SF 176/SSB 1162 allows the Insurance Commissioner to waive administrative penalties against sellers and sales agents of cemetery and funeral merchandise and funeral services who file annual reports late , if they show good cause or proof of financial hardship. In other circumstances, the Commissioner levies an administrative penalty of $500 for failure to timely file required annual reports. The bill takes effect upon enactment. [2/17: short form]

HF 180 is a recommendation by the Credit Union Division of the Department of Commerce. It establishes a complaint response process pursuant to administrative rule by the State Superintendent of Credit Unions, similar to that of the Banking Division. The process must include complaint intake, preliminary informal and formal investigation procedures, complaint dismissal procedures, and remedial sanctions through an administrative resolution procedure or a contested case hearing.

The bill specifies information obtained in the course of the process which must be kept confidential (e.g., social security number, residential address), and information which the Superintendent may choose to keep confidential if disclosure is not otherwise required by law. Information relating to the identity of the complainant may be disclosed to the subject (or authorized agent) of the complaint if the Superintendent has notified the complainant in advance of the disclosure.

The bill specifies that disclosure or release of information by the Superintendent in the course of an administrative or judicial proceeding will not constitute a violation of the bill's provisions. It authorizes disclosure of information which is otherwise confidential if determined by the Superintendent to be in the public interest. The Superintendent may share such information with other regulatory authorities or government agencies and publish information concerning a complaint if it is determined a violation of federal or state law or administrative rule has occurred (subject to redaction to protect personally identifiable information). The bill makes conforming changes to Iowa Code Chapter 22 relating to confidential records. HF 180, which passed the House 95-0, is a companion to SF 148. [2/17: short form]

ECONOMIC GROWTH

STAFF CONTACT: Sue Monahan

SSB 1084 – Sales Tax Exemption for nonprofit private performing arts centers

COMMITTEE ACTION:

SSB 1084 exempts from sales tax the sale of materials and services provided that are used in the operation of a nonprofit private performing arts center. The bill allows the sales tax from construction materials and services used to build a nonprofit private performing arts center to be refunded upon application to the Iowa Department of Revenue. [2/27: short form]

EDUCATION

STAFF CONTACT: Bridget Godes

SF 122 – Increase Foster Care portion of All Iowa Opportunity Scholarship

SSB 1175 – Transportation of open enrollment students

COMMITTEE ACTION:

SF 122 raises the level of funding for the foster care portion of the All Iowa Opportunity Scholarship. In 2009, the All Iowa Opportunity Scholarship received $4 million to provide scholarships (for the monetary amount of attending a public Iowa university or community college) for the neediest Iowa students. Of the appropriated amount, $500,000 was earmarked specifically for scholarships to Iowa’s graduating foster care population. This year, the Iowa Student Aid Commission reported an increased need for foster care funding and available money in the general appropriation. SF 122 raises the amount reserved for foster care grants from $500,000 to $750,000. [2/16: Short Form]

SSB 1175 relates to the busing of open enrollment students and allows a receiving district’s buses into the home school district’s boundaries if the regular busing route has been disrupted because road construction necessitates a temporary alteration of school bus routes. The receiving district can go into the home district’s school boundaries if their bus route is for reasons of safety, economy, or efficiency. Currently, the receiving school district can only send vehicles into the district of residence for purposes of transporting students participating in open enrollment if both school districts agree to the arrangement. This would override that requirement. [2/16: Short Form]

JUDICIARY

STAFF CONTACT: Cathy Engel

SF 78 – Scrap Metal Transactions

SSB 1037 – Private Cause of Action for Consumers

SSB 1062 – Testing for Infectious Diseases at Community Based Corrections

SSB 1081 – DOT Constitutional Amendment – Oaths

SSB 1124 – DPS Omnibus Bill

SSB 1170 – Uniform Athlete Agents Act

SSB 1173 – Bidders at Property Tax Sales

COMMITTEE ACTION:

