WEEKLY BILL TRACKING

HOUSE DEMOCRATIC RESEARCH STAFF

Agriculture

HF 440         Extension Council Expense Reports.  HF 440 Provides extension councils an additional month to prepare expense reports. (passed House 95-0) to Senate Agriculture committee.

Appropriations

HF 170         Iowa Junior Angus Show Appropriation.  Makes the appropriation from the FY 2017 Ag & Natural Resources Budget to the Iowa Junior Angus Association available to be spent in FY 2018.  (passed Committee 23-0) to House Calendar

Commerce

HF 215         Autism Service Coverage Insurance Mandate – With Limits.  Requires state regulated insurance coverage of applied behavioral analysis for autism spectrum disorder for minors.  The bill includes limits on coverage including financial, and the number of visits, including others.  The bill takes effect January 1, 2018.  (passed House 96-0) to Senate Calendar

HF 445         Iowa Utilities Board Omnibus Bill.  The bill contains three parts relating to the Iowa Utilities Board.  Exempts information and records related to including cyber security information and infrastructure from open records requirements.  Updates language regarding temporary utility rates.  Updates terminology relating to an informational meeting on an electric transmission franchise petition.  (passed House 95-0) to Senate Calendar

SF 331          Energy Efficiency Reporting Requirements.  Allows gas and electrical utilities that are not rate-regulated to use one form to meet to reporting requirements regarding energy efficiencies.  In addition, the bill updates what is required to be contained in the report.  (passed House 95-0) sent to Governor

SF 409          Credit Union Division Bill.   Makes credit union exams confidential, except if all parties agree in writing to allow them to be shared. In addition, the bill moves language relating to meetings called by the Superintendent for the Board of Directors of a state credit union.  (passed House 95-0) sent to Governor

Education

HF 563         Concussion Reporting Protocol and Coach CPR and AED Training.  Requires coaches to be trained in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and use of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) by July 1, 2018.  The girls and boys Iowa High School Athletic Unions are required to work together to develop return-to-play protocol for a student athlete that has sustained a concussion.  (passed House 96-0) to Senate Education Committee

HF 564         Funding Flexibility I: Flexibility Spending Authorizations.  Allows certain designated funds to be transferred.  This would include professional development, and the Department of Education is prevented from capping a certain amount to be used for professional development.  A 5% cap for At-Risk Dropout Prevention programs is removed, and now those funds can be used for guidance counselors.  Allows preschool funds to be used for translation services, playground equipment, repair costs and food and beverages.  The $2,500 Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) cap on transportation equipment is removed.  As passed the House, the bill removed a provision that allowed a transfer from TAG funds.  Adds flexibility for school districts to pay for protective sports equipment out of their general fund.  (passed House 96-0) to Senate Education Committee

HF 565         Funding Flexibility II: Account Established.  Allows the creation of a local school district flexibility account where funds may be transferred to.  The flexibility account could receive funds from preschool, professional development prevents, and home school assistance if unexpended.  As passed the House, At-Risk Dropout Prevention programs could not be transferred to the flexibility account.  Preschools, professional development, home school assistance, At-Risk Dropout Prevention, TAG and a school’s general fund, could receive funds.  (passed House 95-0) to Senate Education Committee

SF 240          Assessment New Approval Process.  Requires the Department of Education to issue a new RFP for a new assessment to be administered to certain grades.  As amended in committee, this would be required to happen by July 1, 2017.  The State Board of Education would select the assessment based on the following: 1) The feasibility of implementation by school districts; 2) The cost to school districts and the state; 3) The cost of acquiring the infrastructure necessary for implementing technology readiness; 4) The degree to which it is aligned with the Iowa core academic standards; 5) The ability to measure student growth and student proficiency; 6) The ability of the assessment to meet the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act; and 7) The instructional time required to conduct the statewide assessment.  Non-public schools are not required to use the new assessment.  (passed Committee 22-0) to House floor with committee amendment.

SF 349          Iowa Tuition Grant Cap Amount.  The amount allowed per student by the Iowa Tuition Grant, which assists students attending an Iowa private college, is currently capped at $6,000.  As amended with a strike-after amendment in committee, the amount provided to each student under the program would be set by the amount of tuition and fees set by a Regent institution.  Currently that amount is at an estimated $8,600.  (passed Committee 21-1) to House floor with committee amendment.

