From Your Capitol Hill: Sen. Tom Shipley, District 11
As the session starts to wind down, there are days with little going on, followed by a flurry of activity.
I serve on the Judiciary Committee, which deals with numerous criminal code issues. There is a move in this country for sentencing and incarceration reform. Too often, the way we do things in criminal justice costs way too much and has little impact on crime. And sometimes, we have made it too easy for someone to avoid punishment by having too short of a time frame to bring charges.
Some bills critical to these points are:
SF2183 - Extends the statute of limitations for child endangerment from three to 10 years where the victim is under 14.
SF2185 - Expands the definition of trespassing to include remote viewing and videoing. Technology has allowed the people we called “peeping toms” to invade people’s privacy in new ways never imagined when the code was written. This issue took on a new meaning for me when I met a young lady who had been the subject of this for two years.
SF2190 - Creates a pilot 24/7 alcohol program as an alternative to ignition interlock devices. This would give those arrested for OWI an option to submit to daily tests to be given a permit to drive instead of having an ignition interlock device. It is not uncommon for an offender to use someone else’s vehicle to get around their sentencing conditions. We want these folks to get squared away and keep going to work and keep everyone safe.
HF2386 - Terminates parental rights for rapists. No more explanation is needed.
SF2164 - Expungement of local ordinance for public intoxication in the same manner as current law allowing expungement of the state statute. If a 17-year-old makes a mistake – like many us have – it shouldn’t haunt them for years down the road when there was no injury or damage.
There is another bill that deals with repeat offenders of domestic abuse. A young lady approached me in the rotunda with a story and pictures of a victim’s injuries. As I looked at the picture I asked, “Is this you?” She confirmed it was. It drives the point home that it may be called politics by some but too often it’s about real people.
One bill that came up this week dealt with allowing psychologists the ability to prescribe medication.
This would require supervision by a medical doctor and extensive training prior to being allowed to write a prescription. As the need for mental health workers grows, I feel this is a way to bring services to underserved areas in rural Iowa and make sure it is quality care.
On Monday I went to the STEM fest at Southwest Valley Middle School in Villisca. There was a big crowd, and it was exciting to see the students’ enthusiasm as they met and talked to people in various areas from the medical field, computers, animal nutrition, firefighting, and many others about how science and math relate to the world they will be going into. Classes had their own displays also, and it was great to see these kids explaining what they do.
The STEM program is a favorite project of Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, and it is easy to see why. If you missed it, you missed a great opportunity to see the great potential these kids have.
What I am focused on is making sure these kids get the same opportunities as their urban and suburban “cousins.”
The tremendous disparity that exists between schools that have high transportation costs and those that have a high student population in a smaller geographic area is creating a “have and have not” scenario that should not be tolerated.
Using Southwest Valley as an example, the amount that has to be spent on transportation that cannot be used for classrooms amounts to several hundred thousand dollars. Real money for all of us! I believe there is a way to fix this without raising taxes.
Sen. Tom Shipley was born and raised in Adams County and is the fifth generation in his family to be involved in agriculture in Adams County.
He is a ranking member of the Labor and Business Relations Committee and is a member of the Agriculture and Judiciary Committees.