STATE GOVERNMENT

SENATE FILE 102 - Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System - Chief Executive Officer
SENATE FILE 155 - Substantive Code Corrections
SENATE FILE 438 - Office of Grants Enterprise Management
HOUSE FILE 171 - Nonsubstantive Code Corrections
HOUSE FILE 204 - Massage Therapy - Modalities - Licensing Exemption
HOUSE FILE 342 - Iowa Department of Public Safety Peace Officers' Retirement, Accident, and Disability System - Temporary Incapacity for Duty - Sick Leave
HOUSE FILE 534 - Department of Administrative Services - Establishment and Authority
HOUSE FILE 545 - Newspapers Designated for Official Publications
HOUSE FILE 548 - Certified Law Enforcement Officers - Training - Tribal Government Police
HOUSE FILE 604 - State Government Annual Reports - Financial Information
HOUSE FILE 616 - Cemetery or Funeral Merchandise and Funeral Services - Cancellation or Purchase Agreements
HOUSE FILE 636 - Legislative Branch Functions - Services, Staff, Sales, and Publications
HOUSE FILE 648 - State Archives and Records
HOUSE FILE 676 - Veterans Trust Fund

RELATED LEGISLATION

SENATE FILE 97 - Transportation and Transportation-Related Regulation

SEE TRANSPORTATION. This Act contains provisions relating to the functions of the Iowa Department of Transportation, including issuance of driver's licenses and nonoperator's identification cards, authority over primary and interstate highways, and regulation of motor carriers.

SENATE FILE 180 - Abandoned Property and Property Presumed Abandoned

SEE BUSINESS, BANKING & INSURANCE. This Act amends Code Chapter 556 relating to the handling and definition of abandoned property.

SENATE FILE 236 - Insurance Company Demutualization or Reorganization - Unclaimed Property

SEE BUSINESS, BANKING & INSURANCE. This Act sets the time period for presumed abandonment of demutualization proceeds at two years after the first distribution date or after last contact with the policyholder, whichever is the earlier, and for the presumed abandonment of unpaid wages at one year.

SENATE FILE 237 - Water Quality Protection Fund - Private Water Supply Systems - Deposit and Use of Permit Fees

SEE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. This Act allows the Department of Natural Resources to collect permit fees from private water supply well contractors and appropriates the moneys collected to be used for the purpose of supporting programs established to protect private drinking water supplies.

SENATE FILE 343 - Disposal System Operation Permits - Cold Water Stream Designations - VETOED BY THE GOVERNOR

SEE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. This bill provided administrative rule requirements for the Environmental Protection Commission due to a change in the use designation of a cold water stream.

SENATE FILE 348 - Fishing Licenses and Fees - Habitat Development and Trout Program Funding

SEE NATURAL RESOURCES & OUTDOOR RECREATION. This Act relates to fishing licenses and fees and to the development of fish habitat.

SENATE FILE 390 - Alternative Forms of Local Government - VETOED BY THE GOVERNOR

SEE LOCAL GOVERNMENT. This bill would have made technical and substantive changes to the law relating to alternative forms of county government and to certain alternative forms of city government and would have allowed formation of local government organization review committees. The bill would have taken effect upon enactment and applied to charter commissions in existence on that date.

SENATE FILE 395 - Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship - Third-Party Receipt of Funds and Documents

SEE AGRICULTURE. This Act authorizes the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship to execute a contract with a business to accept documents required to be filed by the department and to collect moneys owed to the department to satisfy a liability relating to filing documents with or paying civil penalties to the department.

SENATE FILE 397 - Deer Hunting

SEE NATURAL RESOURCES & OUTDOOR RECREATION. This Act relates to the issuance of additional antlerless deer hunting licenses to certain residents, landowners and tenants, or their family members, and nonresidents, and provides for the donation of some of the deer meat harvested for use by the Department of Corrections. A violation of the Act or a rule adopted pursuant to the Act is a simple misdemeanor punishable as a scheduled violation.

