House Republicans in the Public Safety committee spent a significant amount of time discussing how to best curb violent crime in the state. One of the proposals, House File 546, aims to increase the minimum bond amounts for certain serious criminal offenses. Under this proposed legislation, individuals arrested for specific crimes will face a minimum bond of $100,000. The offenses covered by this bill include attempted murder, assault with a weapon, willful injury, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, going armed with intent, and possession of a firearm by a felon.

The intention behind this bill is to ensure that those accused of particularly violent or dangerous crimes are held to a higher standard when it comes to securing their release before trial. By setting a substantial bond amount, lawmakers hope to deter potential offenders, enhance public safety, and ensure those who post bond return for their trial.

Additionally, the bill specifies that a standard bond schedule, which is typically used when courts are not in session, will not apply to individuals arrested for these serious offenses. This means that those charged with these crimes will not have the option of being released on a lower bond amount, reflecting the gravity of the charges they face.

HF 546 is a significant step towards addressing violent crime in Iowa, setting a higher bond will ensure that those who committee these violent crimes are held accountable.

House File 891 safeguards minors from exposure to obscene performances and materials. This bill establishes stricter regulations and penalties for those who knowingly expose minors to inappropriate content.

House File 891 addresses the issue of obscenity in relation to minors. It defines “obscene performance” as any visual performance that exposes a person’s genitals, buttocks, or female breast, or involves sexual acts, masturbation, or other explicit content. The bill emphasizes that such performances, when viewed as a whole, must be deemed patently offensive and lacking serious artistic, literary, political, or scientific value according to contemporary community standards.

Key Provisions of the Bill:
Criminal Penalties: The bill establishes criminal penalties for individuals who knowingly expose minors to obscene performances. Such actions will be classified as aggravated misdemeanors, carrying potential penalties of up to two years of confinement and fines ranging from $855 to $8,540.

Admittance Restrictions: It also prohibits the admission of minors to premises where obscene performances are held. Those who knowingly allow minors access to such venues will face serious misdemeanors, with penalties including up to one year of confinement and fines between $430 and $2,560.

Civil Cause of Action: A significant aspect of House File 891 is the establishment of a private civil cause of action. Parents or guardians of minors, as well as minors who have reached the age of 18, can file lawsuits against individuals or entities that have knowingly disseminated obscene material or exposed them to obscene performances. The minimum award for damages in such cases is set at $10,000.

Public Institutions and Funding: The bill prohibits the use of public institutions, facilities, or funds for shows or performances that include obscene material. This provision aims to ensure that taxpayer resources are not allocated to support inappropriate content.

By imposing stricter regulations and penalties, the legislation aims to deter individuals and organizations from engaging in activities that knowingly expose inappropriate content to children.

House Republicans continue to work towards a safer environment for our children that shields them from content clearly intended for adults.

The House had 13 bills related to advancing access to mental health care prior to the first funnel deadline. These bills are described below and now are to be considered by the House Floor and the Senate Committee.

