Des Moines Register. December 20, 2017
Does Iowa really need to debate guns in childcare centers?
Some things don’t require legislative debate. Some things should be obvious: Loaded firearms don’t belong in childcare settings.
But Iowa has no rules about guns in licensed childcare centers. None. And parents have no right to know whether firearms are present.
So the Department of Human Services has proposed a few rules on the subject. The proposal doesn’t call for prohibiting firearms, as some states do. “While having weapons in any childcare setting is highly discouraged, the department is proposing allowance of weapons and firearms only under specific conditions to ensure the safety of children in care,” the proposed rules state.
Whoa, hold on there!
Gov. Kim Reynolds’ staff has blocked the rules. The governor wants more discussion. She suggests lawmakers may have to hash this one out.
No matter that administrators have the authority to set other rules for childcare operations, on such health and safety issues as hand-washing, pets, seat belts, medications and smoking. But guns? That goes too far.
Here are the proposed rules that are apparently an example of administrative overreach: Guns kept in child-care operations be locked away and kept separate from ammunition. Parents should be notified if a gun is kept on the premises. Any motor vehicles used to transport children shall not contain a loaded gun, and any ammunition in the vehicle shall be kept in a separate, locked container.
Does the governor agree?
“I think we’re going to discuss that,” she told reporters. “I think we want to bring all stakeholders to the table. We haven’t done that. We want to make sure that we’re looking at it from all perspectives, and then decide.”
Bringing all stakeholders to the table and looking at important public-policy issues from all perspectives: That would be a radical departure for the fast-and-furious Legislature, which rammed through all kinds of bills last session.
This is the same Legislature that also transformed Iowa’s guns laws last session, including allowing children to possess a pistol or revolver while under direct supervision of a parent or guardian. The legislation also expands Iowans’ right to use deadly force and allows them to carry concealed weapons in the Iowa Capitol. And it keeps secret the information on whether your child-care provider, babysitter, their strange-acting neighbor or anyone else has a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
So imagine what the Legislature could do on the question of firearms and childcare operations. It’s like giving a toddler a revolver.
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Quad-City Times. December 22, 2017
Guns above children
Guns above children. It’s the Iowa way.
Gov. Kim Reynolds’ administration this month killed off a set milquetoast proposed regulations drafted by state Department of Human Services that would have finally imposed basic requirements for firearm storage at childcare centers, reported the Des Moines Register.
The rules were pretty straight forward: Firearms must be unloaded and locked up, ammunition should be kept separately and parents should be notified if a childcare center keeps a weapon on the premises.
Clearly, DHS staffers considered this slate of proposed rules a watered-down compromise to what should be in place. They basically said as much in the documents attached to the rule, that went out of the way to note that it strongly discourages firearms in childcare facilities.
But even DHS’ incredibly self-aware fig leaf to Iowa’s gun lobby wasn’t good enough. Suddenly, and without warning, the proposed rules - designed to keep guns out of the hands of young children - disappeared from the Dec. 13 agenda of Iowa Council on Human Services, which must OK regulations before they take effect. Mark Anderson, chairman of Iowa Council on Human Services, said he had never seen an item just evaporate from the agenda like it did here.
It took just one call to Reynolds’ office from Iowa Firearms Coalition’s lobbyist to stop the common-sense process in its tracks.
There should be no question about who holds power over the Reynolds administration.
This week, Reynolds defended her decision to scuttle rules that can only be described as minimally invasive. The Legislature should hash it out, Reynolds said. There needs to be more discussion, she insisted.
In essence, Reynolds handed the issue to the GOP-run Legislature, which would rather see guns in courtrooms and bars than impose any type of limitation.
Reynolds punted, kicking the issue to the Legislature lest she be blamed for imposing even the most minor limits on gun owners. So much for strong leadership from the Governor’s Office, especially when heading into an election year.
Iowa’s in the minority regarding its lack of any regulation over guns in childcare centers. In 2013, a survey conducted by Early Learning Policy Group found that just 12 states don’t regulate guns in childcare centers. State-level regulations range from all-out bans to those similar to what DHS proposed.
