Brianne Pfannenstiel

bpfannenst@dmreg.com

A bill that would enact voter identification requirements continues to inch forward in the Iowa Legislature as lawmakers make a final push to close out the session.

The Iowa House approved House File 516 just before midnight Monday, making additional changes to a version of the legislation that was approved last month by the Senate. The Senate would need to agree to the House's revisions before the bill could advance to Gov. Terry Branstad for his signature.

The legislation would make significant changes to the state's election laws that Republicans say are needed to ensure the integrity of the process and prevent fraud.

"It’s going to increase voter integrity, it's going to set Iowa up to modernize our election system, and I think those are good things," said the bill's floor manager, Rep. Ken Rizer, R-Cedar Rapids.

But Democrats contend the measure is about "voter suppression," and they offered an amendment that would have vastly expanded the types of accepted identification to include things like student IDs, tribal IDs, Medicare cards and hunting licenses. The amendment was voted down by the House's Republican majority.

“If we were being honest about it being a voter ID bill, every one of these on this list would be an acceptable form of ID," said Rep. Dave Jacoby, D-Coralville.

More: Voter ID bill could spark fierce race for secretary of state

Rizer called the idea of voter suppression a "myth," saying he thinks the forms of identification outlined in the bill are adequate.

Those include driver's licenses, non-operator's licenses, passports, military ID cards or a new, free voter verification card. Those cards would include a signature and a four-digit personal identification number, and they would be issued to every voter who does not already have a state-issued driver's license or non-operators license.

The state initially would issue cards to an estimated 85,000 Iowans who qualify, and county auditors would be responsible for issuing the cards going forward.

“Those all rise to a very high level of authority and acceptance," said Rizer.

Democrats were critical of that provision, which the state's nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency now estimates will cost the state between $85,000 and $340,000. The agency estimates the total fiscal effect of the bill to be between $161,000 and $449,000 for the 2018 budget year.

Rep. Chris Hall, D-Sioux City, said the state should get its budget in order before committing to additional spending. To overcome a nearly $250 million budget shortfall earlier this year, legislators approved about $118 million in cuts and borrowed another $131 million from cash reserve funds.

“You don’t create new programs when you’re underfunding existing ones,” said Hall.

The bill also would eliminate the option for voters to check a single box for straight-party voting, put money toward helping precincts purchase digital poll books and establish post-election audits. It also would reduce the window to mail out an absentee ballot or vote early at the auditor's office or a satellite location from 40 days to 29 days.

Daily payments to state legislators are scheduled to end next week, setting a tentative deadline for the end of session and for final action on the bill.

Rizer said he "absolutely" expects the Senate to accept the changes made Monday by the House, sending the bill to the governor's desk.