• HF 312 – Psychiatric Deterioration – This bill allows for individuals to be committed based on psychiatric deterioration (defined in Section 4 of the bill), in addition to current law which allows for commitment when they are a danger to themselves or others. According to the Treatment Advocacy Center, an organization with a mission to eliminate the barriers to timely and effective treatment of serve mental illness through advocacy, public education and support, there are over 30 states that allow for psychiatric deterioration for their commitment laws.
• HF 313 – Commitment Hearing Testimony – This bill allows for physician assistants and advanced registered nurse practitioners to testify at committal hearings if they witnessed the examination, reviewed the report, and the professional that examined the individual is unable to attend the hearing.
• HF 385 – Commitment Discharge – This bill requires facilities that are discharging individuals committed for substance abuse or mental health to provide the following at discharge:
  • Refer the individual committed to the administrative services organization (ASO) for evaluation, case management, and post-discharge services
  • Assess for suicide risk
  • Provide a 30-day supply of medications prescribed
  • A discharge report to the individual committee or their legal representative. The discharge report will have all their appointments and medications outlined, ASO contact information, an aftercare plan with crisis prevention, and education materials developed by DHHS
  • Notify the ASO and legal guardians
  • This bill also requires the ASO to coordinate post-discharge care for individuals after commitment.
• HF 509 – Autism Coverage/Support Program – This bill comes forward based on an interim report that analyzed adding applied behavior analysis services to the list of benefits covered under the hawk-i program. This bill repeals the Autism Support Program after the current enrollees have completed their two years of coverage, and adds autism coverage under the hawk-i program. As of December 2024, there were 678 children on Hawk-i with an autism diagnosis.
• HF 754 – Governor Health Care Bill – This bill comes from the Governor to do the following:
  • Requires DHHS to request federal approval for a health care hub-and-spoke partnership funding model to establish regional collaboration between health care providers in rural areas.
  • Consolidates five health care loan repayment programs into one called the Health Care Workforce and Community Support Grant Program within DHHS that will award loan forgiveness or bonuses based on high-need health care professions in shortage areas. Provides for transition of funds to continue to support those with existing awards.
  • Repeals existing residency and fellowship programs, with transition provisions, and converts those programs to the Medicaid graduate medical education efforts.
  • Eliminates the Health Facilities Council and replaces it with DHHS as the decision maker regarding certificate of need
  • Requires DHHS to bid out the Iowa Health Information Network.
• HF 833 – High Acuity Youth – This bill comes from the Department of Health and Human Services to do the following:
  • Allow for protective locked environments
  • Allows for 30-day, court-ordered behavioral health evaluations at the Eldora State Training school for child welfare involved youth and at the Independence Mental Health Institute for non-child welfare involved youth.
  • Allows for a residential facility to not be licensed as a children’s residential facility if it provides live-in care to waiver individuals 16 years of age and older.
  • Transfers administrative authority of juvenile court services from the chief judges to the JCS director
  • Suspends hawk-i coverage for incarcerated youth
• HF 873 – Foster Care – This bill updates provisions related to children in foster care and adoption. It allows courts to classify a child as in need of assistance if they require treatment for serious mental health issues and their parent is unable or unwilling to provide it. The bill changes how foster care reimbursement rates are set, removing the requirement to base them on USDA estimates and eliminating special needs stipends. It also requires the Department of Health and Human Services to reimburse adoption petitioners for investigation costs, up to $2,000 each, after approval.
• HF 573- Involuntary Commitment – This bill allows anyone to start the process for involuntary commitment of individuals with substance use disorders by filing an application in any county. If the application is filed in the wrong county, it must be transferred to the correct one. The bill also gives law enforcement the authority to take individuals into custody for treatment in any county where they are found.
• HF 330 – Autism Coverage – This bill strikes age and benefit limits from the autism coverage requirements of health plans in Iowa.
• HF 383 – Psilocybin – This bill removes crystalline polymorph psilocybin from Iowa’s schedule I controlled substances list after the drug has received approval by the FDA and is rescheduled.  This bill circumvents the typical process with the Board of Pharmacy on bringing an annual bill to the legislature with its recommendations on changes to the controlled substances list.
• HF 300 – Physician Assistant Compact – This bill adds Iowa to the interstate license for Physician Assistants Compact. 14 states currently have enacted this compact (Including Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin). The compact is effective and is now in the implementation process which will take 18 to 24 months.
• HF 301 – Iowa Priority Resident and Fellow, Rural Rotation – This bill codifies requirements that were placed into session law in 2019 in House File 532. Additionally, it adds fellowships to the requirement that UIHC prioritize Iowans.
  • Requires medical residencies at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinic to give priority to applicants that have an Iowa connection (resident of Iowa, went to undergrad in Iowa, or medical school in Iowa).
  • Requires primary care residencies (family medicine, OB, psych, and internal medicine) at UIHC to provide the opportunity to participate in a rural rotation to expose those medical residents to rural areas of Iowa.
• HF 699 – Drug Paraphernalia – The bill expands the exemptions of drug paraphernalia to include fentanyl test strips, xylazine test strips and other drug-checking equipment, even with a nominal amount of a controlled substance. This bill allows for the use of drug-checking equipment, providing drug paraphernalia or a nominal amount of one or more controlled substances when analyzing drug-checking equipment. Also allows for opioid settlement funds and federal funds to be used for drug-checking, prohibits individuals from being arrested or charged, disciplinary action, loss of dependents, loss of housing, or any other punitive action for engaging in this bill. Cannot be the reason for a law enforcement search or criminal case.

Now that the dust has settled on funnel week—it is time to see what is still left standing from the House Economic Growth and Technology Committee. The following bills came out of committee and have either been rereferred to a funnel-proof committee or are eligible for floor debate.