And no one is arguing that the proposed rules were outside the authority of the Reynolds’ administration. Instead, the rush to quash the rules were all about politics.
They’re politics so toxic that even the rights of parents are superseded by bizarre hypothetical fever dreams where a gun owner might be inconvenienced. They’re politics so paranoid that even the most justified oversight of gun ownership is considered an attack on the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. They’re politics that have rendered the likes of Reynolds unwilling to face honestly legitimate questions about public safety, even that of children.
DHS officials were correct: Guns have no place in a childcare facility. But the agency’s proposed requirements for gun safes, ammunition storage and parental notification were a legitimate attempt to navigate politics that have paralyzed any and all honest discussion about guns in America.
Even that attempt didn’t cut it for an administration so cowardly that Iowa’s gun lobby unilaterally dictates policy.
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Sioux City Journal. December 22, 2017
Preservation of historic tax credits is good news
We join local leaders in expressing relief over the fact the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program survived within the tax bill passed by Congress this week.
Through the program, a 20 percent income tax credit is available for the rehabilitation of buildings determined by the Interior Department, through the National Park Service, to be “certified historic structures.”
Doing away with the program, administered by the National Park Service and Internal Revenue Service in partnership with state historic preservation offices, was part of the proposed original House tax reform bill; the proposed original Senate tax reform bill retained the program, but reduced the credit by half.
The final tax bill, approved by both chambers on Wednesday, preserves the 20 percent credit - albeit with one change. In the past, developers could claim the entire tax credit in one year. Moving forward, developers will be required to claim the credit over five years.
We would have preferred no changes to the federal historic tax credits program, but we view the final decision as a victory for our community nonetheless.
Between 2002 and 2016, according to the Sioux City Economic Development Department, federal historic tax credits were used for $60 million in Sioux City redevelopment projects, including the Orpheum Theatre, the former Martin Hotel building, the former Central High School, Municipal Auditorium, the Williges building and several Historic Fourth Street structures. This year, developers have announced plans to seek federal historic tax credits for additional high-profile projects, including renovation of the former Warrior Hotel building, the Davidson Building, the Commerce Building, a building most recently occupied by Hatch Furniture and the former Methodist Hospital building. Those planned projects represent more than $100 million in capital investment, according to the city’s Economic Development Department.
In all likelihood, those projects don’t happen without federal historic tax credits.
We can’t fathom why this program was targeted for elimination by the House and a significant cut by the Senate in the first place because its value - to communities, states and the nation - is proven by the return on investment it provides. Consider these numbers, provided by Sioux City’s Economic Development Department:
(asterisk) A total of 257 Iowa projects reflecting more than $1 billion in total development costs received federal historic tax credits between 2002 and 2016. Those projects created more than 19,000 construction and permanent jobs.
(asterisk) Since it began in the late ’70s, the program preserved more than 42,000 properties, leveraged nearly $132 billion in private investment and created more than 2.4 million local jobs in communities across the country.
(asterisk) To date, the program produced $1.20 to $1.25 in revenue to the U.S. Treasury Department for every dollar invested. (according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, $25.2 billion in federal historic tax credits have returned $29.8 billion in federal tax revenue.)
All federal programs should be so successful.
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Fort Dodge Messenger. December 23, 2017
This gift could cause serious harm
Drone owners must exercise great caution and follow the rules
No doubt some local residents will find remotely controlled miniature aircraft - drones, in popular parlance - under their Christmas trees next Monday. Recipients will tear open packages anticipating tons of fun.
Aircraft pilots have a different view. The proliferation of drones flown by irresponsible owners has created a new, potentially deadly, hazard for those who fly or ride in bigger craft.
National Transportation Safety Board officials have released a report on the first confirmed midair collision between a manned aircraft and a drone in this country. It occurred Sept. 21 over New York City, when a drone hit and damaged an Army helicopter. Those on the chopper were able to land it safely.
The drone’s operator was breaking virtually every rule in the book. He flew his craft about 2.5 miles away from where he was, despite a Federal Aviation Administration on flying drones out of sight of the operator, for one thing.
If you have a drone or get one this Christmas, enjoy it. But do so safely. Follow all the rules. Don’t be responsible for the first fatality involving a drone.
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