DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – A House subcommittee advanced a bill Thursday that would allow landowners to renegotiate damage claims and file complaints with the Iowa Utilities Commission, or court, for damages and yield losses due to pipeline construction.  Rep. David Young, R-Van Meter, sponsored the bill and said it was really about “the premise of you want to leave what you found … in the same condition if not better.”

Young specified that House Study Bill 691 was not related to any particular pipeline, but would provide “predictability” and “consistency” in the standards protecting landowners. The bill was supported by agricultural commodity groups including Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Cattlemen’s Association, Iowa Soybean Association and the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation. Summit Carbon Solutions, a company seeking to build a carbon sequestration pipeline through Iowa, along with the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, also registered in support of the bill.

Doug Struyk said some members of the Iowa Soybean Association, which he represented at the subcommittee meeting, are still dealing with yield losses from pipelines built close to a decade ago. The bill allows landowners to renegotiate damage claims for compensation with pipeline companies even if damages were apparent at the time of settlement, or it has been more than five years since a settlement was reached.

HSB 691 also allows landowners, rather than just county supervisors, to file complaints directly with the Iowa Utilities Commission. Landowners can also file claims in small claims or district courts for “violations of damage payment provisions” with the pipeline company.

Onnalee Gettler, a lobbyist for MidAmerican Energy Company, opposed the bill but offered an amendment to lawmakers that would “avoid unintended” legal outcomes of the bill text. Gettler said the ability for landowners to renegotiate claims past five years could lead to them reopening damage claims “in perpetuity,” and MidAmerican would like to see that language changed. She explained that part of the proposed amendment would also clarify the relationship between landowners and farm tenants to ensure a pipeline company is not required to compensate both landowners and tenants for the same parcel. Gettler said the utility company would support the bill if the amendment were adopted.

Rep. Charley Thomson, R-Charles City, chaired the subcommittee and said he intends to take a “closer look” at some of the language raised by MidAmerican. The Iowa Utility Association, American Petroleum Institute and Black Hills Energy were also registered against the bill, but did not speak at the hearing. Kevin Kuhle, speaking on behalf of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, said the language in the bill is supported by Farm Bureau policies set in 2022.

Under the bill, farmers could also seek compensation for things like lost or reduced yield, soil compaction, damage to irrigation systems and damage to soil or water conservation structures. Speakers and lawmakers on the committee noted that similar language has been brought up in the Legislature in the past, including in 2023 when a bill to restrict eminent domain for pipelines passed in the House.

The bill heads next to the House Commerce Committee.

(Radio Iowa) – Some of Governor Reynolds’ health policy agenda is outlined a bill that’s cleared a House subcommittee. The bill calls for Iowa doctors to complete an hour-long nutrition education course and it would ban some food dyes and additives from school meals. Jon Murphy, a lobbyist for the Iowa Beverage Association, says the group opposes that.

“All of the ingredients and dyes on this list have been approved by the FDA and so there’s been rigorous scientific study done on all of these things,” Murphy said, “and so we don’t think that it’s appropriate to go through what the FDA has already done and say they got it wrong.” The bill would require the state to keep applying for federal waivers in order to restrict food stamp purchases to healthy foods. Iowa currently bans using food assistance for taxable food items, like candy and soda. Marc Craig, who is homeless and receives SNAP benefits, told lawmakers the new rules are confusing.

“I can go to Walmart and get a sub that has a mayo and mustard packet, but I can’t buy a ham and cheese sandwich at HyVee, so to me, this is not attacking obesity,” Craig said. “I’m not obese because I want to eat unhealthy. It’s because my options are limited.” The bill does not include the governor’s proposal to allow over-the-counter sales of contraceptives, but it would let Iowa pharmacies sell ivermectin to customers without a prescription. Representative Austin Baeth, a Democrat from Des Moines who is a doctor, says that’s a concerning part of the bill.

“This is a very serious bill to help make Iowa healthier and I’m not sure what ivermectin has to do with it,” Baeth said. “…There is no FDA approved reason for ivermectin unless you have parasites and I think giving the weight of the state government behind that drug to be used over the counter is misguided and is going to hurt a lot of people.”

A section of the bill that would have implemented the governor’s proposal to raise the state taxes on cigarettes and vaping products has been removed. House lawmakers say they intend to consider that proposal separately.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa would become the second state to maintain a domestic abuser registry if a bill introduced in the Iowa House becomes law. An offender would be added to the public list after their second conviction. The registry would include their name, photo, conviction date and the county or counties where they committed abuse. Chayce Glienke Baltimore is a lobbyist for the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

“Specifically we don’t speak on behalf of all survivors and certainly there are survivors that support this bill,” she said. “However the coalition opposes this bill specifically because we think it raises some practical and substantive concerns.” Glienke Baltimore says the registry could provide a false sense of security for people who check to see if a dating partner is on it and don’t find that name.

“That would suggest that perhaps someone who is not listed on the registry is a safe individual or has no history of abuse,” she said. “There are a small number of folks that ever end up in the criminal justice system ultimately with convictions that would put them on the registry.” And Glienke Baltimore says the registry would likely duplicate information that’s already available online. “There’s already a very robust Iowa Court System information apparatus through Iowa Courts Online that makes a lot of this information and, in fact, in greater detail and encompassing far more offenders available,” she said.