HF 112—Targeted Small Businesses
Current law provides that to qualify as a targeted small business, the business must have an annual gross income of less than $4.0 million. This provides that to qualify a business must either have an annual gross income of less than $10 million or fewer than 20 employees.
Status: House Calendar

HF 517—Vacant School Building Demo Fund
Creates a vacant school building demolition grant program within IEDA.
Status: House Appropriations Committee

HF 533—Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Compact
Provides that the midwest interstate passenger rail compact is entered into and enacted into law together with several other midwestern states if those states join the compact in substantially the same form.
Status: House Calendar

HF 550—Grocery Reinvestment Fund
Creates a grocer reinvestment and local produce processing grant program and appropriates $2.0 million to the fund for the next two years. Modifies the local food and farm program.
Status: House Appropriations Committee

HSB 294—Artificial Intelligence Guardrails
Regulates the use of artificial intelligence to create materials related to elections and protections in interactions with AI systems.
Status: House Calendar

The House Local Government Committee passed six bills out of the committee during funnel week, bringing the total number of bills passed before the funnel to 21. These funnel week survivors range from streamlining county government services to providing funding to volunteer firefighters. Below is a brief summary of each bill that survived the first funnel.

HF 774 / HF 37 – County Attorney Salaries
Require counties and cities to post any required forms on their publicly available website and the website must accept electronic forms.  Allows local governments to decide if and to what extent they will send and accept electronic records and electronic signatures.

HF 307 / HF 19 – Modify the costs eligible for EMS services fund expenditures
Clarifies in code that salaries/wages of emergency medical care providers are eligible expenditures of a county’s emergency medical services trust fund.

HF 297 / HSB 98 – Emergency Services Savings Funds
Allows city councils to designate specific areas entertainment areas for the purpose of collecting a surcharge, not to exceed 3%, on retail sales of food, alcohol, entertainment tickets, and lodging. Entertainment areas are contiguous parcels not to exceed 75 acres within the incorporated area of the city zoned for commercial or within a historical district with an expected attendance forecast of over 250,000 people annually. Creates a state surcharge revenue fund with an area account for each city creating an area for the revenues to be remitted monthly. Funds shall only be used for deposits to the debt service fund, emergency fund, capital improvements fund, and franchise fee accounts of the city.

HF 760 / HF 38 – Self-supported Entertainment Areas
Allows city councils to designate specific areas entertainment areas for the purpose of collecting a surcharge, not to exceed 3%, on retail sales of food, alcohol, entertainment tickets, and lodging. Entertainment areas are contiguous parcels not to exceed 75 acres within the incorporated area of the city zoned for commercial or within a historical district with an expected attendance forecast of over 250,000 people annually. Creates a state surcharge revenue fund with an area account for each city creating an area for the revenues to be remitted monthly. Funds shall only be used for deposits to the debt service fund, emergency fund, capital improvements fund, and franchise fee accounts of the city.

HF 380 / HF 20 – Acquisition of Vehicles for General County Purpose
Adds to the list of “general county purpose” the acquisition of vehicles or vehicle equipment for county offices and departments. General county purposes can be funded through the issuance of general obligation bonds.

HF 510 / HF 157 – Limiting petitions for special elections if remaining term is under 1 year
Amends code for how city official vacancies are filled if the remainder of the term is under 1 year. Currently, if a city council decides to appoint a replacement citizens may petition for a special election no matter how little time is remaining in the term.

HF 641 / HSB 82 – City Civil Service Bill
Prohibits cities from using citizen review boards of police officers. Increases commission memberships in cities above 50,000 in population. Restricts the removal or suspension of civil service employees to violations of law or city policies. Prohibits lawyers who have ever represented the civil service commission from representing the city in an appeal. Allows both parties in an appeal the right to discovery. Employees who prevail in their appeal are entitled to reasonable lawyer fees and costs and expenses.

HF 651 / HSB 154 – Notice Requirements
Code cleanup bringing conformity to public notice requirements. Iowa Code 362.3 requires that public notices of an official action required by city code to be published at least once between 4 and 20 days before the official action (election, hearing, etc.).

HF 645 / HF 230 – Nuisance Actions for Sports Venues
Provides immunity to sports and exposition venues from nuisance actions from a change in a municipality’s ordinances if the venue has been in operation for over a year. The protection for the venues shall only apply for lawful operation of the venue.

HF 652 / HF 415 – County & City Regulation of property and Boards of Adjustment
Allows boards of adjustments to grant variances to zoning ordinances if the variance does not alter the character of the surrounding neighborhood and the owner can prove that practical difficulties are not self-created and are unique to the property.

HF 642 / HF 467 – County Advisory Boards
Requires the appointments to County Advisory Boards created by the Department of Health and Human Services be residents of the county.

HF 650 (HF 479) – Engineering Firms as the County Engineer
Code cleanup bill to eliminate outdated or redundant duties of the County Auditor.

HSB 162 – Accessory Dwelling Units
Requires counties and cities to adopt ordinances to allow one accessory dwelling unit on the same lot as a single-family residence. Counties and cities may not adopt more restrictive requirements on an accessory dwelling unit than the single-family residence.

