NINTH WEEK OF LEGISLATIVE SESSION
The House and Senate spent much of this week on floor debate, working to clear bills and send them to the opposite chamber ahead of the second legislative funnel deadline. Committee work began to pick up, with subcommittees and full committees meeting.
Next week, both chambers are expected to focus heavily on committee work as lawmakers move bills ahead of the second funnel deadline. To remain eligible, a bill must have passed one chamber and advanced through a committee in the opposite chamber.
Bills in the Appropriations and Ways & Means Committee are exempt from the funnel.
LEGISLATIVE ISSUES
Several bills tracked by ISC advanced this week, with a few more expected to move through the House Natural Resources Committee next week and clear the second funnel deadline.
Legislation setting the lifetime fur harvester license fee at $5 passed the Senate Ways and Means Committee. ISC’s bill addressing nonresident doe tags is scheduled to be on the House Natural Resources Committee agenda next week.
Meanwhile, the bill that would allow nonresidents to claim residency status has been referred to the Ways and Means Committee, keeping it alive for the remainder of the session.
We encourage members to continue contacting their House members and urging them to oppose this legislation.
BILL TRACKER
** New Information highlighted in yellow**
**Bills ISC supports are in green**
**Bills ISC opposes are in red**
**Bills ISC is monitoring are in blue**
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD
With floor debate ongoing and the second funnel deadline next week, we need to continue our push to get bills through one chamber and advance those that have already passed to ensure they clear committee in the opposite chamber so they become “second funnel–proof.”
Senate Priorities
1. Pass SF 424 — Elimination of the Celebrity Deer Tag.
This bipartisan proposal would reduce pressure on Iowa’s deer herd while continuing to support Iowa conservation groups.
House Priorities
1. House Natural Resources Committee — Pass SF 2318.
Advancing this bill will help ensure science-based deer management decisions can be made efficiently and responsibly.
Iowa’s carefully crafted regulations have made our state the Whitetail Capital of the World. We must protect those standards to preserve hunting opportunities for residents and maintain the strength of our deer herd for future generations.
Special Alert!!
House leadership used a procedural maneuver this week to keep alive the bill that would allow nonresidents who file an Iowa income tax return to claim residency status and obtain a buck tag. The bill was reassigned to the House Ways and Means Committee, making it exempt from the second funnel deadline.
The legislation was unable to secure enough support within the caucus to advance through the normal process, so this move appears intended to keep the proposal alive for the remainder of the session. We encourage members to keep the pressure on and contact their House representatives to urge them to oppose HF 2657.
PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO CONTACT ME!
Phil Jeneary
