State Senate split reduces number bills debated

Thursday was a deadline day of sorts for legislators. Bills that do not deal with taxes or spending had to win a committee’s approval, or the bills are dead for the year. One of the casualties was a bill that set a statewide anti-bullying policy for Iowa schools. One of the survivors was a bill that revamps Iowa’s bottle deposit law. The Iowa Senate’s even partisan split did dramatically reduce the number of bills on which both republicans and democrats could agree, prompting Senator Bill Dotzler to make this observation. “There’s been frustration about bills coming in and out of the Senate, and in my mind it’s starting to resemble a roach motel,” Dotzler says. “Those bills come in but they don’t come out.” Dotzler is a democrat from Waterloo.