Government : Week Three of the 2026 Legislative Session

This was a busier week for me in the Senate, with subcommittees taking place and the scheduling of meetings for the upcoming week.
 
On Monday, I started off the week with a subcommittee for SSB 3010. This bill prohibits a person from engaging in polluting atmospheric activities, cloud seeding, or any other type of weather engineering. This bill would also prohibit a person from using an unmarked or unidentified aircraft or other vehicle or facility to engage in any type of weather engineering. While I chaired the bill, Senator Alons and Knox served on the committee and the bill was passed and is on to committee.
 
On Tuesday, I chaired another subcommittee for SSB 3014, with Senator Bennett and Senator Sires. This bill seeks to outline permissible and impermissible uses of artificial intelligence by state agencies as well as provide transparency as to what artificial intelligence programs are being utilized by state agencies. This bill passed through subcommittee.
On Wednesday, I was eager to help pass SSB 3080, a popular bill that many Iowans have shown support for. Commonly known as the “Nursing Home Bill,” SSB 3080 is a bill that provides a process in which a resident or a resident representative may conduct electronic monitoring of the resident’s room through the use of an electronic monitoring device placed in the resident’s room. Many Iowans have been concerned about the safety and care of nursing homes residents, and this legislation addresses some of those concerns.
In addition to the subcommittee work, the Capitol rotunda saw a lot of activity this week. Wednesday featured the Iowa Automatic Merchandising Association Day on the Hill, followed by the Iowa Firefighters Association’s annual chili cook-off on Thursday.
 
Senate eminent domain legislation moves forward
 
This week the Senate’s proposal on creating a voluntary easement corridor and protecting the private property rights of every Iowan moved forward in the Iowa Senate. Under consideration was House File 2104, a bill from the Iowa House that would function as a ban on carbon oxide pipelines in Iowa. 
 
The discussion on eminent domain and hazardous liquid pipelines has been around the Capitol for years. We understand the frustration, the passion, and appreciate the conversations that have been ongoing on how to address the concerns we are hearing. We want to address those concerns and protect the property rights of all Iowans - both those who want to participate in a project, and those who don’t. Not only that, but we also want to ensure Iowa’s economy still has room to grow, produce good-paying jobs, and expand markets for Iowa’s agricultural products.
 
The bill, as amended in the Senate Commerce Committee, creates a voluntary easement corridor to allow a hazardous liquid pipeline company to find alternative routes with landowners who want to work with them. It also requires the company to diligently exhaust those alternatives in efforts to all but eliminate the use of eminent domain. It would add additional regulations for hazardous liquid pipeline companies when talking to landowners, provide more transparency measures, and ensure proper communication with landowners who may be interested in participating. It also provides options for landowners who are uninterested in participating to opt out of further communication with that company. 
 
The proposal allows a company, any time after the mandatory county informational meeting, to contact a landowner within a voluntary easement corridor for the purpose of proposing voluntary purchase of easements. The voluntary corridor is the county where the meeting was held or five miles on either side of the notice corridor. A company must provide a landowner all the information presented at the informational meeting and provide landowners with a right to opt out of any further contact from the company except for mail. The proposal also adds additional transparency for landowners by requiring the company to inform a landowner about the easement it seeks, to request permission to conduct a civil survey, and requires a company to present, at a county informational meeting, a template easement and an easement valuation methodology. Additionally, the proposal allows a pipeline company to hold a separate general informational meeting, without proposing specific easement terms, to facilitate healthy communication between the company and any interested landowner.

The proposal, as amended, in committee, is still highly controversial. At this time, I see no indication that any members in the Senate have changed their (voting) position from last year. However, I will let each member speak for themselves on the issue.

Respectfully,
Charlie