Iowa House sends policing bill to Gov. Reynolds’ desk

Over four months after Gov. Kim Reynolds proposed a “Back the Blue” policing bill, lawmakers have passed their own version of the legislation. The bill creates new penalties for protest-related crimes and gives qualified immunity to police officers.

The House voted 56-35 to pass the bill on Tuesday evening, sending the legislation to Reynolds for approval.

“We’re going to make sure we’re protecting law enforcement, we’re protecting their families, we’re giving them tools they need to keep our communities safe,” Rep. Jarad Klein, R-Keota, said.

Democrats in both chambers objected to the bill, arguing that the increased penalties for some crimes would chill people from protesting and disproportionately affect Iowans of color.

Rep. Mary Wolfe, D-Clinton, said the bill would arbitrarily enhance penalties on people who “just want to be heard.”

“The passage of this bill sends a very clear message to these Iowans — many of whom are young and smart and idealistic and just want to make the world a better place for all of us — it sends a message that the Iowa Legislature would really prefer that they all just sit down and shut up, or else,” Wolfe said.

Rep. Ras Smith, D-Waterloo, said the bill was especially disappointing nearly one year after legislators unanimously passed a bill to ban chokeholds and hold officers more accountable in cases of misconduct or violence.

“I had a lot of pride in those two weeks of sleepless nights … Today, we’ve abandoned that work,” Smith said. “We’ve betrayed the path that only three states in our nation started down last year.”

Klein responded that the bill did not undo last summer’s legislation: rather, he said it focused on a “different side” of the justice system.

“This was about protecting law enforcement, giving them the tools they need to keep our communities safe and showing them that we have their back,” Klein said.

— Perry Beeman contributed reporting