SF 2076 – Employment rides initiative
SF 2101 – Computing tax on compressed natural gas
SF 2108 – Special license plate for Sullivan brothers’ award of valor
SSB 3018 – Definition of vehicle scrapping
SSB 3118 – Driving within lane on two-lane road
SSB 3148 – Minor School License for extracurricular activities in school sharing
COMMITTEE ACTION:
SF 2076 establishes an Iowa employment rides initiative in the Department of Transportation (DOT) to offer competitive grants to public transit systems that provide employment transportation. A grant cannot exceed $150,000, and a grant application must show at least a dollar-for-dollar match. Grant funds are for operational costs directly associated with providing employment transportation. A public transit system may coordinate with other local, state or federal government agencies and private nonprofit organizations in administrating the employment transportation effort and expenditure of grant funds. Grant recipients must provide the DOT with information on their employment transportation effort. The DOT will submit an annual report to the Legislature by January 1 each year. The DOT will adopt administrative rules to administer the initiative, including an application process and grant award criteria. The bill appropriates $1 million to DOT per year for fiscal years 2015, 2016 and 2017. [2/18: 8-5, party-line]
SF 2101 revises the method of calculating the excise tax on compressed natural gas used as a special fuel and establishes an excise tax on liquefied petroleum gas used as a special fuel. Both rates are calculated to be equivalent to the motor fuel tax. For compressed natural gas used as a special fuel, that rate is 21 cents per gasoline gallon. A gasoline gallon equivalent of compressed natural gas is 5.66 pounds. For liquefied natural gas used as a special fuel, the tax rate equivalent is 22.5 cents per diesel gallon. A diesel gallon equivalent of liquefied natural gas is 6.06 pounds of liquefied natural gas. [2/18: 13-0]
SF 2108 provides for a special license plate for recipients of the Sullivan Brothers’ Award of Valor or their surviving spouse. The award goes to peace officers and firefighters who perform heroic acts in the line of duty. The Department of Transportation (DOT), in cooperation with the Commissioner of Public Safety, will design a distinguishing processed emblem. The fee for issuance of the special plate is $25, and the annual renewal fee is $5. Both fees are in addition to the regular annual registration fee for the vehicle. The special plate fees will benefit the Special Olympics. The plates may be personalized, subject to additional fees. [2/18: 13-0]
SSB 3018, as amended in committee, defines “scrapping” to mean to dispose of a vehicle subject to registration to an authorized vehicle recycler or to destroy a vehicle subject to registration. Under current law, an authorized vehicle recycler license is required to operate as a vehicle rebuilder, used vehicle parts dealer or vehicle salvager. The definition of “vehicle salvager” includes those in the business of scrapping wrecked or damaged vehicles. [2/18: 13-0]
SSB 3118, as amended in committee, makes changes to Code section 321.306, which contains requirements for driving a vehicle on a laned roadways. Currently, the requirement to drive as nearly as practical entirely within a single lane is combined with the requirement not to move from the lane until safe to do so. The bill separates those two requirements to make them more easily enforceable. Pursuant to current law, a violation is a simple misdemeanor, punishable by a scheduled fine of $100. A violation that causes serious injury or death may be subject to an additional fine and driver’s license suspension. [2/18: 12-1 (Feenstra "no")]
SSB 3148 allows a teen with a special minor’s license to drive anytime between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. from their home or school of enrollment to another school by the most direct route to participate in extracurricular activities under a sharing agreement. The teen may also drive to the closest gas station to refuel. Currently, a person holding a special minor’s license may not drive to extracurricular activities outside the school district where they reside. [2/18: 13-0]