HSB 192 – Open records for government body instrumentalities
Amends the definition of “government body” to include the instrumentality of a city or township for the examination of public records.

HSB 193 – Regional Transit district 28E Agreements
Strikes county population minimums to create a regional transit district. Currently a county must have a population over 175,000 to create a regional transit district.

HSB 250 – Auditor Duties Cleanup
Code cleanup bill to eliminate outdated or redundant duties of the County Auditor.

HSB 207 – Registration stickers for fleet vehicles
DOT shall not issue validation stickers for display on a vehicle designated as a fleet vehicle.

HSB 246 – Governor’s Disaster Bill
Establishes the Natural Hazard Mitigation Financing Program. Expands the Disaster Recovery Housing Assistance Program. Expands consumer protection by establishing licenses for all adjusters, appraisers, and umpires involved in insurance claims. Caps the amount adjusters are allowed to charge on non-catastrophic claims (15%), catastrophic claims (10%) and prohibits adjusters from soliciting or entering contracts within the first 72 hours of a disaster.

HSB 295 – Liens on snowmobiles, ATVs, water vessels
Allows the release of liens for a snowmobiles, ATVs, and water vessels by any county recorder with proof of release.

HSB 297 – Vehicle Accident Reports
Increases the threshold required for a driver to submit a written report of an accident from $1,000 to $7,000. Strikes the 24-hour deadline for a law enforcement officer to complete a written report of an accident.

HSB 296 – Partial payments for farm-to-market roads
Clarifies that partial payments do not constitute final acceptance of the work. Specifies that approval for partial and final claims can be made by the board of supervisors, county engineer, or the Department of Transportation.

Last week was the first legislative funnel deadline for legislation to pass through committee. The State Government Committee continued to work hard passing 45 bills out of the committee. These bills will continue to move through the legislative process, while the committee will continue to work on legislation passed by the Senate. Below is a brief summary of each bill that survived the first funnel.

HF 260 / HSB 69 – Lottery Cleanup
Allows school boards, as they deem appropriate, to authorize the use of school property for non-school related events that can be issued temporary retail alcohol licenses. In current code there is no legal scenario to consume alcohol on property that is owned by a public school. Private school property does not have this prohibition.

SF 162 / HF 261 (HSB 73) IPERS Notification Bill
Repeals from Iowa Code the requirement that IPERS mail by first class mail notice of a terminated employees’ balance and status. This information is available online through their IPERS’ account and electronic notifications are current practice.

HF 259 / HSB 75 – Public Notice Requirements
Amends Iowa Code to provide further transparency in public notifications for public meetings of governmental bodies. Requires cancellation notice if a governmental body cancels its meeting.

HF 532 / HSB 119 – Dietitian Licensure Compact
Interstate compact to support the mobility of licensed dieticians. The compact would allow qualified licensed dieticians to apply and be approved for the compact privilege to practice in remote participating states.

HF 82 – Radon Mitigation in Residential Buildings
Requires new single-family and two-family residential construction to include passive radon mitigation.

HF 248 / HF 26 – Adoptive Parent Employees Leave
Requires employers to treat adoptive parents of a child 6 years or younger the same as employees who are biological parents of a newborn in regard to their parental leave policies.

HF 470 / HSB 79 – Revenue ABD Bill
Updated the definition of “canned cocktail” and “mixed drink cocktail” to include drinks made with a beer or wine base. Updates code to require license applicants to use the USPS Verified Address for their licensed premise in their application to the Department.

HF 397 / HSB 74 – Safe at Home Program Bill
Makes several updates to the address confidentiality program to make it easier for an applicant to use a shelter as their address. Allows for the Secretary of State to perform necessary list maintenance to remove a participant if credible information is received that they have died or to cancel their voter registration if they have registered to vote in another state.

HF 400 / HSB 76 – Public Records Requests
Iowa Public Information Board bill to create more direct acknowledgement and provide estimated times and costs for fulfilling a public records request.

HF 396 / HSB 70 – Bank Utilization of Filing Services
Amends code to allow the secretary of state to provide banks to file for preclearance and expedited filings services.

HF 398 / HSB 111 – Corrections Appointments
Aligns the Board of Corrections’ role to be align with last year’s Boards and Commission’s bill. Amends that appointments made within the Department of Corrections are not contingent on the approval of the Board of Corrections, but that the board serves to provide advice and recommendations of such appointments.

HF 399 / HSB 113 – DAS Libraries
Strikes reporting requirements that are redundant now that State Library is under the Department of Administrative Services. Updates Iowa Code to change “access plus” to interlibrary loan programs.
 
