(Radio Iowa) – House Speaker Pat Grassley says a House committee is likely to debate a bill this week that’s designed to boost the use of ethanol in Iowa. Grassley says both Democratic and Republican presidential administrations have not always been the best friends of the ethanol industry. “We need to stand up and send a message to the country that we’re going to do what we have to do in the state of Iowa to also promote the product,” Grassley says.

Grassley describes the core of the bill as providing incentives to retailers to install new gas pumps that can dispense ethanol-blended fuels. “We’re not making those complete investments, but being a partner in that, to make sure that we can continue to promote it,” Grassley says.

Earlier this year, Republican Governor Kim Reynolds suggested a proposed renewable fuels standard for Iowa to require all retailers to offer at least a 10 percent ethanol blend — and require any new pumps installed be designed to dispense fuel that includes ethanol. Iowa’s convenience stores and gas stations have lobbied against that mandate.