SF 78, as amended in committee, requires that when any scrap metal dealer purchases scrap metal, defined as “any metal suitable for reprocessing,” that the scrap metal dealer must require identification from persons who are selling scrap metals to the dealer. In addition, the scrap metal dealer shall keep a confidential register or log of the scrap metal transactions, including a record of the seller and the seller’s address and a description of the items purchased. Transactions that are exempt from these requirements include transactions in which the total sale price is fifty dollars or less and in the case of the sale of catalytic converters, a total sale price of seventy-five dollars or less. In addition, if the person selling the scrap metal is known to the dealer and is an officer, employee or agent of an established industrial or commercial business, operating from a fixed location, those transactions are exempt from the identification and registration requirements of the bill. Law enforcement will be provided access to the scrap metal dealer’s transaction log only during normal business hours and if law enforcement has reasonable grounds to request access to the register as part of a criminal investigation. Otherwise, the log (register) is confidential. [2/16: short form]

SSB 1037, as amended in committee, creates a private remedy for certain consumer fraud Act violations. It provides that a consumer who suffers damage or injury as a result of a prohibited practice, such as deception, false promises, concealment of material facts, or misrepresentations relating to merchandise they have purchased, may seek an action at law to recover actual damages and/or injunctive relief. In addition, a prevailing consumer shall be awarded costs and reasonable attorney fees. The attorney fees are to be reasonable as determined by a list of factors set out in the legislation. If the court finds that a prohibited practice or act in violation of the bill constitutes willful and wanton disregard for the rights or safety of another, in addition to an award of actual damages, the court may award additional damages up to three times the amount of the actual damages. The bill defines a prohibited practice or act to include an unfair practice, deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, or misrepresentation, or the concealment, suppression, or omission of a material fact with the intent that others rely on your behavior in connection to the advertisement, sale or lease of consumer merchandise, or the solicitation of contributions for charitable purposes. The bill excludes services and merchandise offered by a number of groups, including insurance companies, attorneys, financial institutions, public utilities, hospitals, doctors and others. Also, the bill does not apply to certain advertising by a retailer for a product unless the retailer participated in the preparation of the advertisement or knew that the advertisement was deceptive or misleading. The bill requires notice of private consumer fraud actions to be sent to the Attorney General’s Office. [2/16: 10-5, Kettering, Boettger, Noble, Ward, and Zaun voting “no”]

SSB 1062, as amended, requires that if a person under supervision of Community Based Corrections assaults someone by spitting or otherwise causing an exchange of bodily fluids, or causing bodily secretions to be cast upon another person, that person shall submit to the withdrawal of a bodily specimen for testing to determine if the person is infected with a contagious infectious disease. If the person refuses to be tested, an application may be made by the CBC Director to the district court for an order compelling the person to submit to the withdrawal and any available treatment if the person is infected. [2/18: short form]

SSB 1081, as amended, would change Iowa’s Constitution so law enforcement officers would not be required to sign certain information charging an offense under oath (which currently has been interpreted to mean that the officer must sign under oath before another officer or a notary that the charging information is true). Under this proposed constitutional amendment, the oath requirement would still be necessary for any information relating to any crime for which a person could be imprisoned or jailed. For all other information, officers will sign under penalty of perjury. [2/18: short form]

SSB 1124 relates to the practices and procedures of the Department of Public Safety and other law enforcement agencies. The bill, as amended, specifies that any renovation of certain state buildings and buildings owned by the State Board of Regents shall be subject to a plan review under the state building code by the Department of Public Safety. The bill also provides that upon request of a law enforcement agency, a court may order that a portion of a controlled substance (drugs) subject to forfeiture and destruction pursuant to Iowa law, become the possession of the requesting law enforcement agency for the purpose of “drug dog” training. As amended, the bill provides for procedures to be followed regarding a record of what happened and who controlled the drugs that were subject to forfeiture or retained by a law enforcement agency for training of their “drug dogs”. In addition, the bill provides that custody and adjudication data of a juvenile shall remain part of the criminal history data of that juvenile after the juvenile has reached 21, if that juvenile was required to register on the sex offender registry and that requirement continues after the age of 21. [2/18: short form]