HF 547 / HSB 120 – Respiratory Compact
A proposed interstate compact to support the mobility of licensed respiratory therapists. The compact would allow qualified licensed respiratory therapists to apply and be approved for the compact privilege to practice in remote participating states.

HF 544 / HSB 110 – Ethics Bill
Updates filing deadlines from end of business day to the end of the day since there’s an electronic filing option. Expands prohibition on candidates establishing or directing a political committee. Adds email addresses to statement of organization. Adds internet advertisements require an attribution statement as a published material.

HF 524 / HF 116 – Prohibiting Under 18 at tanning facilities
Prohibits a tanning facility from allowing a person under 18 to use a tanning device.

HF 654 / HF 438 – Persons appointed to a Constitutional Convention
Creates a new chapter of code for the commissioners selected for an Article V convention of states. Sets the parameters for selection of commissioners and alternative commissioners. Provides the authority and limitations of commissioners serving at a convention of states.

HJR 11 / HJR 6 – Article V Convention
A Resolution for an application to call a constitutional convention to propose amendments to the Constitution on the subjects of fiscal restraints on the federal government and term limits for federal officials and members of Congress. This application to Congress to call for a convention is a continuing application until 34 states make similar applications or the Iowa General Assembly withdraws the application.

HF 706 / HF416 – Open Meetings and Open Records
Increases fines for violations of Open Meeting laws and removal from office for a repeat offense. Requires all elected and appointed members of governmental bodies to complete an education course for Open Meeting and Public Information law compliance.

HF 704 / HSB 178 – Propane Education and Research Council
Updates definitions for the Propane Education and Research Council to eliminate outdated energy efficiency terms and to include propane wholesalers. Changes the configuration of the council from 10 voting members to 8 voting members. Moving the State Fire Marshal from an ex officio member to a voting member and eliminating all other ex officio members. Terms of the council will be 2 years with staggering initial appointments for 4 new appointments each year.

HF 786 / HF 127 – Supervisors District
Requires counties with a population of over 125,000 or a regent university to use plan “three”. Moves the special election to determine supervisor representation plans from August to the November election in odd years. Requires vacancies for county supervisors in counties with a population over 125,000 or has a regent university a special election is required. Strikes section requiring counties of a population over 60,000 to achieve a vote of 2/3rd of voters to move from plan “three”.

HF 769 / HF 69 – School Property Alcohol
Allows school boards, as they deem appropriate, to authorize the use of school property for non-school related events that can be issued temporary retail alcohol licenses. In current code there is no legal scenario to consume alcohol on property that is owned by a public school. Private school property does not have this prohibition.

HF 768 / HSB 77 – IPIB Complaints
Extends the period an aggrieved party may file a complaint with the Board alleging a violation of the open meetings or public records laws.

HF 776 / HSB 176 – DIAL Department Bill
Allows DIAL and boards under their purview to adopt standards by reference to online publication. Allows DIAL to administratively close complaints if they don’t include violations of DIAL Chapter of code. Allows DIAL to conduct audits and investigation of the Board of Medicine, Board of Pharmacy, Dental Board, and Board of Nursing. Shifts rulemaking authority over handicapped parking from DPS to DIAL.

HF 700 / HF 377 – Radon testing in rental properties
Allows tenants to conduct a radon test in their dwelling unit. If the results are elevated (equal to or greater than 4 picocuries per liter) the landlord is required to provide test results showing a lower level or install a radon mitigation system that produced a lower level. If after 90 days of a tenant notifying a landlord of raised radon levels the landlord does not install a radon mitigation system the tenant is allowed to provide written notice to terminate the lease immediately and is entitled to any prepaid rent and their security deposit without penalty.

HF 711 / HF 49 – Barber Training Programs
Creates an establishment training program to allow licensed establishments to employ unlicensed individuals to provide shampooing, cutting, coloring, and hairstyling services under the supervision of a licensee. Unlicensed individuals must complete 2 hours of education on laws, rules, and sanitation practices for barbering and cosmetology. Customers must receive written notice that the employee is unlicensed prior to receiving services. Licensed establishments participating in the program shall be inspected by the Department and can have formal proceedings brought against the establishment including licensure revocation or suspension.

HF 778 / HSB 177 – Certified Public Accountants, Licensure
Updates the requirement for an initial issuance of a certificate to be either 151 semester hours, board recognized degree, and at least one year of experience or 120 semester hours, board recognized degree, and at least two years of experience.

HSB 71 – State Contracts
Prohibits provisions of state purchasing contracts that are contrary to public policy. Limits the venue for litigation of contracts to state or federal court in Polk County. Applies to new or renewed contracts after the effective date of the bill.

