
The Iowa State Capitol building July 31, 2020, in Des Moines.
Here is a status report on some bills being considered by Iowa lawmakers:
Alive
• Boost next fiscal year’s state K-12 education funding by $36.5 million (SF269*)
• Require K-12 schools offer in-person classroom instruction option (SF160*)
• Revamp early-voting/absentee-balloting election laws (SF413*)
• Appropriate $21 million in state supplement to finance Workday contract (SF284*)
• Exempt business PPP loans/federal jobless benefits from state taxation (SF364)
• Accelerate income tax triggers/phase out inheritance tax (SF576)
• Revamp mental health financing/cut property taxes (SF587)
• Enact permit-less constitutional carry gun laws (HF756)
• Ban hand-held electronic devices while driving (SF330/HF392)
• Amend Iowa Constitution to clarify no right to abortion (SJR2)
• Amend Iowa Constitution with gun rights protection (SJR7)
• Halt high-tech state incentives due to social-media censorship (SF580/HF633)
• Add new method for creating charter schools (HF813)
• Enact “back the blue” police protections/enhanced crime penalties (SF534)
• Supplement K-12 schools for COVID-19 costs (SF532)
• Governor’s ethanol expansion proposal (SF481/HSB185)
• Governor’s plan to expand broadband grant program (SF390/HF848)
• Governor’s plan to expand affordable housing options (SSB1142/HF178)
• Bar interference with transportation of agricultural animal (HF655/SF421)
• Require amusement ride attendants be at least age 16 (SF114/HF558)
• Create crime for assisted reproduction fraud (SF529)
• Cap medical malpractice/trucking mishap awards at $1 million (SF537/HF772)
• Crack down on businesses selling glass/metal pipes used to smoke meth (SF363)
• Allow parental request for child to retake grade due to COVID-19 progress concerns (SF90)
• Provide legal immunity for firearms makers/dealers (HF621)
• Make multiple traffic changes/shield police liability in vehicle pursuits (SF333)
• Allow licensed cosmetologists/barbers to work at wedding venues (HF760)
• Toughen criminal penalties for drivers causing death/injury due to excessive speed (HF753)
• Create crime for failing to assist someone in imminent danger of death (SF243)
• Designate county flood mitigation as an essential purpose (HF523)
• Criminalize sexual exploitation of a minor by adult providing training/instruction (SF562)
• Create crime for defrauding employment drug/alcohol test using synthetic urine (SF329/HSB22)
• Change number of children allowed at day care centers (HF260)
• Bar cities/counties from regulating sale of natural gas/propane (HF555)
• Establish lifetime trout fishing license for seniors (HF234)
• Allocate state money to K-12 schools to offset cost of COVID-19 in-person learning (HF439)
• Clarify deceptive/unfair rental car practices (HF730)
• Phase out state tax gambling casinos pay on marketing promotions (SF169)
• Establish liability Immunity for agricultural tourism (SF356)
• Expand child care opportunities for Iowa families (HF301/HF302)
• Allow grocery stores to opt out of bottle-deposit law (SF470)
• Bar businesses from requiring employee microchip implants (HF259)
• Eliminate diversity plans affecting open enrollment in five school districts (HF282)
• Allow 5-year-olds to participate in voluntary preschool for a two-year period (HF318)
• Regulate low-speed electric bikes (HF493)
• Remove preference for Iowa coal (SF468)
• Set Iowa residency requirements at UI medical/dental schools (HF468)
• Allow expungement of some non-violent Class D felony convictions (HF831)
• Create “unauthorized sampling” criminal offense for trespassers (HF775)
• Allow home-schooling parents to teach driver’s education (SF546)
• Expand Teach Iowa scholars program (SF547)
• Change regulations for highway billboards (SF548)
• Enhance penalties for drivers who leave accident scene (HF524)
• Enhance penalty for caretakers involved in dependent adult death (SF450)
• Exempt legislative pages from some educational requirements (SF517)
• Ban sexist/racist stereotyping in diversity training (HF802)
• Require regents’ universities to protect First Amendment rights (HF744)
• Ban city ordinances preventing landlords from rejecting federal housing vouchers (SF252)
• Allow counties to collect driver’s license fees (HF419)
• Modify lighting devices on snow plows (HF654)
• Create public safety equipment fund (HF708/SF489)
• Create civil remedy when sexually explicit images disclosed without consent (SF324/HSB31)
• Grant liability immunity for veterinarians aiding authorities in a civil/criminal case (HF746/SF340)
• Beef up criminal/civil enforcement of massage therapy activities (SF388/HF452)
• Implements process for collection/tracking of sexual abuse evidence collection kits (HF426/SF451)
• Create Department of Public Safety cold case investigation unit (HF312/SF561)
• Create sexual assault forensic examiner program (HF603/SF570)
• Bar harassment by filing false police report (HF821)
• Add crimes of assault/financial exploitation of older Iowans (SF522)
Dead
• Provide state-funded “students first” scholarships to private-school families (SF159)
• Allow student-athletes to profit from use of name/image/likeness (SF245)
• Prohibit/remove most automated traffic enforcement cameras (SF516)
• Bar employers from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations (SF555)
• Establish daylight saving time as the eventual official time in Iowa (SF335)
• End faculty tenure at regent universities (HF490/SF41)
• Legalize e-sports wagering (HSB200)
• Reduce penalty for first offense marijuana possession conviction (SF533)
• Restore voting rights for eligible felons (HF818)
• Post information on medication abortions at medical facilities (HF383)
• Eliminate statute of limitation on criminal actions involving sexual abuse of minors (SF572)
• Cut off state funds for cities/counties that “defund” police (SF479)
• Create offense for slower drivers who “camp” in divided highway left lane (HF494)
• Allow smoking at Iowa Veterans Home under certain circumstances (SF257)
• Instruct Department of Transportation to install adult changing stations in highway rest stops (HF492)
• Create Department of Human Services asset/identity verification system for public assistance (SF389)
• Bar employers from noncompete agreements with low-wage employees (SF496)
• Place four-year limit on term of Iowa Veterans Home commandant (SSB1097)
• Bar loaded firearm when operating electric scooter (HF738)
• Amend Iowa Constitution guaranteeing right to hunt/fish/enjoy resources (HJR8)
• Change front license plate requirement for some vehicles (SF419)
• Expand protections for mobile-home owners (SF469)
• Establish new remote worker grant fund/program (SF491)
• Require in-person regent university graduation ceremonies (HSB246)
• Amend state constitution to clarify lieutenant governor line of succession (SJR2003)
• Bar employers from knowingly hiring “unauthorized aliens” (SF339)
• Pare back state board appointees/commissioners subject to Senate confirmation (SF423)
• Halt privileges to hunt/fish/camp for up to a year for Iowa convicted of littering (SF465)
• Amend state constitution to restore felon voting rights (HJR11)
• Make over-the-counter birth control available at pharmacies for adult women (HSB121)
• Allow override of presidential executive orders (HF815)
• Block strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP) libel actions (HF456)
• Give utilities authority to trim trees interfering with power lines (HF460)
• Require regent universities to hire a public policy events director (HF153)
• Require mental health insurance parity for telehealth services (HF294)
• Allow landlords to pay delinquent water bills with security deposit (HF749)
• Change law on confidential law enforcement reports (SF513)
• Allow more frequent veterans card game tournaments (SF510)
• Require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers (SF485)
• Change window tint standards/procedures for motor vehicles (SF332)
* Bill signed into law by governor