The Iowa Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee today passed SJR 2001 out of committee and up to the floor of the Senate on a 9-3 vote. SJR 2001 is the legislation removes the ban on lead shot that the Iowa Department of Natural Resources attempted to enact last year prior to the start of Iowa's new dove hunting season. There were approximately 50 supporters of the legislation present for the vote, most wearing blaze orange ball caps.
All committee members were present for the vote with the exception of Senator Bolkcom, who would likely have voted no since he voted to kill the bill in subcommittee. The Senators who voted no today were Hogg, Ragan, and Seng.
Here were some of the comments made prior to the vote:
Senator Hamerlinck offered that this vote is not about lead, but rather, it's about DNR circumventing the legislature and the Governor by enacting a ban that failed to pass as an amendment to the dove hunting bill last year, and failed to win favor of the Governor who said that he would not sign any legislation that he was handed that banned lead ammunition. The DNR passed this ban as a rule change at the 11th hour with no public input, and it took a huge effort to get the ban stopped - temporarily - until the legislature met again in this year.
Senator Hogg said that there are two sides to every story, and that DNR was concerned that there would be a large upswing in the number of hunters, and therefore, a large upswing in the amount of lead being placed in the environment by hunters. Therefore, they were simply acting in the best interest of the environment.
Senator Hahn stated that he has been reading a great deal of literature on the subject since this came up, and he simply cannot find hard, statistical evidence that lead in the environment is a public health risk or is a risk to wildlife.
Senator Dearden closed comments by saying that he believes this was the first attempt by DNR to eventually pass rules that would ban all lead from all hunting and fishing activities across the board had this been allowed to stand. He showed two examples of sinkers. One was a bag of 10 sinkers, produced locally (in his district), made from lead, and cost $1.50. The other was a blister pack of 3 titanium sinkers, made overseas, that cost $7.29. He wondered which one made more sense for Iowans to use? He also noted that since dove hunting season legislation passed, there were 22,000 registered dove hunters in Iowa. Passing the legislation did not add any expenses to the Iowa budget, but the 22,000 new hunters certainly added to the revenue generated by hunting activities.
Chris Rager of the NRA was also present today, and he was optomistic about the chances of this legislation passing in both the Senate and the House. HJR 2001 will have a committee vote on Thursday at 3:00 PM, and he is encouraging another good turnout by supporters that day as well. He believes that there are enough pledged votes to pass the legislation in the House Natural Resources Committee, as well as in the full Senate and House, but it still shows a strong sign of support when dozens of everyday people who are directly affected by the legislation show up for the votes.
In other news, HF 573 passed out of subcommittee today with a 2-1 vote. Voting yes were Representatives Windschitl and Baudler, while Rep. Rick Olson voted no. This means that the bill will now go to a full Public Safety Committee vote for consideration. HF 573 is the "Castle Doctrine / Stand Your Ground" legislation, also known as the "Iowa Family Defense Act." This important piece of legislation looks like it has a good chance of moving forward in the House.
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