HSB 112 – Surviving Spouse Insurance Coverage
Authorizes DAS to continue the health insurance coverage for surviving spouses and eligible children of employees whose death is determined to be the direct result of a traumatic personal injury while performing the duties of their job. The State is not required to pay for the cost of the insurance coverage but can choose to cover all or a portion of the cost and would be the responsibility of the employing entity. Any uncovered portion of costs shall be paid by the surviving spouse or child for the continuation of coverage.

175 – Wallace Building
Authorizes DAS to dispose of the Wallace Building and the parking garage on Grand Avenue.

HSB 245 – Vet Immunity
Protects veterinarians who in good faith report abuse of a companion animal by granting them immunity from administrative, civil, or criminal liability. Veterinarians who assist law enforcement in the rescue of an abused animal is granted immunity from administrative, civil, or criminal liability.

HF 596 – Recounts
Provides conformity to all election recounts in the state.

HSB 173 – Nutrition Education Standards
Require educational standards to include instruction on nutrition to emphasize the importance of animal-based protein, dairy, vegetables, and fruit.

HSB 247 – Public Notices
Defines that a proof of publication is a document including the published document, date of publication, and the name of the newspaper or a statement that the document was posted on the statewide public notice website. Newspapers are not allowed to charge for a proof of publication, however, may charge a fee of the actual cost for additional elements to a proof of publication.

HSB 252 – Eligibility requirements for financial institutions public money
Repeals section of code requiring the Treasurer of State to establish a list of eligible financial institutions to accept state public funds.

HF 442 – Disclosure of lead service lines in real estate disclosures.
Requires the presence of lead service lines to be included in real estate disclosures.

HSB 266 – 411 Cancer bill
Expands the definition of cancer for the Municipal Fire and Police Retirement System and the Special Service Members of IPERS. Currently cancer coverage is only for 14 types of cancer.

HF 366 – Ethics of state employees
Prohibits employes of state agencies from using evidence of their employment while engaging in advocating to a member of the General Assembly unrelated to the official duties of their job. Allows the House and Senate Ethics Committees to issue advisory opinions and receive complaints concerning state employees.

HSB 291 – Podiatric Compact
Establishes the interstate podiatric medical licensure compact to provide expedited licensure among member states.

HSB 265 – IPERS Protected Occupation Benefits
Provides protection occupation retirees the ability to retire at the age of 50 if they have 22 years of eligible service. Provides annual COLA for retirees who are 55 years or older and have 22 years of service. The COLA is an additional 1.5% and retirees who receive a COLA are ineligible to receive retirement dividends. Increases the percentage used to calculate a member’s benefit by 5/8% for each quarter of service beyond 22 years of service, not to exceed and additional 12%.

HSB 281 – Elections
Provides fix for the Secretary of State to address the citizenship issues from the 2024 general election. Raises the threshold to be a political party to 10% statewide, changes filing for NPPOs to primary election day, and adds sore loser ineligibility on candidate affidavit. Bans ranked choice voting.

HF 756 / HSB 72 – Department of Management Department Bill
Transmission to DOM for budget creation shall be considered confidential until the release of the Governor’s budget. Money in the Technology Reinvestment Fund shall be provided by DOM to implement prioritized state IT projects to improve technology infrastructure, services, and promote innovation. Increase frequency of FBI background checks for IT staff. Provides that IT contract language that is counter to Iowa’s public policy are void and limits litigation venue to Des Moines. Communications with the CISO and government entities concerning a cybersecurity threat are confidential. Moves the Iowa Statistical Analysis Center from HHS to DOM. DOM is not the lawful custodian of any records it maintains in an IT capacity for other state entities.

HF 759 / HSB 109 – Filing Biennial Report
Strikes from code the statutory fee amount ($60) for a business entity to file its biennial report. Allows the Secretary of State’s office to determine and assess a fee for filing of the report.

HSB 78 – Governor Employee Parental Leave
Provides paid parental leave to state employees who are entitled to leave under the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.

HF 526 / HF 57 – Direct to Consumer Beer
Creates an alcoholic beverage carrier permit to expand the shipment to consumer to include beer. Currently only wine is allowed. Beer direct shipper permits can be issued to beer manufacturers to allow the sell of beer at retail directly to a person in the state. Beer shipper permit holders are required to report and pay the barrel tax on all beer sold, including direct shipment.

HF 761 / HF 140 – Direct to Consumer Liquor
Creates a new section of code to allow for the direct shipment of native liquor within Iowa. Creates a direct shipper permit for alcoholic liquor manufacturers to directly ship alcohol to Iowans. Requires direct shipment permit holders to submit a monthly report to ABD detailing the shipments, individual customers, and amount of taxes collected in connection to the direct shipment of alcoholic liquor.

