MUSCATINE, Iowa —Legislation that would improve roadways and reinforce the state’s role as a renewable energy leader are among those being worked on in the Iowa House, Rep. Nathan Reichert, D-Muscatine, said Saturday.

Speaking in front of a group of about 10 people at Musser Public Library, Reichert outlined several potential bills on which the House could vote, and defended his decision last week to support a statewide smoking ban that exempts casinos.

He said he voted for the ban in order to protect 99 percent of Iowans from secondhand smoke in the workplace now.

Casinos advocates and some members of the Legislature, he said, have argued that prohibiting smoking in casinos would decrease state gambling revenues. However, Reichert said, “when the case that they lay out disproves itself over the next few years, we can come back and take the casinos as well.”

During his two-hour session, Reichert also discussed legislation being crafted that includes:

n Time 21: A bill that aims to generate an additional $200 million in annual revenue to fund improvements to the state’s deteriorating road system.

The $200 million is needed annually as a 20 percent match from the state that could then help Iowa get up to $800 million in federal money.

“We need $1 billion (in) road spending in Iowa,” Reichert said.

“At the end of the day, we need to make a substantial investment in roads,” he said.

Since Gov. Chet Culver has threatened to veto any attempts to implement a gasoline tax that Reichert said is “overwhelmingly unpopular” with residents, the most likely source for the new revenue will be increased registration fees, he said.

Reichert said discussions at the sub-committee level include doubling the cost of drivers licenses to about $35; eliminating reduced registration fees for pickup trucks; and adjusting the drop-off in registration costs so the first decrease happens after four years instead of three, and increasing the minimum registration cost for older vehicles from as low as $8 up to $75.

Reichert said he doesn’t like the idea of raising drivers license fees, and has mixed feelings about whether legislation should include an exemption for small commercial businesses and farming operations. He said the tax code already compensates for work-use vehicles.

Several men in the audience said they would prefer a gasoline tax to the increased fees because the tax would share the costs of roadway maintenance with truckers and other out-of-state drivers who purchase gasoline in Iowa.

n A “Reichert-Kaufmann Dam Bill:” Reichert said he teamed up with Rep. Jeff Kaufmann, R-Wilton, to ask for  a “comprehensive study by the [Department of Natural Resources] ... about the potential of water turbines along the Mississippi.”

When the dams were built in the 1930s, Reichert said, turbine technology didn’t allow their use at low-head dams like those along the Mississippi River. But technology has improved, and Reichert said he and Kaufmann want to re-evaluate whether the dams could become a power source.

“We have about 368 low-head dams throughout the state right now that are already in place,” Reichert said. “You could easily go back and retrofit some of these dams. If the water turbine technology’s in place, why wouldn’t you?”

Reichert said the bill is scheduled to leave the sub-committee level this week.

Reichert also said Iowa is the “epicenter of biomass in the United States,” and discussed how initiatives, such as the Power Fund approved by the Legislature last year, are encouraging innovations in renewable energy in the state.

Reporter contact information

Jennifer Meyer: 563-262-0525

jennifer.meyer@muscatinejournal.com