A bill to reinstate the death penalty for killing a peace officer and a bill to allow city councils to override public library boards were among over a dozen bills killed by legislative deadlines late last week.
The Feb. 16 legislative deadline helps level the playing field for legislators to meet other deadlines prescribed in the body’s internal rules that aim to keep legislators focused on their priorities for the session and to meet budget deadlines for the state.
Republican-led bills aren’t immune to the funnel. Senate Study Bill 3085, which would create the death penalty for the murder of peace officers in the state, was one of dozens of Republican-led bills that were killed by the deadline.
Among the dozens of bills killed are most of the legislation introduced by Democrats, who hold a minority in both chambers. Among the Democratic-led bills was a bill to allow cities to control rent increases, which received bipartisan support in the subcommittee.
Bills targeting public library operations killed
Iowa lawmakers killed a pair of bills that would have allowed cities to take over or override public library boards.
House Study Bill 678 and Senate Study Bill 3168 did not make it out of committee by Friday and thus are dead — barring special tactics reserved by leadership to revive the bills.
The decision to nix the proposal, for now, came after an outcry from librarians and library advocates from around the state who spoke at the subcommittee hearings on the bills.
Bills affecting education were killed
A bill requiring students and teachers to sing the national anthem in schools, requiring teaching about patriotic holidays, canceling student organizations that support Palestinian efforts in the Israel-Hamas war, and a bill requiring school administrators to also teach are among several Republican-supported education-related bills that didn’t make it past the deadline.
House Study Bill 587 would have required students and teachers to sing the national anthem daily in school. The bill received skepticism from Democrats in the subcommittee for forcing students to demonstrate patriotism.
Another bill, House Study Bill 604, would require teaching about patriotic holidays.
House File 2077, would cancel student organizations at Iowa Board of Regent-controlled universities that support terrorism. Critics of the bill said it would cause student organizations that support Palestine in the Israel-Hamas war to face cancellation.
Democratic priorities nixed by funnel
Iowa House and Senate Democrats’ priorities like lowering the cost of college for Iowa’s public universities, their plan to reduce costs for Iowans, their plan to protect reproductive rights and address problems in Iowa’s nursing homes were mostly killed by the funnel with a few proposals still up for consideration by the appropriations committees in the House and Senate.