This week the House advanced the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (HF 472) with unanimous support. The bill protects the right of Iowans to express their opinions freely and is especially important for people who speak out on public issues, whether in meetings, on social media, or in other ways.

If someone attempts to sue an individual for sharing thoughts or opinions, there is an option to ask the court to quickly dismiss the lawsuit. When this request is filed, all other legal activities related to the case will be paused, meaning that no further actions will take place until the court decides on the request. The court is required to hold a hearing to discuss the request within 60 days, ensuring that cases involving free speech are resolved promptly.

If the court determines that the law applies and the person suing cannot prove their case, the lawsuit will be dismissed. This protects individuals from baseless claims for simply expressing their opinions. Additionally, if the request to dismiss the lawsuit is successful, the individual who was sued can recover legal costs.

HF 472 represents a significant step forward for free speech in Iowa. It helps ensure that individuals can share their opinions without the fear of being sued. By making it easier to dismiss unfounded lawsuits, the law encourages open discussions about important topics that affect the community. The Uniform Public Expression Protection Act supports the right to speak out and express views without worry, marking a positive change for everyone in the state.

State tax revenue in February from casinos returned to their previous trend for Fiscal Year 2025 as collections fell for the month. However, once again, state tax collections from sports wagering continued to climb.

For the month, state casinos paid $45.4 million in gaming tax. This was a decline of $3.7 million below February 2024’s collections. Through eight months of Fiscal Year 2025, gaming tax collections have been $203.4 million.  This is a decline of $10.3 million when compared to the same time period in Fiscal Year 2024. While collections are down when compared to the previous year, they are still running ahead of the Revenue Estimating Conferences’ projected drop of $33 million in gaming tax receipts.

What is causing the drop in the gaming tax continues to be a multi-faceted answer. Undoubtedly some of the drop is caused by competition from Nebraska’s casinos in Lincoln and Omaha, although that impact has not impacted wagering tax payments from Council Bluffs’ three casinos to the level many predicted before Nebraska’s new gambling places opened. Sluggishness in the economy is also a factor. The continued growth of sports wagering in Iowa can’t be discounted from having an impact on casinos, particularly amongst younger Iowans.

On the opposite side of the ledger are tax collections on sports wagering, which continue to grow. For February, the state took in $1.45 million in taxes on sports betting. This was an increase of over $500,000 when compared to February 2024. For the year, sports wagering tax collections are $1.2 million more than what the state collected during the same period in FY 2024. If this trend were to continue for the final four months of the fiscal year, the state would collect nearly $16 million in sports wagering taxes. That amount would be an all-time high for collections from that tax and help pump even more money into the virtually untapped Sports Wagering Fund.

Both revenue streams have the potential to factors in this year’s budget discussions. The casino tax serves as the funding source for the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund, meaning continue declines may limit what can be addressed in building projects. The Sports Wagering Fund, which receives the tax collected on sports betting, continues to grow with little being spent.

Last week the House Natural Resources Committee passed House Study Bill 194 that has become House File 843. HF 843 proposes several key amendments to the regulation of oil and gas production in Iowa to regulate helium and hydrogen gas. The bill establishes new definitions for terms such as ‘casing’, ‘correlative rights’, and ‘exploratory well’, enhancing clarity in the law. The measure mandates annual filing requirements for businesses involved in oil and gas activities, including detailed organizational information. It also allows the director of the Department of Natural Resources to grant variances to rules without a hearing, provided a good faith effort to comply is demonstrated. Furthermore, the legislation outlines procedures for maintaining confidentiality of sensitive information for a period of five years. Lastly, it modifies the pooling order process to ensure equitable production sharing among owners.

House Panel Approves State Preemption of Fuel Powered Equipment

Last week the House Natural Resources Committee passed House Study Bill 214 that has become House File 860. HF 860 prevents government entities from enacting or maintaining regulations that restrict the possession, operation, or sale of fuel-powered equipment based solely on the equipment’s fuel source. They may continue to do so for state acknowledged pollution control purposes. Under the bill’s provisions, this preemption includes prohibiting regulations that would require sellers to maintain inventories of specific fuel-powered equipment. The bill defines ‘fuel-powered equipment’ broadly to include any goods powered by internal combustion engines or electric motors. By making such regulations void and unenforceable, the legislation seeks to ensure that individuals and businesses can freely use and trade fuel-powered equipment without government interference based on fuel type.

