Smoking Ban Passes, Gronstal-ing, and get ready for higher taxes on Gasoline
Nathan Greene
2 Comments
Iowa Smoking Ban Sent to Governors Desk
Yesterday the Iowa House and Senate passed the smoking ban. The bill will go into effect on July 1st. People in Iowa will still be able to smoke in the gambling areas of casinos, outdoor areas of bars, the outdoors areas of county fairs and the State Fair except the grandstands, in limousines, in designated areas of correctional facilities, the state Veterans home, Iowa National Guard facilities, and in retail tobacco stores.
As I’ve said before I’m not a fan of smoking, but I really think that the business owners of this state got the short end on this one. On one hand legislators tell us we need a ban because of second hand smoke, but on the other they make a bunch of exemptions. The most notable exemptions are the outdoor spaces at a bar and gaming floors at casinos. If smoking and second-hand smoke is such a threat and infringement on other people why is it ok to smoke in parts of a casino or in an outdoor patio at a bar?
If you are going to ban smoking in Iowa businesses, we should treat all businesses equally. I guess it’s unrealistic to think the Democrats would do something like that.
Gronstal-ing
The hullabaloo over the Democrats rush job of the collective bargaining expansion bill has died down. Why is that the case? Because people these days have the attention span of a chicken. This plays right into Gronstal’s hands. He holds the bill captive while the public outrage dies down, and when the time is right sends it to Culver for his signature.
It’s nice that the Iowa Future Fund wanted people to call legislators and urge Culver to veto the bill, but I actually think we would have been better off if they would have called for a public hearing. This would have allowed local school boards, county supervisors, and city administrators the opportunity to speak out against the bill. It will be difficult to generate the same passion when Gronstal actually sends the bill to Culver. Mark my words Culver will sign this because his political future depends on it.
Gronstal is just sitting back laughing at Culver and the Republican opposition.
Feeling the cash crunch when you fill up? Don’t worry Chet Culver wants to raise the state taxes on gas…
This week Governor Culver said he was open to an increase in the Gas Tax. Culver said that he just wants to make sure motorist “are on the idea that it's needed to pay for road construction projects.”
What a classic out-of-touch comment from an elected official. I know one thing that motorist are not sold on, paying more for gas! As the economy does a nose dive and gas is rumored to be heading to $4.00 a gallon this summer one would think the last thing state government would do is increase the tax on gasoline.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big believer in infrastructure and roads, but if the money is truly needed then state government should find it some place besides the taxpayer’s wallet.
So while Gronstal is forcing Governor Culver to sign the collective bargaining expansion bill, Chet is going to force Gronstal and other legislative leaders to pass an increase in the Gas Tax because Culver’s position is backed by the Iowa Farm Bureau and the construction industry.
All this adds up to bad news for the Iowa taxpayer. And let’s not forget that there is a bill in the legislature that raises fees on every thing under the sun that have wheels on it in Iowa. What a disaster.
Reader Comments (2)
Seems to me like this is common ground for Republcians. Gas was 1.60 when Bush took office, but than again I dont expect you youngsters to remember that far back
So, the democratic legislature and the democratic governor want to raise the gas tax, and you take this opportunity to blame the republicans?