The National Electrical Manufacturers Association is calling on Governor Reynolds to item veto a proposal added to a budget bill that would change building codes for homes, duplexes and townhouses. Two licensed electricians who serve in the legislature criticized the changes, which would no longer require ground fault circuit interrupters on kitchen counter outlets or in unfinished basements. The proposal also gets rid of a requirement that electrical outlets be at least three feet away from a bathtub or shower stall. Senator Scott Webster, a Republican from Bettendorf who is a homebuilder, says four years ago none of these requirements were in Iowa’s building code, but interest groups pushed them back in. Webster says homebuilders, realtors and electricians were involved in drafting the proposal — and at some point lawmakers have to make it affordable to live and build a house in Iowa.
