The Iowa House and Senate have voted to modify the program that lets gambling addicts sign onto a list that prevents them from entering an Iowa casino. Senator Roby Smith of Davenport said “Iowa’s program only offers a permanent lifetime ban, which can scare people away from taking this important first step towards treatment.”

The bill would give problem gamblers the option of a five-year ban from the casinos and it could be renewed every five years. Smith says counselors tell him many problem gamblers have recently been divorced, are dealing with the recent death of a loved one or the loss of a job. “This bill supports our goal of helping susceptible Iowans when they need it the most,” Smith says.

In 2013, Governor Branstad vetoed a similar bill, saying a gambling addiction lasts a lifetime and the voluntary lifetime exclusion from gambling facilities is the appropriate step. This year, an association that represents the professionals who help treat gambling addicts. The five-year casino exclusion option got the approval of all but two senators. It cleared the House last week on a 75 to 20 vote.

(Radio Iowa)

A bill that could dramatically expand the use of medical marijuana in Iowa is NEARLY ready for debate in the Iowa Senate, but it appears the bill as currently written has little chance of winning approval in the House. Representative Clel Baudler, a Republican from Greenfield, said “Three days after hell freezes over that bill will pass in the House.”

Baudler tried but failed to pass legislation out of a HOUSE committee earlier this year that would have set up growing and dispensing operations for cannabis oil in Iowa. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake, is a nurse. Upmeyer says the Senate bill goes farther than House Republicans want, but she’s not ruling out SOME action this year.

“There’s an opportunity to do more,” Upmeyer says. “I’m just not sure that’s the bill.” Upmeyer says one flaw in the Senate bill is there’s no limit on the amount of T-H-C that could be included in medical marijuana products sold in Iowa. T-H-C is the chemical compound in the plant responsible for most of the “high” associated with pot. Senators, meanwhile, are pressing ahead with their bill. It cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee Wednesday and will be considered in the Senate Ways and Means Committee today (Thursday).

Senator Tom Greene, a Republican from Burlington, is a retired pharmacist.”There are so many Iowans who have really kind of been left behind on treatment,” Greene says. “This is a pathway that we can provide for them an alternative use that has been approved in 28 other states, so it’s not a new idea.”

In 2014, the legislature legalized POSSESSION of cannabis oil as treatment for one condition: chronic epilepsy. That legal protection expires July 1st. Legislators say, at the least, they will vote to extend the law so patients who’ve been taking cannabis oil can continue the treatment, which many say has dramatically reduced the number of seizures.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A rule designed to protect the legal rights of farmers who grow chickens and hogs for the nation’s largest meat processors has been delayed by at least six months, halting an initiative rolled out in the final days of Barack Obama’s administration. The rule was first proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2010 but was met with resistance in Congress and by the meat processing industry.

SIDNEY, Iowa (AP) — Rebuffing President Donald Trump and Republican leaders on the GOP health care bill seemed like a major political misstep for Iowa Rep. David Young, who quickly was punished by a political action committee linked to Speaker Paul Ryan. Nearly three weeks later, voters in Young’s southwestern Iowa district _ Republicans and Democrats _ say the GOP congressman made the right move.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa is set to become the latest state to allow gun owners to keep firearms at their side while visiting the state Capitol. It’s a move that’s raised questions about how security workers would deal with armed visitors. Republican Gov. Terry Branstad plans to signs the measure Thursday as part of a wide-ranging gun bill. It will mirror similar activity at statehouses around the U.S. in recent years.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The owner of a gun that a 4-year-old boy used to kill himself last summer in Iowa has been charged with illegally owning the firearm after telling police he regularly used marijuana. Twenty-nine-year-old Daniel Henriksen pleaded not guilty Wednesday to being an unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm. He wasn’t there when Jayden Choate shot himself June 17 in Henriksen’s trailer in Elgin.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Senate Republicans are showing support for legislation that would expand a state medical marijuana oil program, but it appears to lack support in the House.

The Senate Appropriations subcommittee approved a bill Wednesday to expand Iowa’s existing medical marijuana program, which allows use of cannabis oil for some people with epilepsy. The new proposal would allow use of the oil to treat 18 conditions, including epilepsy and cancer, but still bans smoking marijuana.

The Department of Public Health says lawmakers would need to allocate money to start the program. If approved by other committees, senators say the bill could be eligible for debate next week by the full Senate. However, House Speaker Linda Upmeyer says the bill would need to be more limited to pass in the House.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican lawmakers trying to finalize the next state budget have proposed reducing money used on services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. A GOP-led budget committee approved a bill Wednesday that would cut about $1.4 million from victim assistance grants distributed through the Iowa Attorney General’s office.

The roughly $6.7 million budget for the grants had already been reduced by about $260,000 during mid-year spending cuts. Republicans say increased federal funding in recent years for victims will ensure no services are cut. Advocacy groups say the reductions will affect staffing and diminish the capacity to provide services.

The cuts are in the justice budget, which would get about $559 million in the spending year that goes into effect in July.