James Q. Lynch, CR Gazette –
A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Wednesday, May 2, 2012:
STATE MAP GOES QR: In addition to showing roadways, rivers, rail lines and more, the 2012 Iowa Transportation Map includes two Quick Response (QR) codes that can be scanned with a QR reader on a smartphone or other mobile device to provide access to all the websites listed on the printed map, including a link to an online version of the map, and a link to Iowa’s 511 travel information website.
The new map is available for free at the Iowa Department of Transportation’s 19 driver’s license stations, all six Iowa DOT district offices and Iowa’s rest areas. The map can also be ordered online through the Iowa DOT’s website.
Copies of the 2012 map are available The Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Iowa Tourism Office also distributes maps to Iowa’s 19 welcome centers.
An electronic version of the map, accompanied by an assortment of city detail maps, is also available online at iowadot.gov/maps (select the “Transportation Map” link).
NEW INFORMATION CHIEF: Robert von Wolffradt has been appointed to serve as Iowa’s chief information officer, Gov. Terry Branstad announced.
Von Wolffradt, 55, was most recently the Chief Information Officer for the state of Wyoming, where he installed the first cloud email system of any state in the nation. Additionally, von Wolffradt planned and implemented IT consolidation through improved technology, and the combining of programs and services.
Prior to that, von Wolffradt was director of informational services in Snohomish County, Washington, was COO of Schoolkit.com in Bellevue, WA and served in the Air Force, achieving rank of chief master sergeant.
Von Wolffradt has an M.A. in computer resources and information management from Webster University in St. Louis, MO, and a B.S. in computer science from the University of Maryland in College Park.
He and his wife, Ginger, will reside in Des Moines. They have two grown children.
GOP REGISTRATION GAIN: The Republican Party of Iowa has widened its voter registration lead over the Iowa Democratic Party by more than 8,800, according to the monthly registration report from the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office.
There now are 608,096 Iowans registered as Republicans and 599,225 registered as Democrats. Another 669,966 are registered as “No Party” voters.
With several Republican contests on the June 5 primary election ballot, the GOP voter registration edge increased from about 4,000 the month before. The GOP surpassed Democrats in voter registration in March for the first time since 2006.
INDICATORS EDGE UP: The Iowa Leading Indicators Index edged upward 0.2 percent in March 2012 rising to 104.9, according to the Iowa Department of Revenue.
The department attributed the gain to:
The long-term interest rate rose to 2.17 percent in March from 1.97 percent in February and the short-term rate decreased 0.01 percent to 0.08. 82 more building permits issued than in March 2011. However, the 805 building permits issued in March was 33.5 percent below the 1998-2008 March average of 1,211. Unemployment insurance claims and average manufacturing hours were positive contributors in March. Unemployment insurance claims fell for the 29th consecutive month and were 22.6 percent below March 2011. Although hours have been above 40 per week for the last nine months, the reported average fell an hour below 1996-2008 three-month average. Iowa stocks showed an average gain of 6.2 percent. Of the 33 stocks included in the index, 15 showed gains, including seven of the 12 financial-sector companies. They posted an average gain of 8.7 percent.
The new orders index and the agricultural sector were the only negative contributors in March. The 12-month moving average of expected profits for all four commodities was negative this month. Soybean prices rose, but remained below last March’s price. The average corn price was down from February, and was 6.8 percent below the March 2011 price.
View the Iowa Leading Indicators Index February 2012 report at http://www.iowa.gov/tax/taxlaw/econindicators.html
OPEN RECORDS: Gov. Terry Branstad has scheduled a public signing of Senate File 430 into law for 4:30 p.m. May 3.
The bill creates the Iowa Public Information Board which will have the power to levy fines against government officials and entities that have willfully and openly violated the state’s open records law. Creation of such a board has been moved around, modified, declared dead and brought back to life many times in the past four years.
In the current bill, the board will consist of nine members appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation by the senate. No more than three members appointed shall be representatives from the media including newspapers and no more than three members appointed shall be representatives of cities, counties, and other political subdivisions of the state.
NEW LAWS: Gov. Terry Branstad signed five bills into law Wednesday, including one that taxes the owners of roll-your-own cigarette machines. Senate File 2328 is an attempt the close what lawmakers saw as a tax loophole which allowed smokers to get cigarettes at about half-price as long as they bought loose tobacco and then had them machine rolled into cigarettes.
The other four bills signed Wednesday were: House File 563: An act creating the transparency in private attorney contracts act; House File 2464: An act relating to Department of Public Health programs and activities, providing for a penalty, and including effective and applicability date provisions; House File 2472: An act extending the period for determining the rates of the motor fuel tax based on calculating the distribution of ethanol blended gasoline and other motor fuel, and including effect date provisions; Senate File 2332: An act relating to enhanced 911 emergency communication systems, including surcharges and the allocation of moneys collected from such surcharges and replacing the existing surcharge on prepaid wireless service with a new surcharge collected at the point of retail sale, and including effective and applicability date provisions.
Quote of the Day: “We might not get there all the way today, but maybe a little more, a little more,” Rep. Dave Heaton, R-Mount Pleasant, on likelihood of reaching resolution on differences separating the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-controlled Senate
