The Rozenboom Report by Senator Ken Rozenboom – February 4, 2019
Sen. Ken Rozenboom (R-District 40)
By the time you read this I hope the polar vortex has moved further north where it belongs. I don’t know about you, but I find myself thankful for warm homes and vehicles that allowed me to reach the Capitol this week.
Subcommittee work has taken most of my time this last two weeks. It’s always remarkable how many different issues and bills show up from across Iowa at the beginning of the legislative session. All bills are assigned to a subcommittee (usually three senators), and each bill must pass out of subcommittee to be eligible for consideration by the full committee. In just two of my committees I’ve held subcommittee hearings on seven bills. In the Education Committee I chaired the subcommittee to consider SSB 1033, which allows for non-public school students with a driving permit to use that permit for school related functions up to 50 miles, rather than the 25 mile limit imposed by the DOT. Also in Education, we took up SF 120 which mandates our regent universities and community colleges allow students to use stun guns (not tasers) for personal protection on campus. Both bills moved forward to the committee level.
As chair of the Natural Resources and Environment Committee, I am working on several bills that have come across my desk. Subcommittee work on five bills included SF 91 which calls for legalizing the use of atlatl (you’ll have to Google it) for hunting deer, and SF 86 which calls for the DNR to affix a symbol to hunting and fishing licenses noting the license holder wishes to be an organ donor in the event of accidental death while hunting or fishing. SF 46 would allow for people who fish private ponds only to fish without a fishing license.
Of greater significance, we held a subcommittee meeting on SF59, which is an attempt to update what we Iowans know as the bottle bill. This bill makes two major changes to the 40 year old policy. First, it removes the requirement that grocery store and other retailers accept empty cans or bottles. Second, it raises the handling fee from one penny to two pennies per can or bottle. This bill would solve the problems of dirty, used containers going back to the stores that sell food products, and it would provide greater financial benefits to redemption centers. The bill will move forward to be considered by the entire committee, with some amendments.
A bill that has attracted a lot of attention from around the state is SF 5, which calls for the elimination of the Forest Reserve Program. This policy exempts land that is managed for timber, fruit and nut trees to be exempted from property tax. This has been an excellent tool to support forest and habitat management for over one hundred years. However, the program is vulnerable to abuse and must be reviewed and updated, in my view. The bill will not pass as it is but we’ve had great discussion and hopefully can make some positive changes this year.
Senate Republicans have worked the last two years to pass policies that create pathways to improve Iowa’s business climate, and to grow our state economy. It’s great to see those successes come to fruition each and every week. The most recent piece of great news is that Iowa now has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation. Iowa Workforce Development announced recently the December unemployment rate remained strong at 2.4 percent. November’s data had Iowa tied with Hawaii, which experienced a slight increase to 2.5 percent in December. Nearly 2,300 Iowans entered the workforce in December, bringing the total number of Iowans employed to more than 1.65 million. More Iowans are now working than at any time in this state’s history.
If you have concerns or questions please feel free to contact me by email, phone or text. It’s also great to have visitors at the Capitol anytime! To track legislation or to learn more about the process I encourage you to visit the Iowa legislative website at: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/
