Iowa House Republicans » Transportation

Texting Bill to be Debated in the House Next Week

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:02:44 +0000

Next week the House will consider a bill that would make texting while driving illegal. House File 2021 was passed by the House Transportation Committee by a vote of 20–1 and will be before the house as House File 2456.

The bill does not apply penalties to or make illegal the use of cell phones while driving or the use of global positioning systems or navigational systems while driving. It is only a ban on texting while driving.

The bill directs that it will be illegal for a person to text while actually driving a vehicle. This is an important distinction from the “operation” of a vehicle. A person can be parked in a parking lot or pulled over on the side of the road and still legally text. In those instances a person is operating a vehicle, but not driving a vehicle. Additionally, the bill specifically states that inputting a telephone number for the purpose of making a telephone call is not texting, and is therefore not banned.

A person found in violation of the ban will be guilty of a simple misdemeanor and will be required to pay a scheduled fine of $30 dollars. Warning citations will be issued from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011 to allow for the public to become fully aware of the new prohibition.

However, if a person is involved in an accident that results in serious injury or death, and it is found that the person was violating the texting ban at the time of the accident, there are much harsher penalties. That person would be subject to a fine of $500 and/or a 90 day suspension of their license (serious injury) or a fine of $1,000 and/or a 180 day suspension of their license (death).

Violations of the texting ban are not considered when defining a habitual offender and the DOT will not consider texting violations when making a decision on a possible license suspension. Cities and counties are preempted from enacted ordinances having to do with texting to avoid confusion and complicated enforcement.

Across the Board Cut Staff Analyses

admin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:27:20 +0000

The House Republican Staff put together analyses on the Governor’s Across the Board cuts. They can be found under their respective committees in the Bill Analysis section of the site or clicked on from the list below:

10% Across the Board Cut Analyses
Administration and Regulation ATB Cut Analysis
Health and Human Services ATB Cut Analysis
Economic Development ATB Cut Analysis
Natural Resources ATB Cut Analysis
Transportation ATB Cut Analysis
Education ATB Cut Analysis

Economists question impact of IJOBS plan

admin — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:00:11 +0000

An article in today’s Des Moines Register questions the economic impact of the Governor’s I-Jobs plan. In fact Raymond Keating, chief economist for the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, says,

“The bottom line for Iowa is this: In the best-case scenario, it won’t make any difference. In the worst case, it’s going to make things worse.”

You can view where the money is going by clicking here: I-JOBS road funding amounts and bridge projects. One thing to note is that according to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s 2008 Factbook, it costs $3.2 million for a mile of new two lane highway. None of cities or counties receiving funding will receive that much for roads according to the documents released by the Governor.

Also worth noting is cities hit hard by job losses aren’t being targeted by the I-Jobs program. Ottumwa which has experienced 700 lay-offs at John Deere is receiving $242,226 or $346 for each job lost. Webster City which experienced 150 layoffs at Electrolux is receiving $79,220 or $528 for each job lost.