Latest news with #HouseLocalGovernmentCommittee
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senators vote to protect Iowans' ‘basic human right' to garden
Tomato and pepper seedlings started for a home garden. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch) A bill advanced from the Iowa Senate floor Monday that would protect home gardens from state and local ordinances. Sen. Cherielynn Westrich, R-Ottumwa, said the bill hits at a 'growing concern' that home gardeners are blocked from growing their own vegetables and food on their properties. Westrich noted that similar bills, often known as right to garden bills, passed in Illinois and Florida. The Florida law, for example, ended a previous ban on front-yard vegetable gardens. She did not cite any Iowa restrictions on gardens. A Des Moines resident requested a front-yard ban on vegetable gardens in 2013 but the city did not act on it. 'State law should encourage and protect, not (be) limiting home vegetable gardens,' Westrich said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Senate File 494 holds that state and local governments cannot enact rules or ordinances that prohibit Iowans from establishing or maintaining a garden located on residential property they either own or lease. Senators also approved an amendment to the bill which stops local regulation from prohibiting a gardener from marketing the items grown in a residential garden. The bill would void any existing regulation prohibiting a residential garden. The bill also establishes a general principal that Iowans have a 'natural, inherent and unalienable right' to 'save and exchange seeds,' as well as to 'grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume' the food of their choosing. The bill advanced from the Senate with unanimous approval and moved to the House Local Government Committee. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Axios
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Chronic absenteeism and Cumberland carve out on legislative agenda
We're almost a month into the legislative session, which means dozens of bills are moving. The big picture: Priority bills dealing with property taxes, health care costs and the state's two-year budget aren't on any agendas yet, but plenty of other issues are getting hearings. Here are the bills we're watching this week: 🧩 Carving out Cumberland House Bill 1131 would exclude the town of Cumberland from Marion County's "unigov" system. Driving the bill: Cumberland straddles Marion and Hancock counties, so the quarter of residents living in Marion County are subject to different rules and services. It will be heard in the House Local Government Committee at 8:30am Tuesday. 🏠 First-time homebuyers House Bill 1519 would create a new fund to provide downpayment assistance and other financial help for qualified first-time homebuyers. It's on the docket for the House Financial Institutions Committee at 10:30am Tuesday. Why it matters: Indy's hot housing market is still challenging for young people, low- and middle-income families and first-time buyers. 🟢 Chronic absenteeism bills keep moving House Bill 1201, which seeks to identify common reasons behind absenteeism and provide support for students and schools, passed the House Education Committee unanimously last week. Senate Bill 482 includes some of the same language and was heard in the Senate Education Committee last week. It should get a vote on Wednesday and is expected to pass. Between the lines: Lawmakers have been discussing chronic absenteeism for the last several years after a report showed that nearly one-quarter of Hoosiers kids were chronically absent from school. ⏳ Shutting down "spinning" on hold For the second year in a row, lawmakers are trying to crack down on "spinning," but the bill is hung up in the Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee. How it works: Senate Bill 13 would outlaw spinning your car in a circle, also known as doing doughnuts, a practice that's become part of the illegal street takeovers plaguing IMPD. A similar bill passed the Senate last year but wasn't taken up by the House. It's on the committee's agenda again, scheduled for 9:30am Tuesday.