Human Resources

HF 305         Bio-similar Biological Products. Allows for the prescribing of injectable biological products, including bio-similar biological products.  (signed; effective 7/1/17)

HF 306         Online Nursing Training.  Allows other entities to provide online training for certified nursing assistants (CNA). In addition, a veteran may bypass the training if they can show evidence of training and experience.  The veteran must still pass the certification test to be included on the state registry. (passed Senate 49-0) sent to Governor

HF 393         IDPH Omnibus Bill.  Makes various changes and deletes programs that are obsolete or where never initiated.  (passed House 95-0) sent to Governor

HF 534         Child Care Facility Licensing.  Expands child care licensing to include facilities for children that are at least three years old and eligible for special education. (passed House 94-0) to Senate Human Resources Committee

HF 543         Drug Endangered Child.  Expands the types of drugs that can be present, relating to a drug endangered child, to be considered child abuse by the Department of Human Services.  Also a health care practitioner must report fetal alcohol spectrum if there are physical or behavioral symptoms. (passed House 93-0) to Senate Human Resources Committee

HF 544         Dependent Adult Abuse.  Expands the definition of dependent adult abuse to include personal degradation.  This is intended to cover cell phone/social media issues that were not present when the original law passed.  (passed House 93-0) to Senate Human Resources Committee

HF 545         Public Disclosure.  Brings state laws regarding public disclosure in alignment with federal law with regard to child fatalities and near fatalities. (passed House 96-0) to Senate Human Resources Committee

HF 547         Background Investigations at Department of Human Services (DHS).  Allows for background checks of potential employees, contractors, vendors, etc., that will have access to income tax information of applicants or participants in state assistance programs administered by the DHS.  (passed House 93-0) to Senate Human Resources Committee

HF 577         Lyme’s Disease Treatment.  Prevents physicians who use alternative treatments to treat Lyme’s Disease from being subject to discipline by the Iowa Board of Medicine.  (passed House 93-0) to Senate Calendar

HF 591         Supervision of Physician Assistants.  Requires the Physician Assistant (PA) Board to submit all complaints regarding practice or conduct received by the PA Board to the Medicine Board.  In addition, requires the PA Board to get approval from the Board of Medicine if they want to amend administrative rules regarding supervision by a physician.  (passed House 95-0) to Senate Human Resources Committee

Judiciary

HF 134         Familial Restrictions on Rental Housing.  Prohibits a city from adopting or enforcing any regulation or restriction on residential rental property based on familiar or non-familial relationships.  (passed House 65-31) to Senate

HF 488         Nonsubstantive Code Corrections.  Makes nonsubstantive corrections to the Code.  (passed House 95-0) to Senate Calendar

HF 527         Correctional Institution Utilization.  Updates Iowa Code to reflect the current utilization of Iowa’s corrections system.  (passed House 95-0) to Senate Judiciary Committee

HJR 1            Electronic Communication Search and Seizure Protection.  Amends the Iowa Constitution to provide that a person’s electronic communications and data are secure against unreasonable searches and seizures and that electronic communications and data may only be subject to search and seizure if a warrant has been issued.  (passed House 94-0) to Senate

HJR 12         Constitutional Convention on Fiscal Restraint.  Calls for a Constitutional Convention to the Constitution of the United States to impose fiscal restraints on the federal government.  (passed House 58-38) to Senate

SF 374          Indigent Defense – State Public Defender Bill.  Relates to providing legal assistance to the indigent and administration of the State Public Defender.  (passed Committee 19-0) to House Calendar

SF 376          Asbestos Claims.  Requires additional disclosure of asbestos bankruptcy claims, creates a priority for plaintiffs that may seek damages for asbestos related health impacts, and creates successor company liability limitations for asbestos claims.  (passed House 56-39) to Governor

Labor

HF 529         OHSA Conformity. Raises maximum and minimum fines for certain OHSA violations in order to comply with federal law. (passed House 95-0) to Senate Labor and Business Relations Committee.

Local Government

HF 295         Preemption of Local Ordinances on Minimum Wage, and Products.  Preempts the ability of local county and city governments from establishing a higher minimum wage than state law.  It would also make null and void current higher minimum wages adopted by four counties.  The bill also prevents local governments from enacting bans or a tax on certain products.  (passed House 56-41) to Senate State Government Committee

Natural Resources

HF 254         Tagging Requirements for Deer Carcasses.  Codifies current operating procedure of allowing a hunter more than the allocated time of 15 minutes to tag a deer if the carcass is located in an unsafe area.  (passed Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee 11-0) to Senate Calendar

HF 475         Use of Straight Wall Cartridge Rifle. This bill allows the use of a straight wall cartridge rifle to hunt deer during the youth and disabled deer season and the first and second shotgun deer seasons.  A fine of $250 and a two-year suspension of a hunting license will be assessed if someone has a prohibited rifle in their possession.  (passed House 93-0) to Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee

