DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Since winning control of both legislative chambers two years ago, Iowa Republicans have moved aggressively to block city and county government actions, leaving local officials frustrated but matching a trend seen in other states with single-party control.

Legislators in Iowa last year overturned already-enacted minimum wage increases in three counties, and this year they passed a sweeping immigration enforcement law threatening local governments with the loss of funding if they refuse to comply with the new requirements.

Traffic cameras, plastic shopping bags, minimum paid time off regulations and county election maps are among other areas targeted by efforts that resulted in a loss of local control since Republicans took over state government.

Iowa has plenty of company in so-called pre-emption laws, according to a study by the National League of Cities earlier this year that concludes state legislatures across the U.S. have become more “aggressive” in restricting local control.

Lori Riverstone-Newell, an associate professor at Illinois State University who studies state-level pre-emption laws, said the practice dates back to prohibition, but the strategy has grown over the past decade, largely in Republican-controlled states. She notes Democrats also have also pushed for pre-emption laws for different issues in states where they have control of government. “There’s no speed bumps. There’s nothing to stop them,” Riverstone-Newell said.

As tempting as such laws can be for legislators, Alan Kemp, executive director of the Iowa League of Cities, said one-size-fits-all approaches often have unintended consequences. Communities have different needs, depending on if they’re large or small, where they’re located and other factors, Kemp said. He said legislators across the country are under more pressure to adopt statewide policies on a variety of issues.

“A lot of power has devolved from the federal government down to the state level, and so legislators are in the position where they’re being approached by interest groups that are proposing changes that are beneficial to them,” Kemp said. Kemp said interest groups that would previously have been active in Washington have shifted lobbying efforts to state legislatures because of how difficult it’s become to get legislation through Congress. That’s created a different power dynamic, especially when one party controls state government.

Still, Rep. Jake Highfill, a Republican who chairs the Iowa House local government committee, doesn’t buy it. He said cities and counties are creations of the state government, and that the state’s home rule amendment grants them the power to do what they want — unless the state government tells them otherwise. “We have the right to do that,” Highfill said. “I don’t believe there is a giant uptick or anything else.”

Highfill said minimum wage, for example, falls under the state’s interest in commerce and labor law. He said that the immigration enforcement bill compels local jurisdictions to follow federal law, so local officials should take concerns to their congressional delegation instead of state representatives. Rep. Art Staed, the ranking Democrat on Highfill’s committee, said Republicans are “emboldened” by their control of state government and have adopted a “do what you want” attitude in matters of governance. He said there are more efforts now than in the past to pre-empt local authority.

“That’s troubling,” Staed said. “I think divided government was a good thing at preventing that.” Last year’s statewide ban on local minimum wage increases was openly described as “the pre-emption bill,” according to Lucas Beenken, public policy specialist for the Iowa Association of Counties. The law blocked efforts by a handful of counties to raise wages for workers, which in Iowa is set at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour for most workers. “That sends a pretty clear message,” Beenken said.

This year’s immigration bill took pre-emption further by adding a stiff penalty for noncompliance. The law requires jails to hold prisoners, who face no state criminal charges, past the time they would have been released if they receive an immigration detainer requests from the federal government. If a local government fails to do so, they could lose all their state funding.

“They’re in a very tough situation,” Beenken said. “They have to choose between incurring those additional costs — the unfunded mandate — and possibly violating an individual’s constitutional rights or causing their county to lose state funding.”
Mark Pertschuk, director of the California-based nonprofit Grassroots Change, which tracks pre-emption legislation nationally, said Iowa’s practices put it in the “middle of the pack.” In the past, national reports on pre-emption showed Iowa left more issues to local officials.

Pertschuk argued pre-emption laws hurt local political engagement. “It creates this cynicism and disengagement that really, really erodes democracy in a very dangerous way,” he said.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police say a child has died after being found in a Des Moines lake. Officers and firefighters were called to Gray’s Lake on Saturday evening after a 6-year-old child was reported missing. The girl had been playing with her family, who thought she might be in the water.

Police say firefighters started a search and quickly found the girl. They tried to resuscitate the child and rushed her to a hospital, where she died.

Gray’s Lake is a popular recreation area just south of the city’s downtown.

A collision on Interstate 29 in Pottawattamie County just after 5-a.m. Sunday, resulted in Iowa State Patrol Trooper and another person being transported to the hospital. The Patrol reports 28-year old Maximo Regaldo, of Columbus, NE., was driving a 2009 Pontiac G8 northbound on I-29 near the Highway 92 interchange (Mile Marker 47), when his car crossed onto the left shoulder and rear-ended a 2015 State Patrol Dodge Charger, that was parked on the inside shoulder.

The Pontiac came to rest on its top, behind the Dodge, which came to rest against a concrete retaining wall. Regaldo, who was not wearing a seat belt, and is suspected of driving while intoxicated, was transported to Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs. 45-year old Trooper Tiege Melby, of Logan, who was wearing a seat belt, was transported to Jennie Edmundson Hospital. A report on their conditions was not available.

The accident remains under investigation.

Police in Red Oak, Saturday night, arrested a man for Public Intoxication, a simple misdemeanor. 33-year old Jeremy Ray Dilocker, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 9:50-p.m. in the 200 block of E. Coolbaugh Street. He was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $300 cash bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:55 a.m. CDT

DOON, Iowa (AP) — A railroad official says 14 of 32 derailed oil tanker cars in the northwest corner of Iowa dumped an estimated 230,000 gallons of crude oil into floodwaters, with some making its way to nearby rivers. BNSF spokesman Andy Williams confirmed the details Saturday. He says nearly half the spill had been contained with booms near the derailment site and an additional boom placed approximately 5 miles downstream.

WEBSTER CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Webster City Council has approved the purchase of a historic downtown building with plans to restore the structure’s facade. The Messenger reports that the City Council approved the $40,000 purchase of the former Elks Club building Monday. The two-story building was built in 1906. A city official says the building’s current owner plans to move her belongings out by Sept. 3.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Volunteers turned out this week in Des Moines to build kits to help boost the reading skills of kids. United Way of Central Iowa hosted Literacy Solstice on Thursday. All day, volunteers from around central Iowa created 1,000 literacy kits that each includes a book and activities to reinforce literacy skills.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa City is expecting tens of thousands of people to attend its second Downtown Block Party this weekend. Last year’s inaugural Downtown Block Party drew an estimated 30,000 people to the downtown area. The event, which runs from 5-11 p.m. Saturday, includes live music, sand volleyball, a fashion show, ping pong, mini golf, tug-of-war tournament and outdoor movie.