SSB 1170 repeals the existing Chapter 9A relating to registration of athlete agents, and replaces it with the Uniform Athlete Agents Act. The Act provides for uniform registration, certification, and background checks of sports agents seeking to represent student athletes who are or may be eligible to participate in intercollegiate sports, imposes specified contract terms on agreements between student athletes and athlete agents and provides educational institutions with a right to notice of the existence of a contract between and athlete agent and a student athlete. The applications for registration as athlete agents are filed with the Secretary of State, who then will deny or issue a certificate of registration to an individual, depending upon whether the Secretary of State believes the individual is fit to act as an athlete agent. [2/18: short form]

SSB 1173 provides that a bidder at a tax sale for delinquent property taxes must meet the statutory definition of “person,” defined in the Code as including an individual, corporation, limited liability company, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. The bill provides that in order to register to bid at a tax sale or to own a tax sale certificate, a person, other than an individual, must have a federal tax ID number and either have filed with the Secretary of State, a designation of agent for service of process or have filed with the appropriate county recorder a verified statement of trade name of the business. [2/18: short form]

LABOR & BUSINESS RELATIONS

STAFF CONTACT: Sue Monahan

SSB 1052 –Unemployment Insurance Modernization

COMMITTEE ACTION:

SSB 1052 relates to Iowa’s Unemployment Insurance benefits and makes Iowa in compliance with the Federal Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act. The state would be eligible to receive $71 million in incentive payments for the reforms in this bill and more than $5 million in money for Unemployment Insurance system administration. This bill has three main parts: (1) allows unemployed workers to receive benefits for an additional 26 weeks while acquiring a degree or certification; (2) allows more unemployed Iowans to claim benefits in the quarter in which they become unemployed; and (3) waives employer charges for unemployment claims stemming from temporary workers who have replaced active duty military employees.

The Committee adopted an amendment that narrowly targeted the training benefits for high demand occupations. In addition, the amendment codifies current rules into Iowa Code for part-time workers. The amendment states that any federal funds the Department receives for this act will be places in the Unemployment Trust Fund. Also, the amendment delays the calculation of employer tax rates if the Department does not receive the federal funds by July 1. [2/18: short form (Gronstal and Houser “excused”)]

NATURAL RESOURCES

STAFF CONTACT: Jace Mikels

SSB 1174 – Allowing non-ambulatory persons to hunt deer

HJR 1 – Constitutional amendment on sustainable funding for natural resources

FLOOR ACTION:

HJR 1 is a bill for a proposed constitutional amendment to provide for sustainable funding for natural resources, water quality and outdoor recreation in Iowa. As amended in committee, the proposed amendment would allow voters to establish a Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund, which would be funded by an amount equal to a sales tax of 3/8ths of one cent. This currently equals approximately $150 million. If the proposed amendment is adopted, money would not be deposited into the fund until the sales tax is raised by the Legislature. The amendment would not raise taxes or divert money from current programs. The amendment has passed both the Senate and the House for a second time during this General Assembly and will be submitted to Iowa voters for approval in the 2010 General Election. [2/18: 49-1 (Jochum “no”)]

COMMITTEE ACTION:

SSB 1174 would allow a person who is non-ambulatory (defined in the bill as having paralysis in the lower half of the body) to obtain a license to hunt deer in any deer season that has been established by the Department of Natural Resources. Presently, deer licenses that are issued for a certain season can only be used in the season for which they are issued. [2/17: short form]

STATE GOVERNMENT

STAFF CONTACT: Theresa Kehoe

SF 137 – Pay Equity

FLOOR ACTION:

SF 137 provides explicit protection from pay discrimination based on protected class status for equal work. The bill would further protect Iowans left vulnerable under new loopholes in the federal law and enhance the penalties for employers who engage in wage discrimination. While pay discrimination is not the primary cause for the wage gap, protection for equal pay is the foundation of any efforts to encourage women to enter “non-traditional” career fields, develop career plans, and/or learn to negotiate salaries and promotions. Without a basic guarantee of equal pay for equal work, any other strategy will be ultimately unsuccessful.

