Posted below is the analysis of the omnibus budget bill proposed by House Republicans. The current schedule for the bill is to have it go through committee on Monday June 6 and then be debated on the floor on Tuesday June 7.

Omnibus Bill for FY 2012–

On Wednesday, May 4, 2011, the House passed Senate File 531 without amendment by an 81-aye to 13-nay vote. It finalizes legislative action on this bill. Earlier in the week on, the Senate passed Senate File 531 by a 48-aye to 1-nay vote. SF 531 makes a number of biofuels tax credit program changes. These include:

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House Republican committee assignments are now assembled for 2011. Click the links below to view lists in PDF.

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(DES MOINES) – Speaker-Elect Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) today announced the final committee chairs for the 84th General Assembly.

Continue reading for the list of appointments…

As the House adjourned the 2nd session of the 83rd General Assembly, the House Republican Research Staff put together an end of session wrap-up of notable bills in all committees.

2010 End of Session Wrap-up

EPC Elects New Chair, Notices New Water Quality Standard, & Hears Impact of DNR Budget Cuts

On Tuesday, May 19, 2009, the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) elected a new chair, Charlotte Hubbell, an attorney from Des Moines. The new chair is a leading activist on the EPC to expand the independent authority of the panel beyond the limits of its codified authority. Since the new chair has been on the Commission, it has increasingly butted heads with the Administrative Rules Review Committee, the legislative oversight panel.

Comments from Hubbell during the EPC meeting in regards to proposed new water quality rules dealing with chloride, sulfate and total dissolved solids suggest discord will grow.

For example, Hubbell suggested during a discussion on new water quality standards that the state, instead of using road deicers, shut down roadways until the snow and ice can be removed. Additionally during this discussion, she commented that homeowners might have to be prohibited from using water softeners in their home as this process concentrates and elevates the level of chloride and total dissolved solids in the wastewater. The notice rule was approved for public comment by the EPC and DNR prepared EPC agenda materials indicate that between 252 and 520 facilities in the state will not comply with the new standards, most of them in the northwestern one-third of the state that relies on deep groundwater wells of hard water.

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In the closing day of the past session, provisions (section 223-227 of SF 478) establishing a methane gas conversion to energy property tax exemption that were in Senate File 479 were incorporated in the standing appropriation bill, Senate File 478. These provisions propose to expand property tax exemption eligibility for methane gas conversion to energy property by allowing operations that decompose the waste away from a landfill in which the waste would otherwise be deposited into. These provisions are exempted from the unfunded mandate provisions, meaning the state will not compensate counties for lost property tax revenues. The provision are effective upon enactment on equipment placed into operation on or after January 1, 2008, and on or before December 31, 2012 and are retroactive to assessment years on of after January 1, 2008, provided such claims are files with the appropriate assessing authority by June 30, 2009. The Legislative Service Agency Fiscal Service Division estimated the impact being $27,000 to state general school aid appropriations and $161,400 reduction in local property tax collection for each $5-million value of methane gas conversion to energy property exempted by these provisions.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is entangled in negotiations by committee Democrats in an attempt to cobble together a climate change bill that members of the majority party can support. These efforts have been complicated by a number of issues, with one towering over all others – the impact on Americans’ utility bills.

While details are very scarce on the bill, several items appear to be certain to be included. A national energy efficiency standard will probably be included, meaning utility customers will be paying more to fund these efforts. Implementing a renewable portfolio standard for utilities to have a certain amount of energy produced from renewable sources will also be in the bill.

The big impact would come from a cap and trade system for greenhouse gases. Under this, a carbon dioxide producer would pay a set rate for each ton produced. Needless to say, this fee would have to come from someone and that someone would be the customer.

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As the House adjourned for the 1st session of the 83rd General Assembly, the House Republican Research Staff put together an end of session wrap-up of notable bills in all committees.

2009 End of Session Wrap-up

From this week’s House Republican Newsletter:

On Thursday, March 12, 2009, the House Environmental Protection Committee passed House Study bill 267, which became House File 798, by a party-line 12-aye to 9-nay vote. The bill creates a new state Waste Tire Stewardship and Management fund. The fund is financed with a new tire tax of $1 per tire sold at retail.

The tax commences on July 1, 2009, and generates an estimated $3-million in revenue each year. The bill eliminates the existing waste tire management fund, for which the funding mechanism expired in 2006, which funded that program with revenues from a portion of the surcharge on motor-vehicle title transfers that generated about $1-million a year. The new tire tax proposed by HF 798 is not assessed on resold used tires, recapped tires, or bicycle tires.

The bill provides that $400,000 of the funds raised each year are to register and permit waste tire processing, storage and hauling operations. Of the remaining moneys, 10% ($260,000) is used by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for public awareness and education on proper tire and solid waste disposal and recycling; 30% ($780,000) is used by DNR to support a grant program for end users of recycled waste tire products; 15% ($390,000) is used by DNR for grant programs to local governments and 28E entities for prevention, education, and enforcement programs targeting illegal dumping of waste tires, 5% ($130,000) is used to support DNR grants to local public health agencies concerning health and disease vectors posed by illegal waste tire disposal, and 40% ($1,040,000) is for waste tire abatement and illegal solid waste dump site cleanup.