(Radio Iowa) – Committees in the Iowa House and Senate have approved a bill to require 100 percent in-person classes in Iowa schools. Republican Representative Phil Thompson of Jefferson says parents in some districts haven’t had the choice to send their kids to school every weekday. “As Iowa reopened its schools in the fall, the learning experiences have not been equitable for our children,” Thompson said. “National studies show that keeping children out of the classroom has resulted in significant learning loss.”

The bill is a priority for Republican Governor Kim Reynolds. Representative Tracy Ehlert, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids who is a teacher, says the bill is being fast-tracked before adequate safe guards are in place for students and educators.  “We are telling you what is going on and what is happening in these schools,” Ehlert said.

The Centers for Disease Control released a report this week showing there’s little evidence in-person classes in K-through-12 schools are contributing to the rapid spread of Covid-19. The C-D-C researchers did recommend schools require face masks, maintain social distancing and improve ventilation systems to keep infection rates low.

(Radio Iowa) – It would be illegal to use a hand-held smart phone while driving under a bill that’s being proposed again in the Iowa House. Susan Cameron Daemon is a lobbyist with the Iowa Sheriffs and Deputies Association — a group that’s been supporting a “hands-free” law for years. “Iowa is one of the few states that does not have this law,” she said, “and we know that it works and saves lives.”

Michael Triplett, a lobbyist for the Alliance for Automobile Innovation, says the companies in the alliance developed the technology in dashboards that now makes hands-free driving while talking on a cell signal possible. “You can access your phone while keeping both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road,” he says. Matthew McKinney, a lobbyist for Nationwide Insurance, asked legislators to consider also banning the use of other types of electronic devises, like Kindles, that could be held to read while driving.

“Whether it’s a communication device that actually communicates or whether it’s an electronic device and you’re distracted, you shouldn’t be,” he says. Matt Eide, a lobbyist for the ride-sharing company Uber, asked legislators to make an exception for Uber drivers. “They have to press some buttons to accept rides,” Eide says, “and they are going to use their phones, generally.”

The Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau first proposed a ban on handling a cell phone while driving in 2015, and former Governor Terry Branstad lobbied lawmakers, but the bill has repeatedly failed to pass the legislature. Iowa *is* among the 48 states that ban texting while driving.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley and his colleagues will be sworn in this (Tuesday) afternoon as jurors in the impeachment trial of former President Trump, even though it may be the second week of February before the proceedings get underway. “In a sense, the trial starts today, but then there’s been a gentleman’s agreement on all sides with all senators that we would give the president’s defenders two weeks,” Grassley says. “They’ve gotta’ have time to prepare the case.”

House leaders delivered the single article of impeachment to the Senate last night, charging Trump with incitement of insurrection in the January 6th attack on the U-S Capitol. The Constitution stipulates the U-S Supreme Court’s chief justice, currently John Roberts, would be in charge of such proceedings. However, as the former president pro tem of the Senate, Grassley, a Republican, says he’ll be swearing in the chamber’s longest-serving Democrat, Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, who will instead preside over the trial.

“For a president, it’s very clear that the chief justice must preside and a year ago, he did preside,” Grassley says. “Now, it isn’t President Trump that’s up. It’s Citizen Trump.” Some are questioning whether a -former- president can legally be impeached. “I suppose we’re going to be discussing among ourselves the legitimacy of even having an impeachment of a citizen,” Grassley says, “when the Constitution always talks about the president being impeached.”

Grassley says it’s a “reasonable argument” but he adds, “I’m not a lawyer” and says he’ll listen to the constitutional experts who will be testifying about how to move forward.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst says she believes it’s unconstitutional to try a president for articles of impeachment after he leaves office. Ernst was a loyal supporter of President Donald Trump while he was in office. She is among several Republican senators to question the impeachment proceedings, casting doubt on whether Democrats can get the needed Republican votes to convict Trump.

Ernst told reporters Tuesday that Trump exhibited poor leadership and has some responsibility for a Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. She says he should have more quickly told the crowd to remain peaceful. However, Ernst said she’s not sure his actions meet the definition of inciting an insurrection as alleged by the impeachment article prepared by the House..