Less drama expected this week for state lawmakers

DES MOINES - After a week consumed by a public hearing and lengthy Iowa House debate on highly controversial collective bargaining reforms, legislative leaders are predicting this will be a quieter week.

Both chambers will be focused on meeting their second self-imposed “funnel” deadline - April 1 - for Senate bills to clear a House committee and House bills to win approval of a Senate committee.

There could be some noise if a gambling package that would authorize in-state online poker for Iowa players comes to the Senate floor, or if votes are rounded up to create a mourning dove hunting season.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, didn't rule out a gambling debate but said he thought it was unlikely.

As for the bill authorizing the Iowa Natural Resources Commission to establish an open season for hunting mourning doves, Sen. Dick Dearden, D-Des Moines, said he thinks this might be the year it gets signed into law. It was somewhat of a surprise when his bill survived the first funnel deadline, but Dearden, who has been working on the issue for at least 14 years, thinks there may be enough support to send it to Gov. Terry Branstad, who has indicated he will sign the bill.

“I don't know if the votes are there in the Senate, and I don't think the House is ready to talk about anything but labor,” Dearden said.

People in both parties in the Senate and House are counting votes, Gronstal said. It's possible, if the votes are there to pass Dearden's bill, it will come to a vote, the majority leader said.

Dearden said he does know that the response to his proposal has been more positive than in the past. E-mails are running about 55 percent in favor of a dove hunting season, he said, and phone calls are more supportive.

Supporters of a referendum to adopt a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage hope to make some noise Tuesday with a rally at the Capitol. The Family Leader, a Christian conservative group, will sponsor the rally that will feature Judge Roy Moore, a former Alabama Supreme Court justice.

Beyond that, Gronstal and House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, indicated the week will be taken up by committees looking at bills the other chamber has sent over.

“We'll bring the good House bills out of committee,” Gronstal said, but he and Paulsen indicated the April Fools' Day deadline will claim many casualties. Gronstal has been adamant that the Senate is not interested in many House GOP priorities, such as a marriage referendum, a 20 percent income tax cut and collective bargaining reforms.

He did leave the door open for a House bill to ban most abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. Gronstal said many people in Council Bluffs, including in his district, oppose plans by a Nebraska doctor to open an abortion clinic there.

“A lot of people in Council Bluffs think that would be a mistake,” he said. “We'll look at what the House sends over.”