Emergency responders ask governor to partially veto bill

DES MOINES — Emergency response officials are warning about the potential impacts of legislation passed in the final moments of this year’s session and are asking Gov. Kim Reynolds to veto a provision.

The policy was attached to Senate File 659, the catchall “standings” budget bill in literally the final minutes of a 21-hour final day of the 2025 session of the Iowa Legislature.

Under the provision in question, the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management could request reimbursement from local 911 service boards for “reasonable costs” related to call traffic to public safety answering points, or PSAPs. The local boards would have 30 days to provide the reimbursement.

While lawmakers and emergency response officials cite the need to prevent a budget shortfall at the state agency that manages 911 infrastructure, local government officials say the bill’s language could leave them with surprise bills they can’t necessarily afford without sacrificing long-term project funds.

“There’s a perception from legislators that local service boards have a lot of money,” said Washington County 911 Dispatch Supervisor Cara Sorrells. “Washington County, when we did the building and the radio project, that project was $7 million, that’s a lot of money. And if certain counties have to do a project like that … we just don’t have that much money sitting around to pay that. We have to save up.”

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Stakeholders have also expressed concern about the legislation’s ambiguity, since SF 659 doesn’t set a limit on how much the state agency can bill to local public safety answering points at a time, and gives them only 30 days to pay.

“Not only was this provision passed in the middle of the night without stakeholder input, the legislature had previously failed to advance it out of a full committee in the House,” said Chris Jasper, president of Iowa’s National Emergency Number Association chapter, in a press release last month. “There are serious unintended consequences for every Iowan if this law takes effect. Local 911 boards and dispatch centers already operate on razor-thin budgets. Surprise bills from the state could lead to staffing cuts, delayed equipment upgrades, and slower emergency response — especially in rural communities.”

Because the policy is part of an appropriations bill, Gov. Kim Reynolds has the authority to issue a line-item veto that would strike only the 911-related provision and leave the rest of the bill intact. Advocates across the state have called on her to do just that.

Washington County Sheriff Jared Schneider said such a move would relieve stress on local emergency response agencies, though he acknowledged it wouldn’t fix expected funding shortfalls at the state level, something many advocates say could be fixed with a 25-cent increase to the surcharge on phone lines.

He pointed out that Washington County voters in 2012 approved a $1.50 surcharge, before that number was reduced by state legislation mandating a uniform $1 limit in 2013.

“I understand something needs to be done to help 911 funding on the state side and the local side, but I don’t know that this language is going to be the fix,” he said. “When somebody picks up the phone and dials 911, it takes the 911 surcharge to be able to dispatch those services needed in the situations we deal with on a daily basis. When there’s a potential funding cut … that is a definite concern at the local level.”

But supporters of the provision say it’s a lifeline for the state’s 911 system. State Rep. Mike Vondran, a Republican from Scott County who is vice chair of the State House Public Safety Committee, said he’d heard local agencies’ call for a higher surcharge, but said SF 659’s provisions were a more fiscally responsible solution.

“Statewide there is a balance of $66,238,623 with only 47% of that amount identified as assigned,“ he said. ”So again, why would the State create a new tax. If it is an urgent matter to a particular local PSAP then why not ask the County to create the local tax?

Vondran downplayed the provision’s financial impact on local emergency response departments, saying it was limited to “reasonable” expenses, and would be offset by the same funding mechanisms that have financed the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for decades.

He said the money channeled by SF 659 would make possible a $3 million upgrade to the statewide 911 system. The lawmaker said Henry and Jefferson counties alone had a combined budget surplus totaling over $1 million at their 911 agencies. Washington County, he said, had $907,375, though he noted that money was already earmarked for a project, citing state reports.

Vondran acknowledged concerns like Sorrells’ about project funding, but said those fears were largely overblown.

“I would ask them, when was the last time they replaced a tower, when was the last time a tower fell down? It doesn’t happen every day,” he said. “They’ll still continue to be able to save up for those project, it’s just that they may not be able to save up as much from one year to the next for the next couple of years.”

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Reynolds said last month that people have reached out to her office about the provision, and that some have asked her to veto it. She added that her staff are listening to stakeholders and researching the topic while she considers whether to sign the provision into law or veto it. She has until June 14 to decide.

“It’s a critical system. We want to make sure that we sustain it. It’s really important to keep Iowans safe,” Reynolds said Friday while recording her appearance on an episode of “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS. “A component of this also is that they’re sitting on $66 million in surplus.

“So we have to take all of that into account and make sure we understand what their concerns are, what (the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management) is looking at, and find a compromise that works for everyone — but most importantly, that keeps that system sustainable and make sure that we are taking into account the safety of Iowans.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com