Ames senator calls for special session to override veto of eminent domain bill
Sen. Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames, announced Monday he submitted a request to Senate leadership, calling for a special session to override the governor’s veto of a bill pertaining to eminent domain and carbon dioxide pipelines.
Quirmbach joins 70 members of the House, from both parties, who signed a petition in June, calling for a special session to override the veto. Two-thirds of senators would have to agree with Quirmbach for a special session to be called.
Quirmbach said he’s not sure if his request, submitted July 3 to Senate President Amy Sinclair, R-Allerton, will be effective in mobilizing enough senators for a special session, but said he “personally felt it was important to make (his) opposition clear.”
“I think we should do something about eminent domain this year,” Quirmbach said in a call with Iowa Capital Dispatch.
The bill, , was highly during session, resulting in hours of floor and closed-door debates before the Senate 27-22.
This followed several years of bills aimed at eminent domain reform, and limiting the abilities of carbon sequestration pipelines, that passed the House but were not taken up by the Senate.
HF 639 was vetoed by Gov. Kim Reynolds, who said the bill included “sweeping mandates that reach far beyond their intended targets.”
About the bill
House File 639 would have increased insurance requirements for hazardous liquid pipelines, limited carbon pipeline permits to one 25-year term and changed the definition of a common carrier for pipelines, making it more difficult for the projects to use eminent domain. It also included several provisions related to the Iowa Utilities Commission. In her explanation of her decision to veto the bill, Reynolds instructed the IUC to follow a provision in the bill requiring commissioner attendance at hearings and meetings.
The bill would have affected the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline, which would stretch close to 1,000 miles through Iowa to connect to biofuel facilities and transport their captured carbon dioxide to underground storage in North Dakota. The project would allow the biofuels industries, and the associated feedstock industries, to enter the ultra-low carbon fuel market.
Quirmbach, in a statement, said he’s not opposed to the pipeline project, nor the ethanol industry, but said the project would need to clear certain “hurdles” related to safety and land acquisition.
“If the pipeline would generate such large financial gains to Summit, it should offer landowners prices generous enough to secure voluntary sales,” Quirmbach said. “Use the voluntary market, not government force.”
Summit Carbon Solutions has said in previous statements it has secured voluntary easements for 75% of its first-phase route through Iowa, which equates to $175 million in contracts with more than 1,300 Iowans.
Quirmbach said he submitted the request as a “personal desire” and said he had not spoken with any of his Democratic colleagues.
Iowa Senate Democrats did not respond to requests for comment on their willingness to support a petition for special session.
Sen. Sinclair and Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver did not respond to requests for comment, but have previously expressed they agreed with the governor’s decision to veto the bill. Whitver has said Senate Republicans “would not be interested” in a special session for a veto override.
House Republicans, who led the charge on the bill and on the House’s call for special session, did not respond to requests for comment.
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