‘A great day’: Logan’s Law rolls through House, 98-0, awaits governor’s signature

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Hickory Park restaurant in Ames is famous for it’s expansive menu, which includes an array of hickory-smoked meats.

And according to the Luft family from Charles City, it’s also a great place to celebrate on the way home from Des Moines, after earning a big win in the state Legislature.

“Today is a great day,” said Wendy Luft.

The celebratory meal was appropriate after the Iowa House on Tuesday unanimously approved legislation to require the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to allow an organ donor sticker on state hunting and fishing licenses, similar to those available on Iowa driver’s licenses.

The vote was 98-0 in favor, with two members absent. After what is expected to be a routine vote in the Senate on an amendment, the bill will go to Gov. Kim Reynolds for her signature.

The proposal is named Logan’s Law, in honor of Logan Luft, who was 15 years old when he died from injuries after an ATV accident in July 2017.

Logan was an avid outdoorsman, and had expressed interest in organ donation while he was alive. Seven people have had their lives saved or prolonged due to organs received from Logan since he died.

The Lufts — Logan’s parents — have been actively lobbying for the bill’s passage since its introduction. Lenny Luft is a Charles City police officer and Wendy Luft is a local real estate broker.

“The governor has already indicated that she is looking to sign it,” said Rep. Todd Prichard, D-Charles City, who is Iowa House Minority Leader and sponsored the bill in the House.

“The governor’s office has indicated that she would like to come to Charles City, so we’re hoping that we can make something work out for a signature ceremony,” Prichard said. “We’re going to request to do the signing in the community, which I think will be phenomenal.

“The (high school) gym might be appropriate, but it might be nice to be outside, too,” he said. “Logan was an outdoors guy. Maybe it would be nice for it to be an outdoors thing, right?”

Prichard originally filed the bill in the Iowa House, while Sen. Waylon Brown, R-St. Ansgar, introduced the legislation in the Senate, where it earlier also passed unanimously.

“No opposition, in the House or the Senate,” Prichard said. “You know that’s good legislation, when everybody jumps on board.”

“We wouldn’t have been able to do this without Todd or Waylon,” Wendy said. “Those two together have walked us through this process from day one. The countless texts and phone calls and conversations, just keeping us updated and telling us what to do and how to do it. They gave us the reassurance of, ‘it’s OK, it’s gonna be fine.’”

The Lufts said that neither Brown nor Prichard ever tried to make it seem like it was a political opportunity for them.

“They never once made us feel like it was about them,” Wendy said. “It was always about Logan and always about our family and about organ donation.”

“From a political standpoint, both parties came together,” Lenny added.

Prichard said this kind of bipartisanship actually happens more often than people realize.

“People tend to focus on the things that are divisive,” he said. “This is one of those things where it’s just a good story, and after I gave my speech and the bill passed, I was kind of amazed at how the other representatives from across the state came up to us and said ‘thank you for doing this’ because this legislation affected their lives.”

Wendy described Prichard’s speech before the vote as “wonderful.”

“Todd just said the nicest, kindest things,” she said. “He really talked about how the community came around our family, and how this is a big win, not just for organ donation, but for our community as well. He just had the best words.”

Prichard said the speech was easy, because it was a chance to just speak from the heart, and not worry about the politics.

“Honestly, I was afraid I was going to break down,” Prichard said. “To be honest, this is my seventh session down here, and this is probably the thing I am most proud of. For me this is something that I can do that’s positive that helps people cope through a loss. This is, personally, one of my best days here.”

Wendy said that watching the vote count on the House floor was even more exciting than when she watched it on the Senate floor last month.

“We were watching that board and hoping that no one says ‘nay’ against it, and as they’re popping up, Todd looked over to us when it reached the majority and said ‘it’s done,’ she said. “I got emotional at that point because it was real.”

After Prichard’s speech, Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, House District 43, shared a touching personal story of her own about organ donation. Konfrst has received corneas to save her eyesight.

“It’s one of those issues that hits people personally,” Prichard said. “This is a way to find hope in a tragedy.”

Lenny said, “The biggest thing coming out of today is relief, of finally having it done. The last thing has been voted on and now we can move on the the governor’s signature. This is kind of the capstone to Logan’s legacy. It solidified the whole thing.”

The Lufts were also able to spend the morning at the offices of the Organ Donor Network in Altoona Tuesday, to see how the operation works.

“We got to meet some of the most amazing people there,” Wendy said.

The Lufts will also get the opportunity to work with the Iowa DNR on the logo, and how the stamp will look on the license.

The 98-0 vote Tuesday sends the proposal back to the Senate before it goes to the governor. The Senate already passed the bill on a unanimous, 47-0 vote, but must approve it again because the House made a minor change.

The House amendment, which essentially clarified the differences between organ, eye and tissue donation, was approved unanimously in the House by voice vote.

“That will just be a quick thing in the Senate. I expect it will happen either today or tomorrow,” Prichard said Tuesday.

He said he was hoping for a signing ceremony sometime in mid to early May, in the next 2-3 weeks.

“We’ll see what the schedule allows, but definitely before school lets out.”

Typically, a bill passed in session needs a governor’s signature within 72 hours to pass into law, but Prichard said that time frame is upped 30 days after a session has adjourned.

“It’s not an exact science,” he said. “It also takes a few days to process and transmit.”

The entire Luft family — Leonard and Wendy, their children Lilly and Landon, and Wendy’s parents Ed and Jean Hegtvedt, were on the House floor Tuesday as the bill was voted on, and said there was almost a “processional” of representatives afterward, lined up to thank and even hug them.

“The common theme was, ‘today is a great day to be a legislator, because this is what we were hired to do, and we feel like we made a difference today,’” Wendy said.