First funnel sidelines legislation

On February 20, legislation that has not been forwarded by a Senate or House committee is sidelined for the current legislative session.  They say that bills are never dead until the final gavel falls.  What that means is that legislation can be moved forward as amendments to other bills.

Some of the bills we were following were sidelined by the funnel, including:

• A bill - HF2042 - that required a study of merging the Iowa Department of Natural Resources with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship failed to move forward.  The Sierra Club opposed this bill.
• A bill - HF2099 - that would place the black bear on the fur bearer list failed to move forward, with the protections of a closed hunting and trapping season until the population had grown in Iowa to a point that it could sustain a hunting and trapping season.  The Sierra Club supported this bill.
• Two bills that would increase wildlife crossings at highway intersections where there are large numbers of crashes with wildlife failed to move forward - HSB562 and HF2063.  The Sierra Club supported these bills.
• A bill - HF2081 - failed to move forward.  That bill required aircraft detection lighting systems to be installed on wind turbines - required for all new turbines installed after July 1, 2026; existing turbines to be upgraded by January 1, 2028.  The Sierra Club supported this bill.
• Two bills - SF2193 and HF723 - failed to move forward that would require all sewage sludge be tested for PFAS before it was applied on farmland; allowing the landowner to deny application of the sewage sludge if PFAS was detected.  The Sierra Club supported these bills.

The next funnel is March 20, where more of the bills will be sidelined.