Governor Culver wrapped up the 2010 legislative session this week, signing the final bills into law.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette covered the story:
Speeders, seat-belt violators and other scofflaws will be facing higher fines and fees beginning July 1 thanks to the Iowa Legislature and Gov. Chet Culver.
Nearly $9 million worth of higher traffic fines and fees for more than 200 scheduled and unscheduled violations were included in the final pieces of the fiscal 2011 budget the governor signed into law Thursday. Proponents said the increases were needed to provide more funding to the state's court system, heading off the need for more layoffs, furlough days, court closure days or reduced hours of operation in rural counties due to the state's budget problems.
Culver also placed his signature on a wide-ranging "standings" appropriation bill that included nearly $2.5 billion in state aid for K-12 school districts in fiscal 2011 - a level that kept a commitment to raise the "allowable growth" by 2 percent for public elementary and secondary schools but fell $167 million short of a full state investment.