HF 511         State Forest Nursery Operations. This bill allows the State Forest Nursery to set prices, sell bareroot plants to private nurseries, and set the minimum seed order. The nursery will no longer have to go through the rules process to set these items. (passed House 91-2) to Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee

Public Safety

HF 296         Imitation Drugs.  Moves definition of imitation drugs from Chapter 124A to Chapter 124 and increases penalties.  Increases the time, from 60 days to 2 years, for the Legislature to codify the designation by the Board of Pharmacy of a new substance as a controlled substance.  (passed House 89-4) to Senate Judiciary Committee

HF 523         Medical Examiners to Access Drug Prescribing and Dispensing Information.  Allows for state and county medical examiners, and medical examiner investigators, to have access to information from the drug prescribing and dispensing information program during investigations.  (passed House 95-0) to Senate Judciary Committee

HF 581         Sealing of Certain Search Warrants.  Requires the courts to seal search warrants related to cases where the defendant has been acquitted or when the case has been dismissed.  Search warrants are still able to be accessed by certain entities.  (passed House 93-0) to Senate Judiciary Committee

State Government

HF 293         Prison Industries. Allows for an Iowa-based manufacturing companies to bypass the Iowa Prison Industries requirement when bidding on state projects. Iowa Prison Industries is still allowed to bid on the project. (Signed, effective 7-1-2017)

HF 462         Gaming Confidential Records. Clarifies certain records from the racing and gaming commission, including promotional play receipts, customer records, and surveillance records. (Passed House 95-0) to Senate Calendar.

HF 471         Precinct Consolidation. Current law allows for auditors to consolidate precincts for school and city elections, this would allow for similar actions in a Primary and General elections. (passed House 97-1) to Senate State Government Committee.

HF 516         Voter Suppression.  This bill comes from the Secretary of State’s office and will require all voters to show a photo ID before being allowed to vote. The legislation also makes changes to provisional ballots and same day registration. There will be a new requirement for post-election audits and certification and the creation of an electronic poll book revolving loan fund. (Passed House 58-41) to Senate State Government Committee.

HF 568         Pari-Mutuel Wagering. This legislation is proposed from the Department of Inspection and Appeals, and makes uniform pari-mutuel horse and dog racing standards that come from the industry. (Passed House 93-0) to Senate State Government Committee.

Transportation

HF 203         Road Fund Swap. Allows for the state to swap state money for federal money on local government projects if approved by the Transportation Commission. This would allow for the local governments to avoid “Buy American” provisions as well as the ability to pay lower wages.  (passed the Senate 26-21) to Governor.

HF 312         Unattended Vehicles. Changes current law to allow cars to run unattended, including warming up the car in the winter. (passed the Senate 49-0) to Governor.

HF 372         Right Hand Turns on Red. Clarifies that one can turn right from a second right hand turn lane or a second left hand turn lane as long as it is on a one way street. (Passed the Senate 49-0) to Governor.

HF 464         ATV Highway Crossing. Eliminates the provision of current law that requires a local agency get permission from the DOT to have an ATV cross a primary road and sets the parameters for safe ATV crossing of a primary road. (Passed House 96-0) to Senate Transportation Committee.

HF 496         Drivers Education for Students with a Disability.  Current law requires those teaching drivers education to have two students in the car. This may not be possible for those teaching students with disabilities, this changes current law to allow for one student to be in the car if the student requires a modified vehicle with special adaptive equipment to allow for only one student. There is required to be a camera running at all times of instruction in view of the front drivers and passengers seat. (passed the House 98-0) to Senate Transportation Committee.

Veterans Affairs

HF 584         Veteran Exposure to Agent Orange. Code clean up. Federal government established exclusive jurisdiction over veteran’s exposure to Agent Orange, therefore this code language is no longer needed. (passed House 93-0) to Senate Veteran Affairs Committee

Ways & Means

HF 478         Property Assessment Appeal Board Extension.  Removes the sunset on the Property Assessment Appeal Board (PAAB) that is currently scheduled for 2021 and makes procedural changes to the PAAB process.  (passed House 98-0) to Senate Calendar

HF 521         Alcohol Policy Omnibus. Makes numerous technical changes to alcohol policy in the state. The legislation also takes into account recommendations from the study group made up from the Alcohol Beverages Division and the Department of Economic Development Authority. (passed House 23-0) to House Calendar

HSB 75         Insurance Verification. The DOT is to set up with a third party vendor to maintain a real time insurance verification database for auto insurance. (passed committee 18-4) to House Calendar.

To view the last Weekly Bill Tracking document, visit:  http://iowahouse.org/weekly-bill-tracking-thurs-mar-2-wed-mar-8-2017/