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ICC Newsletter – April 10, 2015

By April 10, 2015No Comments

State legislators have not been able to come to an agreement on public school funding levels. This has drastically slowed work on the state budget. Typically, a target date for the end of the session is when the reimbursement of daily expenses for legislators ends – this year on May 1. It seems unlikely that the legislature will be finished by May 1 this year.

On Wednesday the Iowa House passed SF 448 and sent the bill to the governor. The Iowa Catholic Conference had opposed a provision of SF 448 that permits a life sentence without parole for juveniles. Some young people – even those who commit terrible crimes – may be able to rejoin society outside of prison. The law should carefully take into account the moral and cognitive development differences between a juvenile and an adult.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has filed a “friend of the court” brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on the cases challenging state laws which define marriage as a union of one man and one woman. It contains a good explanation of the Church’s teaching on the issue. The USCCB has also posted some questions and answers on the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.