The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

The new bill applies to all illegal drugs. It would give judges the discretion to add five years in prison to other penalties if someone makes, distributes or possesses with intent to distribute illegal drugs within 1,000 feet of "religious institutions," which would join parks and other public places such as pools, schools and recreation centers, and marked school buses, in zones affected by the law.

The few critics, led by Rep. Ed Fallon, a Des Moines Democrat, said the effort to broaden the penalties is misguided and expensive. A cost analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Service Agency said the new law would lead to 1,200 new inmates a year by 2010. The agency predicted a new prison would be required by the 2008 budget year, at a construction cost of $45 million and annual operating cost of $28 million.

"Do you really support the bill?" Fallon asked Republican Rep. Dwayne Alons of Hull, who led debate. "If this is what you want, how will you pay?"

Alons said the cost analysis was flawed because other legislation, including the anti-meth bill to be signed into law today, would make it harder to make drugs here. He added: "How many of our vulnerable children would you like to leave unprotected?"

Fallon said setting a 1,000-foot buffer around "religious institutions" would cover much of the state. He asked Alons how much of Iowa the new zones would cover. Alons couldn't answer.

Fallon accused Republicans of pushing a bill that is unlikely to pass and added that the state drug-policy office opposed the new measure. Officials from that agency weren't available, and Matt Paul, spokesman for Gov. Tom Vilsack, also a Democrat, said he was unaware of the bill and declined to comment.

The bill defines religious institutions as having an active congregation. Records show there are 4,450 congregations in the state.

Copyright C 2004, The Des Moines Register.