Des Moines Register
Prospects appeared grim for legislation that would require Iowa truck stops, gas stations and convenience stores to offer fuel with higher blends of ethanol and biodiesel after a state Senate subcommittee heard Thursday from farm, fuel and transportation leaders who offered opposing views on the bill s impact.
Gov. Kim Reynolds and House Speaker Pat Grassley have acknowledged problems getting the bill passed in the Legislature s waning weeks, even with intense efforts to reach a compromise.
Reynolds introduced setting a standard for renewable fuels use in January, saying it would help support farmers. Iowa leads the nation in ethanol and biodiesel production and in growing corn and soybeans, the raw materials needed to make the biofuels.
IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH
Fuel retailers and trucking groups criticized the latest version of a proposal to set state biofuel standards, clashing during a Thursday morning meeting with agriculture groups that support the bill.
“This bill, as written, is detrimental to the retail industry and consumers at large,” said Jason McDermott, owner of several Iowa convenience stores and the McDermott Oil Company.
Lawmakers plan to amend Senate File 549 to match a proposal in the House by Rep. Lee Hein, R-Monticello. The bill will require Iowa fuel retailers to sell E-15, gasoline with a 15% ethanol blend, by 2026.
Farming groups supported the proposal. Iowa is the nation’s top provider of both corn and ethanol, but much of Iowa’s ethanol is sold out of state. Mindy Larsen-Poldberg, director of government relations for the Iowa Corn Growers Association, said the group “enthusiastically and wholeheartedly” supported the bill.
Radio Iowa
You are here: Home
Speaker says Iowa Renewable Fuels Standard a ‘difficult push’ in 2021
Dan Dawson
The chairman of a key committee says a “complicated proposal” to expand use of ethanol and biodiesel in Iowa hasn’t been “killed” for the year, but Senator Dan Dawson says it’s not “greased for passage” either.
“What the future looks like, I cannot tell,” Dawson said Thursday. “…There’s a lot more work to be done on this before we find any consensus.”
Dawson was among a handful of Senators who listened to feedback on the plan for about an hour yesterday. It began with Logan Shine, an advisor to Governor Kim Reynolds, suggesting critics were spreading “misinformation” about what Reynolds has called a Renewable Fuels Standard for Iowa.
April 30, 2021
Des Moines, Iowa The chairman of a key committee says a complicated proposal to expand use of ethanol and biodiesel in Iowa hasn’t been killed for the year, but Senator Dan Dawson says it’s not greased for passage either.
(as said) “What the future looks like, I cannot tell,” Dawson said. “…There’s a lot more work to be done on this before we find any consensus.”
Dawson was among a handful of Senators who listened to feedback on the plan for about an hour Thursday. It began with Logan Shine, an advisor to Governor Kim Reynolds, suggesting critics were spreading misinformation about what Reynolds has called a Renewable Fuels Standard for Iowa.
For the second time this session, some Republicans are pushing legislation to cut unemployment insurance benefits.
Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, filed a bill Monday that requires workers who lose their jobs to wait a week before receiving payments. During a subcommittee hearing Wednesday, a pair of business lobbyists said the measure would prevent increases in a tax on employers and give Iowa Workforce Development more time to weed out fraudulent claims.
The Senate Ways & Means Committee approved the bill, 10-5, on Wednesday night, moving the legislation to the chamber floor for another vote.
The proposal comes after Iowa issued $1.25 billion in unemployment insurance benefits in 2020, by far the most the state has paid in a single year. Employers laid off a record number of workers because of business shutdowns and curtailments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.