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COMMITTEE ACTION:
SSB 1019 — Notifications to Legislature concerning state government leases
SSB 1019 establishes notice requirements relating to certain leases or purchases of real property by the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) or executive branch authority. The bill requires the executive branch to provide prior written notice to the Legislative Services Agency (for Government Oversight Committee review) of any purchase or lease of real property, other than on a temporary basis, to implement programs. The bill also requires DAS to notify and provide LSA information for Government Oversight Committee review on contracts for leases in which any part or the total amount of a contract is at least $50,000.
[2/10: Short Form]
SSB 1024 – Fees charged to employees by employers for copies of personnel files
SSB 1024 requires employers to provide employees with one copy of the employee’s personnel file at no charge upon request. Under current law, an employer may charge a reasonable fee for each page of a copy made by the employer for an employee of an item in the employee’s personnel file. The bill permits employers to charge such fees for any subsequent copies requested. If an employer charged a fee for the employee’s personnel file on or after January 1, 2021, they must reimburse the employee for the amount of the fee. The bill takes effect upon enactment and applies retroactively to copies of personnel files obtained by employees on or after January 1, 2021. An amendment allows employers to provide the personnel file electronically.
[2/10: Short Form]
SF 8 – Daylight saving time
SF 8 establishes daylight saving time as the official time in this state throughout the year. An amendment was adopted that this only goes into effect if Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska, Missouri, South Dakota and Wisconsin all adopt daylight saving time as their official time throughout the year prior to July 1, 2031.
[2/10: Short Form]
SF 55 – Standards for carbon monoxide protection
SF 55 requires the fire marshal to adopt rules for standards relating to carbon monoxide protection that are consistent with the international building code and international fire code. The bill also allows the fire marshal to include carbon monoxide awareness in fire safety campaigns. A person who violates a rule adopted by the fire marshal is guilty of a simple misdemeanor, punishable by confinement for no more than 30 days or a fine of at least $105 but not more than $855, or by both. However, a person who fails to remedy a violation that constitutes a clear and present danger to life 30 days after receiving written notice is guilty of a serious misdemeanor, punishable by confinement for no more than one year and a fine of at least $430 but not more than $2,560.
[2/10: Short Form]
SSB 1023 – Prosecuting attorneys training coordinator and council
SSB 1023 reduces the number of members of the Prosecuting Attorneys Training Coordination Council elected by the Iowa County Attorneys Association from three members to two members. One member of the council must be a member of the general public appointed by the Governor. The prosecuting attorneys training coordinator must make an annual report to the Legislature, the Attorney General, the Governor, and the Iowa County Attorneys Association or its successor. The County Attorney Association doesn’t understand what this is meant to address. The Attorney General’s office believes there is value in keeping the three county attorney members on the council.
[2/10: 10-5, party-line]
SSB 1119 – DAS technical bill expanding designee authorizing ability
SSB 1119 will allow an executive branch department director to authorize a designee to approve electronic travel authorization request forms. Current law only allows the head of the department to approve these requests.
[2/10: Short Form]
SSB 1120 – Eliminates certain reporting requirements for DAS
SSB 1120 strikes DAS from the requirement that biennial reports in even-numbered years be filed as soon as practicable and on standardized forms furnished by the Department of Management. The bill removes the requirement for DAS to submit an annual report to the Legislature and LSA on the activities funded by and the expenditures made from an internal service fund. The bill strikes the requirement that DAS provide a monthly report on the Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy (RISE) fund.
[2/10: Short Form]
SF 163 – Continuing education requirements for certain professional and occupational licenses
SF 163 deals with continuing education requirements for those holding professional licenses pursuant to Code chapter 272C (regulation of certain licensed professions and occupations). The bill authorizes a licensing board to extend the deadline to satisfy continuing education requirements by up to 90 days if a board finds that a licensee is experiencing an unforeseen financial or medical hardship, and the licensee submits a request to extend the deadline due to financial hardship. A request for a deadline extension must be submitted no later than 60 days before the date the continuing education requirement must be completed. The bill defines an unforeseen medical or financial hardship the same as an unforeseeable emergency in the Code of Federal Regulations. The bill prohibits licensing boards from adopting rules to interpret or implement the bill. An amendment was adopted that does not prohibit a licensing board from granting a waiver pursuant to the process of a person to petition an agency for a rules waiver.
