely to be carcinogenic,” it would be illegal for them to include a cancer warning on the Roundup label. Others have noted that juries and judges across the US have ordered Bayer to pay billions to consumers diagnosed with non-Hodgen’s lymphoma and other cancers on the basis that Bayer failed to warn them of the dangers of Roundup.
Those that do not support this bill argue that, at the very least, it disincentivizes pesticide manufacturing companies from publicly disclosing additional dangers from use of their products because the EPA label would be sufficient to meet all warning criteria. Stronger arguments state that it would provide chemical companies immunity from liability for the harm their products cause. This leads one to question, what is the responsibility of the manufacturer to disclose dangers they are aware of even if the government, the EPA in this case, says the government label is sufficient to warn.
Read the pesticide bill here.
The Truth About ESA Funding
This last week, Iowa House Democrats repeated their misleading claim that “Reynolds’ private school voucher program will cost Iowa taxpayers $1 billion.” They posted this on Facebook with a graphic they made to look like a news article.
The actual number expected to be spent on ESAs during this school year is $218 million, a far cry from $1 billion. Next Fiscal Year, this number is expected to grow to roughly $314 million. Again, nowhere near $1 billion.
In order to reach their $1 billion number, you’d have to add up all the money spent on the ESA program from its implementation in Fiscal Year 2024 all the way until it’s projected cost in Fiscal Year 2027. Obviously, if you keep adding year-over-year you can eventually get to whatever number you want.
However, it’s important context to note that over that same time period, the state will spend roughly 16 billion on public education.
In the FY 2025 budget, state aid to public schools accounts for 43.62% of the entire state budget. That’s the biggest piece of the pie by far. ESAs, meanwhile, account for 2.01% of the total state budget.
ESAs are not breaking the state budget. The state is not spending more on private than public education. And ESAs will not cost the state even close $1 billion this or next fiscal year.
Committee Updates
Labor and Workforce
In Labor and Workforce Committee this week, Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend presented and updated us on the State of the Workforce as of December 2024. It is encouraging to see the unemployment rate continue to decrease!
Ag and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee
This week we heard from Randy Wheeler, DVM, Executive Director of the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association. As we look towards the future, we will continue to hear from various departments in Iowa with their updates before we work on the budget covering Ag and Natural Resources.
Veterans Affairs
We moved our first bill out of Committee this week: HSB 6 is “a bill for an act relating to in-sate residency for purposes of undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees at regents institutions and community colleges for certain military personnel and family members”.
Under current law, qualified veterans and qualified military persons, and their spouses and dependent children, are considered residents of Iowa for purposes of undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees at regents institutions and community colleges.
This bill expands the definition of “qualified military person” to mean a “veteran” as defined in Code section 35.1, which generally includes veterans of armed conflicts and other service members who were discharged under honorable conditions. Under current law, the definition generally includes veterans eligible for benefits under the federal Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 who have been domiciled in Iowa for one year.
The bill also provides that surviving spouses and children of qualified veterans are considered residents of Iowa for purposes of undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees at regents institutions and community college.
Education
I had the opportunity to move two bills out of subcommittee this week, HF 80 and HSB 34. HF 80 prevents disciplinary action against teachers, school staff, and students when they use a registered student name or a legal name. It was provides civil action for teachers who have been wrongly terminated.
Below is a photo of the subcommittee on HF 80.
On the other hand, HSB 34 requires schools to show a video that accurately depicts the growth of every stage of human development in the womb in grades 7-12. There are many who oppose this idea, but our students deserve to see and know the truth of the amazing gift of life.
Photo Recap of the Week!
Dr. David Connett was a special treat to meet and speak with this week. He has been working diligently to increase the number of residency programs available in Iowa for medical students.
It’s always a pleasant surprise when my 4-H poultry judging experience collides with my legislative commitment. These young 4-Hers from Boone County brought their poultry passion into their school environment as they showcased school project at the Capitol this Wednesday.
Many leaders from Oskaloosa Community School, along with recently elected student leaders, spent the better part of a day at the Capitol highlighting the OCS and their legislative priorities.
Upcoming Events
Here are the dates for upcoming forums I will be at! I welcome all constituents to join me for these meetings. I want to hear what you have to say!
Eggs & Issues at Smokey Row Oskaloosa (109 S Market St. Oskaloosa, IA) will take place on these dates:
February 22 – 8:30-9:30am
March 22 – 8:30-9:30am
Fairfield Chamber of Commerce Legislative Forum at the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center (200 North Main St. Fairfield, IA)
will take place on these dates:
March 15 – 7:30-9:00am
If you have any questions about these events, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Forums and events will be posted on my Facebook page as well as here in the newsletter!