Sale of Liquor in Convenience Stores Stirs Debate

The question of whether to allow Iowa convenience stores to more easily sell hard liquor has stirred a surprising, emotional end-of-session debate in the Iowa legislature that's been likened to past debates about another vice - gambling.

Representative Jodi Tymeson (R-Winterset) compared the issue to TouchPlay, the devices resembling slot machines that four years ago ended up in bars, convenience stores, grocery stores, and restaurants across the state. Lawmakers eventually ended up banning the devices. "For any of you that are wondering whether Iowans are going to like hard liquor in convenience stores, I just ask you to reflect back on how much they liked having TouchPlay machines in convenience stores," she said.

The liquor issue was brought up this week by the Iowa Senate as an amendment to House File 809, the administration and regulation budget bill. Convenience stores can only sell hard liquor if they install a separate door, a walled-off section, a separate cash register, and a separate person ringing up liquor sales.

Under the Senate amendment, liquor could be sold just like any other merchandise on convenience-store shelves. But on Thursday, the Iowa House rejected that change on a 63-24 vote.

"One of the problems that I see we have in urban communities, and particularly poor communities, minority communities, is the fact that there is an abundance of alcohol, beer, various liquors," said Representative Deborah Berry (D-Waterloo). "To me, by making it easier, I do believe that we are going to see an increase in alcoholism among our young people, an increase in communities that are already distressed. Look at the human capital side of this."

But Representative Steve Lukan (R-New Vienna) said convenience stores should make the choice for themselves whether they want to sell hard liquor. He said many state actions, such as the increase in the cigarette tax, have worked against these businesses.

"This is about keeping businesses open in a lot of places," he said. "We've done an awful lot to weigh down small-business people in this state. I'm not a super big fan of drinking, but I come from a small-business background. I know how hard it is to keep those places open and keep those places going."

Representative Doug Struyk (R-Council Bluffs) called the Senate move to more openly sell liquor in convenience stores "a brave thing" and noted how those stores already sell beer, wine, lottery tickets, and other things that you must be 18 or 21 to buy. He compared the issue to only allowing floating casinos.

"Convenience stores do an awful lot of age-regulated things, and they're able to handle that," Struyk said. "All we're doing is removing a fallacy. We're removing the waterbed underneath the casinos ... We were living on a pipe dream there of having gaming only on water. Thinking that a convenience store is more able to regulate people buying hard alcohol because they have a separate cash register and a door is the same fallacy."

The issue appears dead for the year. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal (D-Council Bluffs) said later Thursday that given the vote in the House, he doesn't plan to spend a lot of time trying revive the issue.

Democratic Leaders Tell Schools to Stop Issuing Pink Slips

Iowa Democratic legislative leaders on Thursday called on school administrators across the state to immediately stop sending out pink slips to teachers, saying that federal stimulus money will be used to to fill budget gaps and prevent these layoffs.

"Help is on the way," Gronstal said. "Use the stimulus funds as directed to fix your budget shortfalls and prevent teacher layoffs. Now is not the time to dismantle Iowa's schools."

House Speaker Pat Murphy (D-Dubuque) said a portion of the $386 million that Iowa received from the federal-stimulus package for education will be used to fully fund 4-percent allowable growth for the 2009-10 school year.

"We will get through these tough times, and we will do it without harming the educational progress of our children," Murphy said. "Most children get only one chance to be a third-grader. We are working together to help each child make the most of that opportunity."

One district, Cardinal of Eldon in southeast Iowa, sent out pink slips to 23 of its 51 teachers. "You heard that right," Gronstal said. "The district sent out pink slips to nearly 50 percent of its teachers. This is outrageous. In the next few days, we will vote to direct large amounts of stimulus dollars to public education."

The Democrats also cited more than a dozen other school districts that are threatening to fire a large number of their staff: Bettendorf, Central City, Grinnell, Independence, Clinton, Columbus Junction, River Valley, Sac City, Sibley, Solon, Knoxville, Battle Creek, and Wall Lake.

But Larry Sigel, school-finance director for the Iowa Association of School Boards, defended school districts' actions. He said by law, pink slips must be sent out by April 30, or teachers' contracts are automatically renewed. On average, about 80 percent of a school district's budget is used to pay for personnel.

Sigel said that while lawmakers plan to fully fund allowable growth, that doesn't necessarily mean an increase in money for every school district, because the money is distributed per pupil.

Last fall, 249 (69 percent) of Iowa's school districts reported a decrease in certified enrollment, according to the Iowa Department of Education. Even with 4-percent allowable growth, more than 100 districts are on the state's budget guarantee, which has helped to keep shrinking districts afloat.

"We're very thankful for 4 percent in this economic climate," Sigel said. "But federal stimulus just supplants state dollars. It doesn't address declining enrollment. It's not a silver bullet."

Right to Sue for Consumer Fraud Sent to Governor

In a matter of hours, a bill that would allow Iowa victims of consumer fraud to sue was approved 95-1 by the Iowa House and 48-0 by the Senate, sending it to the governor's desk. Should he sign the bill, Iowa would join the rest of the nation in allowing such lawsuits.

AARP said it was disappointed in the watered-down version of House File 712, which the group said is not as powerful and has protections that are too limited. However, the group representing Iowa's elders said passage of the bill will still provide a significant increase in protection for Iowa consumers and removes Iowa's dubious 10-year distinction of being the only state that does not allow consumers to have an individual legal remedy against consumer fraud.

A statement from the organization read: "Specifically, AARP continues to express our long-stated concerns with the number of industries exempted and shielded from action in the bill passed today. We are particularly concerned about the insurance industry and the recent decision seemingly out of the blue to add the cable industry to the exempted groups. AARP will be vigilant in monitoring the effects of these exemptions on consumers."

This weekly summary comes from IowaPolitics.com, an online government and politics news service. IowaPolitics.com staff contributed to this report.

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