The Register's Editorial

State lawmakers shouldn’t be expected to solve every problem facing the state during the three to four months they’re in session each year.

But they ought to have some ability to prioritize the issues that demand their immediate attention. If the past few years is any indication, there’s very little rhyme or reason to the way the Iowa Legislature does business. They pass bills, such as the heavily publicized cannabis-oil legislation of 2014, knowing the legislation is useless because of conflicts with other, existing state laws. They drag their feet on approving other measures, such as school funding, knowing Iowa districts can’t meet their own budgetary deadlines as long as the Legislature remains undecided.

This wouldn’t be so irksome if lawmakers weren’t also offering up proposals — on fireworks, gun silencers and the Stanford marching band — that would do nothing to make Iowa a better state.

With the “funnel deadline” having passed on Friday, several worthwhile pieces of legislation appear to be dead for this session. Among them is a long overdue proposal to reduce mandatory-minimum sentencing — a measure that was supported by the Iowa Association for Justice and the ACLU of Iowa. There’s a growing consensus, even among conservatives, that mandatory-minimum sentences need to be scaled back at the federal level, but most crimes are prosecuted in the state courts. That’s where reform is most sorely needed.

Funnel week: Which bills died in the Iowa Statehouse?

Lawmakers also failed, yet again, to reform Iowa’s civil forfeiture laws. That means Iowa law enforcement officers can continue to seize cash, cars and other assets from people who haven’t even been convicted of a crime, with some of the proceeds routed directly to the arresting agencies. How legislators can allow these unconscionable property seizures to continue is anyone’s guess.

They also failed to enact legislation on police body cameras, which means individual police agencies can still decide — on their own, and on a case-by-case basis — how long to archive the videos and whether to make them accessible to the public.

And, worst of all, the Legislature failed to advance legislation that would enable Iowans facing a terminal illness to obtain medication to end their lives. Iowa has one of the oldest populations in the nation. It needs a “death with dignity” law that lets people decide, for themselves, how they choose to leave this world.

The Iowa bill was modeled after an Oregon law that over the past 19 years has proven to be an effective way to give people control over end-of-life decisions. The process outlined in the Iowa bill would have allowed Iowa adults who are competent and have a terminal illness to make two oral requests, at least 15 days apart, for lethal medication, followed by a third, written request. Then, 48 hours would need to elapse before the prescription could be written.

Unfortunately, conservatives, who usually are the first to complain about governmental interference in people’s lives, effectively blocked passage of the bill. Danny Carroll, a lobbyist for The Family Leader, argued that allowing people with terminal illnesses to end their lives with the help of prescribed medications would tell “Iowans, especially teens, that suicide is an acceptable alternative to hardship and adversity.”

It’s a patently absurd argument to make, because it equates physically healthy teenagers with adults facing a terminal diagnosis. It also confuses the issue of whether to die with the separate issue of how to die. Still, the argument was enough to persuade some lawmakers the bill wasn’t worth voting on this session.

It’s ironic that debate over this bill’s fate came just four days after death of David Hurd, a prominent Des Moines businessman who suffered from a progressive form of dementia. Hurd left behind a note that said in part, “I don’t want to go through the last stages of this disease,” then fell to his death from the 22nd floor of the condominium where he lived.

In 2002, 94-year-old Des Moines philanthropist Louise Noun publicized her struggle to end her life before taking a drug overdose. That same month, 80-year-old Ruth Nash of Dubuque drowned herself after two previous attempts had ended in unwanted rescues. This is what suicide looks like in a state that doesn’t have a death-with-dignity law.

Iowa lawmakers have two more months to serve before the scheduled end of the 2016 session on April 19. Let's hope they use that time to approve legislation that will have a meaningful, positive impact on the life of Iowans.