Des Moines, Iowa (RI) — Governor Kim Reynolds says she and her staff are assessing legislation that would establish new regulations for carbon pipelines.
The governor has until June 14th to make decisions on ALL the bills that cleared the legislature this year. Reynolds says for at least another week she plans to continue what she describes as listening sessions with advocates of the bill and those who are asking her to veto it.
The governor says almost every meeting has led to additional research by her legal counsel and other staff to learn more about the details of the bill and its impact.
Reynolds made her comments during taping of the “Iowa Press” program that airs tonight (Friday) on Iowa PBS. After four years of action on pipeline-related bills in the House, this is the first year the Senate passed one to the governor’s desk.
Law enforcement groups and first responders are urging the governor to veto another bill that would have local 911 systems pay a new fee to the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Reynolds says 911 systems have 66 million dollars in reserves.
Local boards oversee the 110 public safety answering points in Iowa that answer 911 calls, and those local boards say they need that reserve money to cover the cost of replacing expensive equipment and software needed to run the 911 systems. The bill requiring the systems to pay a fee to the state does not say how much the fee is to be or whether it would be a one-time fee or more frequently collected by the state. The legislation does say that once 911 systems are notified by state officials of the amount, it must be paid within 30 days.
KIWA Staff Photo