The bill includes three main components:

1. Codification of pay discrimination in Iowa Civil Rights Code

2. Clarification of when a complainant has a cause of action

3. Enhanced penalties for employers who are found to have discriminated

Here is a summary of SF 137:

Additional Unfair or Discriminatory Practice – Wage Discrimination in Employment

The General Assembly finds that the practice of discriminating against any employee because of the age, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, or disability of such employee by paying wages to such employee at a rate less than the rate paid to others does all of the following:

▸ Unjustly discriminates against the person receiving the lesser rate.

▸ Leads to low employee morale, high turnover and frequent labor unrest.

▸ Discourages employees paid at a lesser wage rates from training for higher level jobs.

▸ Curtails employment opportunities, decreases employees’ mobility, and increases labor costs.

▸ Impairs purchasing power and threatens the maintenance of an adequate standard of living by such employees and their families,

▸ Prevents optimum utilization of the state’s available labor resources.

▸ Threatens the well-being of citizens of this state and adversely affects the general welfare.

The General Assembly declares it is the state policy to correct, and rapidly as possible, to eliminate, discriminatory wages practices.

It shall be an unfair or discriminatory practice for an employee to pay wages at a rate less than the rate paid to other employees who are employed within the same establishment for equal work on jobs, the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions. An employer shall not remedy the violation by reducing the wage rate of any other employee. An unfair or discriminatory practice occurs when an individual becomes subject to a discriminatory pay decision or other practice, including each time wages are paid.

An affirmative defense for a claim includes any of the following:

▸ Payment of wages due to a seniority system.

▸ Payment of wages due to a merit system.

▸ Payment of wages due to a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production

▸ Pay differential is based on any other factor other than the age, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, or disability of such employee.

Employers who employ less than four individuals are exempt. Family members are not counted as employees.

Damages for wage discrimination under (216.6A) include but are not limited to court costs, reasonable attorney fees, and an amount equal to twice the wage differential paid to another employee compared to the complainant for the time of the complainant has been discriminated against. In instances of willful violation, an amount equal to three times the wage differentials. [2/16: 32-18 (party line)]

TRANSPORTATION

STAFF CONTACT: Hannah Garden-Monheit

SSB 1167 (SF 151) – Railway Assistance and Passenger Rail Service

COMMITTEE ACTION:

SSB 1167 makes changes to state programs relating to railway assistance and passenger rail service, including provisions for the administration of the railway revolving loan and grant fund, the elimination of the railway finance authority, and the administration of the passenger rail service revolving fund. The bill specifically gives the Director of the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) the authority to enter into agreements with AMTRAK, other rail operators, local jurisdictions, and any other states for the purpose of developing passenger rail service serving Iowa. [2/11: Short Form (McCoy “excused”)]

VETERANS AFFAIRS

STAFF CONTACT: Julie T. Simon

SF 186 – “Veteran’s preference” in governmental hiring

COMMITTEE ACTION:

SF 186/SSB 1148 is a Department of Workforce Development recommendation. It removes the requirement that a person be a citizen and resident of Iowa to receive a veteran’s preference in appointment or employment for public employment, including municipal civil service employment (under Iowa Code Chapter 400).

For the purposes of municipal civil service employment, the veteran's preference points must be percentage points and the points must be applied once to the final scores used to rank applicants for selection for an interview.

The bill strikes "for disabilities" as a qualifier as to whether a person awarded a Purple Heart is considered to have a disability for purposes of determining veteran’s preference. An honorably discharged veteran who has been awarded the Purple Heart incurred in action will be considered to have a service-connected disability. [2/17: short form]