This week the House Agriculture passed House Study Bill 165 that has become House File 942 by a unanimous vote. HF 942 establishes a pilot program aimed at reducing the average statewide use of commercial nitrogen-based fertilizers. The pilot program seeks to enroll cooperating farmers from across the state to utilize emerging technology that may lower the amount of nitrogen needed to grow optimal commodity crops. Participants receive compensation for their involvement (not less than $5 / acre involved). To pay for these incentives, a fund within the State Treasury is created into which state appropriation and other contributed fud for this purpose will be deposited. The measure creates a 5-year $2-million Standing Appropriation from the General Fund beginning in Fiscal Year 2026 with repeal of all provisions December 31, 2030.

House File 624 passed the Iowa House Ways & Means Committee last week unanimously. The legislation relates to the taxability of income from certain farm tenancy agreements.

Current law provides a tax exclusion on a retired farmer’s total net income from a farm tenancy agreement covering real property held by the retired farmer for 10 or more years if the farmer materially participated in a farming business for 10 or more years. However, income from a farm tenancy agreement earned by an entity taxed as a partnership for federal tax purposes, an S corporation, or a trust or estate is not eligible for the farm tenancy lease income exclusion. This is the way many Iowa farms are structured.

House File 624 allows net income from these entities be eligible for the farm tenancy lease income exclusion. It allows net income accruing to a grantor trust or to a disregarded entity to be deemed to have been distributed to its sole owner to the extent the sole owner of such disregarded entity or trust has the right to withdraw or compel distribution of such net income.

Because the bill applies retroactively to January 1, 2024, there is a larger fiscal impact in FY 2026 due to amended returns. That impact is estimated at $10.4 million and then $4.6 million annually thereafter. The bill is now on the House Ways and Means calendar.

Last week the House Natural Resources Committee passed House Study Bill 214 that became House File 866 by a unanimous vote. HF 866 allows owners or tenants of agricultural property to take, capture, or dispose of any species of goose without DNR prior permission if they consider the animal a nuisance. This change aligns geese with other nuisance animals such as raccoons, opossums, and skunks, which can already be managed without restrictions during open seasons. The bill provides more flexibility for property owners in managing wildlife that may pose a nuisance to their agricultural activities. However, it is important to note that certain species of geese are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and violations of this act may result in federal penalties.

Last week the Iowa Workforce Development announced that the American Institute for Full Employment (AIFE) has named Iowa Workforce Development as the recipient of its 2024 Full Employment Award. The national award is given each year to one or more states or individuals demonstrating a commitment to excellence in helping job seekers become reemployed. Iowa previously won the award in 2022. In issuing the award, AIFE noted that the United States as a whole has experienced labor shortages and low workforce participation rates over the past three years, as well as rising durations of unemployment claims. Yet, in Iowa, the average length of an unemployment claim has dropped four weeks (from 13.0 weeks to 9.0 weeks) since January 2022, when the state instituted its Reemployment Case Management (RCM) program.

Iowa’s RCM program provides one-on-one assistance for jobless Iowans beginning with the first week of their unemployment claims. RCM career planners conduct regular meetings with unemployment claimants (both virtually and in-person) to provide individualized job search assistance and connections to any needed resources. IWD estimates that the program has saved Iowa’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund more than $350 million during its first three years by putting claimants back to work more quickly and thereby shortening their unemployment claims. AIFE’s news release notes that Iowa’s average claim duration at the end of 2024 was the third lowest in the nation. Iowa also ranked tenth in terms of the lowest percentage of people who exhausted their unemployment claims before finding work.

The Iowa Veterans Commission released its annual report on the status of the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund.

Currently the Trust Fund has $45.5 million. This is $5 million more than last year in the fund.

Annually the Iowa Lottery transfers $2.5 million to the Trust Fund based on proceeds. Additionally, the Trust Fund accumulates interest that increases the balance.

Last session, the legislature passed a bill to transfer $300,000 from the Lottery fund to provide each county with funds to be used for national training for veteran service officers. $500,000 continues to be allowed to be spent annually by the Commission on Veterans Affairs.

Our Iowa veterans stepped up to serve our country and they deserve our support when they return back home. If you are an eligible veteran and need of assistance.

Des Moines County:

• Greater Burlington Partnership Forum: Friday, March 21st from 8 – 9AM at the Greater Burlington Partnership in the Winegard Board Room.

Henry County:

• Mount Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance Forum: Friday, March 14th at 8:30AM at Mount Pleasant City Hall in the City Council Chambers.
  • TODAY

As always, you can can shoot me an email with any questions or concerns at taylor.collins@legis.iowa.gov or you can call the Capitol Switchboard and leave me a message at (515) 281-7340.
Sincerely,

Rep. Taylor Collins