House, Senate move to ‘protect’ more bills

By Bob Eschliman
Editor

 

As Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal (D-Council Bluffs) noted during Thursday morning’s floor speech, next week begins the most restrictive portion of the session calendar as it relates to bills that are eligible for debate.

As a result, the Democrat-controlled Senate and Republican-controlled House each protected a number of bills that would otherwise no longer be eligible for debate under Joint Rule 20. That was accomplished by moving those bills to the unfinished business calendar in each chamber.

 

Senate Protected Bills

• House File 6 – an act to amend state law, expanding the crime of sexual exploitation by a school employee to include all school employees.
• House File 286 – a successor bill to House Study Bill 23, an act to repeal the limitation on employers requiring employees to participate in direct deposit of payroll payments as a condition of employment that currently applies only to employees hired on or after July 1, 2005, so the provision will apply to all employees.
• House File 287 – a successor bill to House Study Bill 53, an act to establish the crime of installing a non-functioning, counterfeit, or illegal automobile safety airbag, and to provide for penalties.
• House File 299 – an act to prohibit the Loess Hills Development and Conservation Authority or the Board of Directors of the Loess Hills Alliance from entering into any agreement with a local government, or the state or federal government, if such agreement would regulate a person who is a private landowner, or the person’s use of the land he or she owns.
• House File 397 – a successor bill to House File 88, an act to define “occasional” as it applies to Iowa’s child labor laws and their applicability to provisions for children to work for nonprofit organizations.
• House File 414 – a successor bill to House Study Bill 114, an act to require certain disclosures from private businesses that offer veterans benefits services.
• House File 447 – a successor bill to House File 54, an act to require all wireless communications service providers to provide call location information at the request of any law enforcement agency or officer, holding those providers harmless if acting in good-faith compliance with the law, and to provide the Division of Criminal Investigation will maintain a database for this information, which may be accessed immediately upon request by any public safety answering points in the state.
• House File 504 – a successor bill to House Study Bill 76, an act to regulate the electronic delivery and posting of insurance notices and documents.
• House File 506 – a successor bill to House Study Bill 146, an act to amend the deadlines for receipt of absentee ballots that are to be counted in final, canvassed election results.
• House File 507 – a successor bill to House File 365, an act to provide for the collection of certain delinquent accounts for wastewater, sewer system, storm water drainage, and sewage treatment services.
• House File 525 – a successor bill to House Study Bill 86, an act to allow veterinarians to practice in an LLC or a partnership.
• House File 544 – a successor bill to House File 162, an act to add plasma gasification as one of the preferred methods of pollution prevention measures used by waste management organizations.
• House File 558 – a successor bill to House Study Bill 157, an act to create a civil right of action for certain people affected by disruptive conduct at funerals or memorial services for military service members.
• House File 567 – a successor bill to House File 279, an act to regulate “synthetic substances.”
• House File 569 – a successor bill to House Study Bill 168, an act to amend Iowa Code as it relates to notices of garnishment and levy to a judgment debtor.
• House File 578 – a successor bill to House File 415, an act to allow a property owner or person in charge of the property to be present and observe a Department of Natural Resources investigation into any actual or possible violations on that property or in the watershed of that property.
• House File 579 – a successor bill to House Study Bill 145, an act to amend regulations relating to health care facilities, elder group homes, assisted living programs, and adult day services programs.
• House File 583 – a successor bill to House File 425, an act to amend Iowa Code as it relates to the control of effluent from animal truck wash facilities by requiring permits and regulating storage and application of effluent.
• House File 588 – a successor bill to House Study Bill 205, an act to amend Iowa Code as it relates to the issuance of removable windshield parking placards for people with disabilities.
• House File 597 – a successor bill to House Study Bill 175, an act to amend Iowa Code as it relates to the distribution of fines imposed by automated traffic law enforcement.
• House File 599 – a successor bill to House Study Bill 206, an act to amend Iowa Code as it relates to the division of assets and liabilities of school districts involved in a reorganization or dissolution.

 

House Protected Bills

• Senate File 75 – a successor bill to Senate Study Bill 1040, an act to expand Iowa’s “move over” law to include snow removal vehicles with blue and white lights in conjunction with amber lighting or reflectors on Iowa Department of Transportation vehicles engaged in ice treatment and/or snow removal operations.
• Senate File 151 – a successor bill to Senate Study Bill 1022, an act to specify that the director of the Iowa Department of Corrections may designate any other unit of a correctional institution to also serve as a classification unit for the purposes of classification and orientation before placement of inmates in the most appropriate correctional institution.
• Senate File 176 – a successor bill to Senate Study Bill 1145, an act to amend the calculation formula for school districts’ property tax replacement payments.
• Senate File 199 – a successor bill to Senate Study Bill 1064, an act to provide that people who make independent campaign expenditures are no longer required to organize a statement or file a statement of organization.
• Senate File 336 – a successor bill to Senate File 237, an act to allow victims of sexual abuse to seek the same relief to that of victims of domestic abuse by filing petitions for civil protective orders.
• Senate File 345 – a successor bill to Senate Study Bill 1044, the Bully Free Iowa Act of 2015, recommended by Gov. Terry Branstad.
• Senate File 366 – a successor bill to Senate Study Bill 1213, an act to amend Iowa Code as it relates to the re-examination and recalculation of disability retirement benefits for beneficiaries under the Public Safety Peace Officers’ Retirement, Accident, and Disability System.
• Senate File 385 – a successor bill to Senate Study Bill 1110, an act to allow for the expungement of criminal not-guilty verdicts and dismissed charges after one year.
• Senate File 394 – a successor bill to Senate File 238, an act to make the government entity responsible for arresting a person be financially liable for county jail charges and expenses for the safekeeping and maintenance of a prisoner before an initial appearance before a magistrate, if the charges and expenses are not charged to and collected from the prisoner pursuant to Iowa Code.
• Senate File 402 – a successor bill to Senate File 308, an act to prohibit the Iowa Department of Human Services from closing the mental health institutes in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant until suitable and appropriate comprehensive and long-term care and treatment plans are developed and approved for the patients of each by the General Assembly.
• Senate File 404 – a successor bill to Senate Study Bill 1089, an act to amend the certification and regulation of shorthand reporters (court reporters) in Iowa.
• Senate File 415 – a successor bill to Senate Study Bill 1215, an act to amend Iowa Code as it relates to elections administration and election officials.
• Senate File 438 – a successor bill to Senate Study Bill 1256, an act to require the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to conduct a study on exchange wagering.
• Senate File 449 – a successor bill to Senate File 152, an act to require that the prior owner be given the first opportunity to repurchase property obtained through an eminent domain condemnation process and not used for the stated purpose of the condemnation.