Session Supposed to End Today – But It’s Not |
You have probably seen in the news that today is the scheduled last day of session. That means that legislators stop getting their daily per-diem money which helps pay for their expenses while in Des Moines. The hold up this year is the budget – in particular the disagreement between the Governor and the Senate Democrats over whether the budget bills should be for one year or for two years. It is unclear how or when that disagreement will be resolved.
As session nears the end, most of the bills that ABC of Iowa has been tracking are either dead or signed into law by the Governor. Yesterday Governor Branstad signed HF 392 into law. HF 392 is the bill that reduced plumbing and mechanical licensing fees. We are very happy that it is now law so the Department of Public Health can now implement those new fees. If you already renewed your licenses this year, you will be entitled to a refund. We will be meeting with the department next week to learn more about how this will be implemented and refunds will be handled.
Click here to see the weekly legislative summary for an entire list of bills that ABC of Iowa is currently working on.