This week the Iowa House resolved a disputed election outcome in H-55. After the official canvas of the vote, incumbent Republican Michael Bergan was certified the winner by a nine-vote margin (out of nearly 14,000 votes cast). At issue were 29 ballots that were never opened or counted due to the fact they did not contain the appropriate postmark that would indicate they had been mailed by the legally required date in Iowa election law. House Democrats strongly objected to the decisions made by local election officials and the Secretary of State and they, along with the Democrat candidate, Kayla Koether, formally contested the election in a House proceeding. The Election Contest Committee (consisting of three Republicans and two Democrats) met on three separate occasions and issued a report finding for the Republican. The full House then debated and voted on the committee report and voted to dismiss the election contest and agree with the certified result. This outcome leaves the House with 54 Republicans and 46 Democrats. |
Reminder on Legislative Calendar The Iowa General Assembly operates on a fixed calendar that sets a variety of dates and benchmarks to encourage the movement of legislation and to assist in a timely shut down when approaching the final days of per diem pay.
House and Senate Get Ready to Debate Sports Betting / Gaming The respective Chairs of the House and Senate State Government Committees late this week have signaled their strategy for addressing the various issues surrounding the legalization of sports betting in Iowa. Both Committee Chairs have released three companion bills:
Subcommittees in each Chamber will consider all three bills as part of the same subcommittee and then determine which, if any, of the three bills, will move forward in their Chamber. Canned Cocktails A house subcommittee this week moved forward a bill that would allow beer distributors to sell a new class of alcoholic beverages (HSB 59), the pre-mixed canned cocktail (think gin and tonic in a can). Alcohol markets are changing rapidly as new products come to the market in faster and faster intervals. This bill recognizes that beer wholesalers have the most appropriate infrastructure for distributing these products that are packaged and shipped a lot like beer. Efforts on Behalf of Community Bankers of Iowa
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