Government : In the Statehouse with District 39 Rep. Dawn Pettengill

When I got home on Saturday afternoon, there were robins! That made my day. Then, for the first time in weeks I was in town in time for the post office lobby, opened my box and there was the dreaded yellow sheet that directs you to the postmaster. Huh. Since I can't be there when the postmaster is there, I'm in a quandary on mail now. All in all, just being home made it good. The mail will work itself out. Last week, several of the bills I floor managed were a big deal for our district. In 2007, Plumbing and Electrical Statewide Licensing became law. The idea behind it and why it went through unanimously was to have one license, rather than one in every city the person worked in. Each city charged something different and had different requirements, the fees and requirements became standardized. What many of the rural legislators didn't realize was most of our cities didn't have licenses and if they did, it was inexpensive to do business there. And the rules that were promulgated from the law were rigorous and expensive! So much so that when we heard about what was happening, all we could say was "We didn't vote for that." We have been trying to fix it ever since. I had two repeal bills, to get rid of both programs. Each have been running for several years and turned out to be difficult to repeal, especially with the Senate saying the only way they would take up either bill, all parts of it would have to be agreed on by all parties. There are many people who have a stake in it after operating this long, so I set to work on getting agreement on whatever I could to reduce the burden on our plumbers and electricians. First up was the plumbing bill. Here are the changes as it left the House: * Moves licenses to a 3 year license from a 2 year license. * For the 2011, 2012 licensing cycle, the fees will be. 1. Reduces the master license fee from $250 to $125. 2. Reduces additional master license fees to a 30% reduction of the $125.00. Plumbing, Hydronics, Refrigeration, HVAC, General 3. Reduces the Journeyman and Apprenticeship license from $100 to $50. 4. Any person who has purchased an initial license this year, will have the applicable amount refunded. If they have purchased a renewal already, the entire amount will be refunded. 5. Requires the board to submit a report to us including a 3 year balance sheet projection, if revenues exceed their expenses by more than 10%, the board shall adjust their license fees accordingly no sooner than January 1, 2014. 6. For the 3 million dollar overpayment to the Plumbing Board, a letter will be sent to all current license holders with the law changes. The letter will notify all license holders of their renewal fee for the next 3 years will be waived. If the license will not be renewed, the Board will issue a refund to the license holder of ½ of their license costs from 2009 or 2010. The Board will not issue that refund until the license has expired. * Moves the CEUs required to a 3 year time period from a 2 year time period. * Some definition changes to “hydronic”, “refrigeration” and “HVAC” for the industry. * Disconnect Language for the industry. * The 8 page application will be 2 pages in length + 1 security page. * If you are working on your non-income producing property, you are exempt. If you are working on your summer house you are exempt. If you call a neighbor over to help you and they don’t get any payment, including a loaf of banana bread, they do not need to be licensed. * Late fees will be waived for 30 days after license expiration. * Paper filing fees will be waived if the application is not available online. * Short term volunteer efforts (Habitat for Humanity) does not require master licensure. * Local governments are prohibited from collecting impact fees and can only charge for their inspection program. Then on the Electrical Licensing, there wasn't much wiggle room because all parties would not agree. The House sent over: * An inspection exemption for agriculture building that do not have consumers in them. * Rural telephone companies will not have to have a licensed electrician on staff, but can contract it out. I anticipate the Senate will do some work on the electrical. I'm sending over what I had agreed on by all but one party and maybe they can work it out over there. Plumbing is about a 95% go. You can never tell what is going to happen around here. The Rules Hearings are going great and Sen. Kapucian and I have heard from over 800 Iowans on rules that are getting in their way of success. The coffees in our district are going well also. We have had varying opinions and I'm thankful the people in my district feel comfortable speaking their minds to Tim and I. We have to hear from all sides in order to make fair decisions for everyone. The next in district meetings will be on April 2nd -- Blairstown Community Center at 10:00 a.m. and the last one of the year is in the center of the universe...Mount Auburn's American Legion at 1:30. Hope to see you there! If you have any questions or concerns, please send me an email at dawn.pettengill@legis.state.ia.us or call the Capitol at (515) 281-6879. It's my honor to serve you. Yours truly, Dawn