American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa - 2005 Legislative Voting Records

GAY & LESBIAN RIGHTS: House Joint Resolution 1 by DeBoef, Mertz, Alons, Boal, Carroll, and Dix. A Joint Resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa to define marriage. ACLU-IA OPPOSED HJR 1. It passed the House 54-44 on March 15; it was not considered in the Senate.

DUE PROCESS: House File 608 by Committee on Judiciary. This bill defines “constructive possession” to be virtually indistinguishable from actual possession. ACLU-IA OPPOSED this bill. It passed the House 82-17 on March 31. There was no Senate action.

ENHANCED PENALTIES: House File 440 by Committee on Public Safety. This bill allows the court to suspend a person’s driver’s license (if they possess one) for 30 days if the person drives away from a gas pump without paying for gas on the second or subsequent conviction. ACLU-IA OPPOSED this legislation. It passed the House 83-15 on March 15, passed the Senate 43-6 on April 11, and was signed into law by the governor on June 3.

WAR ON DRUGS: Senate File 169 by Committee on Judiciary. The supposed toughest pseudoephedrine bill in the country. ACLU-IA OPPOSED this legislation. The conference committee report on SF 169 passed the House 98-0 on March 16, passed the Senate 50-0 also on March 16. SF 169 was signed by Governor Vilsack on March 22.

SEX OFFENDERS: House File 619 by Committee on Human Resources. Enhances penalties for certain sex-related crimes, requires DNA testing, expands the statute of limitations in some instances, restricts residency of certain sex offenders, and provides for other related issues. ACLU-IA OPPOSED this bill. It passed the House 97-0 on May 10, passed the Senate 50-0 on May 3, and was signed into law by the governor on June 14.

EXCESSIVE FINES: House File 682 by Committee on Judiciary. The bill creates a Criminalistics Laboratory Fund and increases the criminal penalty surcharge by 2%, while decreasing the funding for the Victim Compensation Fund. The ACLU-IA OPPOSED this legislation. HF 682 passed the House 95-4 on April 21, passed the Senate 48-1 on April 20, and Governor Vilsack signed the legislation on June 3.

CHURCH/STATE SEPARATION: House File 853 by Committee on Ways and Means. This bill provides that contributions made to certain school tuition organizations may be treated as credits under the individual income tax. ACLU-IA OPPOSED this bill. It passed the House 57-42 on April 19; there was no Senate action.

PRIVACY: House File 685 by Committee on Public Safety. Establishes the Child Identification and Protection Act, which prohibits the fingerprinting of children. ACLU-IA SUPPORTED this legislation. HF 685 passed the House 95-3 on March 15, passed the Senate 48-0 on April 18, and was signed by the governor on May 20.

OPEN MEETINGS: House File 772 by Committee on State Government. Removes a member of a governmental body if the person has engaged in a prior violation of the open meetings law. ACLU-IA SUPPORTED this bill. It passed the House 77-23 on April 5, passed the Senate 47-3 on April 14, and was signed into law by the governor on May 3.

DUE PROCESS: Senate File 313 by Committee on Transportation. This bill allows law enforcement to issue a citation to the owner of a vehicle when the driver is unknown and the driver of the vehicle has violated a school bus warning device or railroad crossing control signal. ACLU-IA OPPOSED this legislation. It passed the Senate 44-6 on March 16, passed the House 86-14 on April 25, and was signed into law by the governor on May 3.

OPEN RECORDS: Senate File 403 by Committee on Government Oversight. This legislation narrowly and specifically explains that costs associated with copying records are limited to only those expenses directly attributable to copying public records. ACLU-IA SUPPORTED this bill. SF 403 passed the Senate 48-0 on April 28, passed the House 100-0 on April 27, and was signed by the governor on May 4.

WAR ON DRUGS: House File 254 by Committee on Public Safety. HF 254 prohibits the manufacture of drugs within one thousand feet of a public or private elementary or secondary school, public park, public swimming pool, public recreation center, religious institution, or marked school bus. ACLU-IA OPPOSED this legislation. It passed the House 87-11 on March 21; there was no Senate action.

EMPLOYEE RIGHTS: House File 703 by Committee on Commerce, Regulation and Labor. This bill expands employee drug testing to include hair, sweat, toenails, and other excrements and parts of the human body as samples for testing. ACLU-IA OPPOSED this bill. It passed the House 56-44 on March 23; there was no Senate action.

WAR ON DRUGS: House File 173 by Committee on Public Safety. This is the annual “false compartment” bill. ACLU-IA OPPOSED, as usual. It passed the House 92-7 on February 23; it was ignored by the Senate.