No one spoke in favor of the bill during a House subcommittee hearing this week. The bill must approved by the House Judiciary Committee by next Friday to remain eligible for consideration during the 2026 legislative session. On January 1st, Tennessee became the first state in the nation to launch a public domestic violence offender registry. The law passed with bipartisan support and is named in honor of a deputy sheriff in Tennessee who was shot to death by an ex-boyfriend who investigators later discovered had an extensive history of domestic abuse and stalking.

(Lyon County, IA) – Two people were critically injured when a car was struck by a semi at around 1:20-p.m. Thursday, in northwest Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol reports a Toyota Corolla driven by 36-year-old Andrea Solis, of Houston, TX, was stopped at a stop sign facing north, at the intersection of Highway 9 and K-30. When she pulled away from the intersection, Solis failed to yield to a westbound Peterbilt semi that was pulling a propane tanker, and driven by 46-year-old Joseph Moeller, of Bryant, SD.

The truck collided with the car in the intersection, before the Toyota struck a stationary Chevy Tracker, that was stopped in the eastbound lane, waiting to turn north onto K-30, into Lester (IA). Solis and her passenger, 67-year-old Marga Valderrama De Barrious, of Crofton, NE, were critically injured, and flown to Sanford Sioux Falls Hospital by helicopter. The Patrol says Solis was not wearing her seat belt.

The driver of the semi and Chevy Tracker were not hurt.

(Red Oak, IA) – A traffic stop at around 10-p.m. Thursday in Montgomery County, resulted in the arrest of a man on drug charges. According to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, the Montgomery County K9 Unit conducted a traffic stop at 220th Street and Boxelder Avenue in the southwestern part of the County. The K9 “Riddick”” was deployed, and a search of the vehicle resulted in the arrest of 41-year-old Adam Chandler Orr, from Red Oak.

Orr was taken into custody for Possession of Methamphetamine/1st offense (A Serious Misdemeanor), and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (A Simple Misdemeanor). He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 bond.

(Red Oak, IA) – The Red Oak Police Department reports a woman was arrested at around 5:25-p.m. today (Thursday), for Driving While Revoked – OWI related (A Serious Misdemeanor). Authorities say 41-year-old Chandra Christine Baggett, of Red Oak, was taken into custody in the 200 block of Maple Street, in Red Oak. She was transported to the Montgomery County Jail, and held on a $1,000 bond.

(Atlantic, IA) – Two people were injured during a rollover accident northeast of Atlantic, this (Thursday) evening. The accident was reported at around 5:55-p.m.  It occurred near 640th Street and Fayette Road. Both occupants of the vehicle were outside of the vehicle. One reportedly was suffering from head pain.

Cass EMS transported both individuals to Cass Health. Additional information is currently not available.

(Calhoun County, IA) – The Iowa State Patrol has released more information on the crash Wednesday in northwest Iowa, of a bus carrying 33 people to Arkansas for a series of college baseball games. Authorities say 19-year-old South Dakota baseball player Carter Johnson died, after a bus carrying the Iowa Lakes Community College baseball team crashed near Twin Lake, in Calhoun County.

The Patrol says the bus was traveling southbound on Highway 4 near Marengo Avenue. The unidentified 74-year-old driver failed to negotiate the curve as the bus started to enter the gore area between the two roads. When he over-corrected, the bus left the road and rolled onto its side into a ditch. The Iowa State Patrol said the S-curve where the crash happened is known to be dangerous. Four people have died in crashes there in the last 10 years.

32 people on the bus were injured in the crash. Two people were ejected and were trapped under the bus as it came to rest.  Student-athletes in a school van traveling behind the bus gave CPR to Johnson after the crash, but he died at the scene. Everyone taken by ambulance to the hospital with injuries has been released, according to the Iowa State Patrol. The condition of athletes who were life-flighted to Des Moines was not immediately available.

Multiple surrounding area law enforcement and fire departments assisted at the scene. Iowa Lakes Community College canceled classes Thursday and Friday but campuses remain open with counselors available to talk to students.

(Radio Iowa) – House Speaker Pat Grassley says on Monday House Republicans will unveil their counter offer in negotiations over how much the state’s per pupil funding of K-12 students should grow next year. It will be at least a two percent increase, which is what the governor proposed in January. And Grassley says House Republicans will propose addressing some other school funding issues.

“Things like the $14 million that we’ve talked about for paraeducators,” Grassley said. “That’s something that continues to be important.” Today (Thursday) is the legal deadline for legislators to make this school funding decision. Grassley says pushing negotiations past that deadline is likely to benefit schools.

“What we tell our schools is if it takes us a little longer to get to the destination, know that there’s things within the budget conversation that we’re trying to fight for,” Grassley said. “…We want to try to maximize what we’re getting in some of these negotiations and conversations.”

Advocates for public schools say the general level of state funding of K-12 education must grow far more than Senate Republicans or the governor have proposed. They cite increasing operating costs due to inflation, plus starting July 1st all beginning teachers must be paid a 50-thousand dollar salary and veteran teachers with 12 years of experience must be paid 60-thousand dollars a year.