Plymouth County has ended the open burning ban that has been in effect the past three and a half weeks. The state fire marshall says Le Mars Fire Chief Dave Schipper filed a request on behalf of county fire departments to end the ban. Recent significant rain and snow reduced the risk of brush fires in the county. Burn bans remain in effect for Woodbury, Monona, Cherokee, Ida and Crawford counties in northwest Iowa.
The Iowa House has endorsed a temporary measure in response to landowner complaints about proposed carbon pipelines.
Under the proposal, developers wouldn’t be able to apply for eminent domain authority to seize property for the carbon pipelines before February 1st of next year.
Representative Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton, says it’s about ensuring the negotiation process between the pipeline companies and landowners is fair.
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emi1 oc….treat landowners :13
Democratic Representative Steve Hansen of Sioux City, says this doesn’t respond to landowners who have no desire to have the pipelines on their properties.
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emi2 oc….this, this year :11
Representative Kaufmann says current regulations are too vague.
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emi4 oc….making it better :17
Chris Hall, a Democrat from Sioux City, says lawmakers should examine proposals now that would protect landowners.
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On a voice vote, the House attached the temporary moratorium to a far larger budget bill that now goes to the Senate for consideration.
Republicans on a committee in the Iowa House are advancing parts of the governor’s education agenda, but her proposal to provide state scholarships for 10-thousand students attending private schools is not included.
The bill would require high school seniors take a civics test, but passing it isn’t required for graduation.
Parents would be able to go online to see what classroom materials teachers plan to use.
Representative Garrett Gobble of Ankeny, who is a teacher, says there’s already software available for that.
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fundo1 oc….the parents :11
Other proposals floating around the legislature would have required teachers to post lesson plans for the entire year before school starts.
Melissa Peterson of the Iowa State Education Association says teachers welcome transparency, but they also have a job to do.
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The bill, which has been approved by the house appropriations committee, does not call for establishing felony charges for teachers if parents allege classroom materials or books in the library are obscene.
There will be a “No Eminent Domain for Private Gain” public hearing next Tuesday, March 29, at 3:30 pm at the Capitol rotunda in Des Moines.
Iowa farmers and other affected landowners are invited to speak about the impact the carbon capture pipelines and threat of eminent domain are having on them.
State Senator Jeff Taylor says he plans to attend.
Taylor says he believes we need legislative protection from eminent domain abuse that is much stronger and more permanent.
He says his bill, (SF 2160), which was eliminated on February 16th, or the two House bills that were set aside by leadership around the same time including HF 2320 sponsored by Rep. Tom Jeneary, are better approaches to the problem.
