Iowa Senate panel advance felon voting restrictions bill

DES MOINES (AP) — An Iowa Senate committee gave its nearly unanimous support to a bill that would place certain restrictions on a proposed constitutional amendment to allow convicted felons to vote.

The bill passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, making it eligible for full Senate debate. The bipartisan support may signify that Gov. Kim Reynolds could get her proposed constitutional amendment to lift the state’s ban on felon voting this year, but it might have limitations she has previously disliked.

If passed by the full Senate and the House and she signs it, the bill would take effect only if the Legislature and voters approve a separate constitutional amendment that would automatically restore felon voting rights upon the completion of a sentence.

Reynolds last year asked lawmakers to pass the constitutional amendment and House did on a vote of 95-2, without restrictions. However, some senators balked at restoring such rights before the complete repayment of restitution and wanted serious crimes such as murder and manslaughter excluded. Those crimes would still require a pardon or individual restoration of rights from the governor.

This year, senators offered a different bill imposing those exemptions and repayment requirements. Democratic Sen. Rob Hogg, of Cedar Rapids, who has opposed the repayment requirement voted against the bill.

Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen said she would have preferred a more inclusive bill but supported the measure because it helps expand access to the polls.

“Clearly if Democrats were in control we would have had a different piece of legislation coming out of the judiciary committee because we believe in expanding voter rights,” Petersen said. “Sometimes when you’re in the minority, you get what you get. It expands voter rights, but it’s not as extensive as I would like to see.”

It’s unclear if the bill’s restitution payment could withstand court challenge.

Just hours before the Senate committee passed the bill in Iowa, a federal appeals court in Atlanta declared a similar Florida requirement unconstitutional. The three-judge panel upheld a lower court’s preliminary injunction halting enforcement of the separate law implementing the voter-approved Florida requirement, which critics say amounts to an unfair poll tax that would disenfranchise many released felons.

Iowa Republican Sen. Dan Dawson, of Council Bluffs, an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agent who authored the Iowa bill, rejected that view.

“It’s not a poll tax. It’s not a fee. It’s a murder tax. It’s a sexual assault tax. It’s a tax that a court of law assessed in a criminal proceeding to say that this victim that you created out there is owed some compensatory damages,” he said.

Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley said Thursday that the House is willing to consider the Senate measure.

“We have given the indication to the Senate that we’re willing to work with them to decide what we can do to make it work,” Grassley said.

Reynolds said Wednesday that her main focus is to get the constitutional amendment passed. Lawmakers haven’t yet acted on that resolution. Reynolds said she’s comfortable with excluding the most serious crimes from automatic restoration of voting rights.

Although she has in the past opposed requiring repayment of fines, fees and restitution, she indicated a willingness to talk with lawmakers about payments tied to making crime victims whole.

“It is tied to the victims so its narrower than just court fees and fines so I appreciate that we should never ever lose sight of the victims in all of this,” she said. “It’s a good start and I look forward to just continuing that conversation.”