[2/10: Short Form]
SSB 1132 – Blood, bone marrow, and living organ donation incentive program
SSB 1132 amends the provisions of the bone marrow and vascular organ donation incentive program to instead provide for a blood, bone marrow, and living organ donation incentive program. The bill allows a state employee requesting a leave of absence to serve as a vascular organ donor to instead serve as a living organ donor. Current law provides only for granting a leave of absence for a state employee to serve as a vascular organ donor. The bill also includes new provisions to allow a state employee to be granted a leave of absence of up to two consecutive hours in a workday if the employee requests a leave of absence to serve as a blood donor, and the employee provides written verification from the employee’s physician or the facility involved with the blood donation. An employee may submit a request for a leave of absence to serve as a blood donor no more than four times in a year.
[2/10: Short Form]
SSB 1045 – DOM to decide effectiveness of Code chapter 8E
SSB 1045 requires the Department of Management (DOM) to conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of Code chapter 8E, the Accountable Government Act, and to submit a report on its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature no later than December 21, 2021. The department was previously required to submit a report no later than January 10, 2006.
[2/10: Short Form]
SSB 1118 – Lottery operations
SSB 1118 focuses on several security-related aspects of the lottery’s operations. Some of the details in the bill are designed to state these security provisions in plain language and come, in part, at the suggestion of local prosecutors and law enforcement who believe that greater clarity in Iowa Code could assist their work. Other changes in the bill are in reaction to Iowa Lottery experiences and lottery industry trends. SSB 1118 amends the definition of “retailer” to mean a person who sells lottery tickets, and not just a contract, issued by the lottery authority. It amends the lottery prize section and says the lottery must only pay prizes for tickets or shares that were legally purchased, possessed and presented. The bill modifies criminal penalties so that a person who knowingly or intentionally passes a lottery ticket or share, or claims a lottery prize on a ticket from someone else, in order to avoid an offset, will be guilty of a class “D” felony. The bill also provides that a person who knowingly or intentionally passes a lottery ticket or share, or claims a lottery prize on a ticket or share received from an individual, in order to circumvent certain prohibited player provisions, will be guilty of a class “D” felony.
[2/10: Short Form]
SSB 1113 – Regulating sale or lease of real estate agency officials
SSB 1113 is a pre-filed bill from the Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board that prohibits state regulatory agency officials and employees from selling or leasing real estate to those subject to the agency’s regulatory authority unless certain conditions are met. Under current law, such employees are prohibited from selling or leasing goods or services to individuals, associations or corporations subject to the agency authority of which the person is an official or employee. However, this prohibition does not currently apply if consent for such sale or lease is obtained from the agency. The bill extends this prohibition and the exception to the sale or lease of real estate. A person who knowingly and intentionally violates the bill is guilty of a serious misdemeanor.
[2/10: Short Form]
SSB 1083 – Age of electors, Constitutional amendment resolution
SSB 1083 is a joint resolution that proposes an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa relating to the qualification of electors. The joint resolution reduces the voting age in the Constitution of the State of Iowa from 21 to 18, except that a person who will be 18 by the next general election must be permitted to vote in a primary election. Eighteen years of age is the current voting age for every election in the United States due to the adoption of the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The resolution, if adopted, would be published and then referred to the next general assembly for adoption before being submitted to the electorate for ratification.
[2/10: Short Form]
SJR 2 – Constitutional Amendment specifying that it does not recognize a right to abortion
SJR 2 is a joint resolution to amend the Constitution of the State of Iowa by specifying that the Constitution does not recognize, grant or secure a right to abortion or to require funding for abortion. The joint resolution, if adopted, would be referred to the next General Assembly for adoption a second time before being submitted to the electorate for ratification. If ratified, the Iowa Constitution would no longer protect a woman’s fundamental right to make decisions for herself.
[2/10: 10-5, party-line]