SENATE FILE 417 - Police Service Dog Purchase by Department of Corrections - Funding

SEE CRIMINAL LAW, PROCEDURE & CORRECTIONS. This Act relates to the purchase of a police service dog by the Department of Corrections using moneys from a contingent fund for disaster aid.

SENATE FILE 433 - Appropriations - Economic Development

SEE APPROPRIATIONS. This Act requests that the Auditor of State review the Iowa Finance Authority's audit and conduct a performance audit of the authority.

SENATE FILE 439 - Appropriations - Justice System

SEE APPROPRIATIONS. This Act includes appropriations for FY 2003-2004 to the Iowa Telecommunications and Technology Commission and the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.

SENATE FILE 453 - State and Local Government Financial and Regulatory Matters - Miscellaneous Provisions

SEE APPROPRIATIONS. This Act addresses state and local government financial and regulatory matters. Legislators referred to this legislation as the "Government Reinvention Bill" during debate and discussion. The Act authorizes the Governor to designate state agencies as charter agencies that are exempted from various requirements but are subject to appropriation reductions.

SENATE FILE 458 - Miscellaneous Appropriations, Reductions, Revenue Adjustments, and Other Matters

SEE APPROPRIATIONS. Division IV of this Act appropriates moneys for a Military Pay Differential Program and a Health Insurance Retention Program. Division V relates to compensation and benefits paid to state employees. Division VII makes changes with regard to state departments or agencies that are designated charter agencies as enacted by S.F. 453, makes changes relating to the annual departmental budget estimates, changes the quarterly requisition of appropriations by departments to annual requisitions, changes public funds investment standards and investment maturity and procedural limitations, allows the issuing agency of refunding bonds for Tobacco Settlement Authority bonds which cannot be used for such refunding to be used for capital infrastructure improvements, establishes a Housing Trust Fund to be administered by the Iowa Finance Authority for the development and preservation of affordable housing for low-income people in the state, prohibits the State Appeal Board from considering certain claims for vehicle registration fee refunds, changes the name of the fund to which locally collected electronic transaction fees are deposited, allows cigarette manufacturers that are not members of the Master Settlement Agreement to receive a refund of excess escrow amounts required to be deposited with the state, and directs the state committee, if one is formed, to implement the federal Help America Vote Act.

S.J.R. 5 - Nullification of Administrative Rule - Ammonia and Hydrogen Sulfide Ambient Air Standards

SEE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. This Joint Resolution nullifies the amendments to an administrative rule and nullifies an administrative rule adopted by the Environmental Protection Commission of the Department of Natural Resources on April 21, 2003, to prevent the adoption of certain new ambient air quality standards that regulate ammonia and hydrogen sulfide levels in the air. The Joint Resolution takes effect April 30, 2003.

HOUSE FILE 254 - Reversion of State Conservation Fund Revenues - Exemption

SEE NATURAL RESOURCES & OUTDOOR RECREATION. This Act provides that unspent revenues deposited in the State Conservation Fund of the Department of Natural Resources are exempt from reversion to the General Fund of the State and remain available for expenditure for one year after the close of the fiscal year during which the revenues were deposited.

HOUSE FILE 381 - Anatomical Gifts - State Employee Leaves - Grants

SEE LABOR & EMPLOYMENT. This Act establishes a bone marrow and vascular organ donation incentive program for state employees. The Act also provides for a different use of moneys in the Anatomical Gift Public Awareness and Transplantation Fund.

HOUSE FILE 392 - Economic Growth - Strategic Planning

SEE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. This Act requires all state agencies to include economic growth in their mission statements.

HOUSE FILE 396 - Disaster Preparedness

SEE HEALTH & SAFETY. This Act establishes a new Code Division XV, entitled "Disaster Preparedness" within Code Chapter 135, the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) chapter, and establishes the Division of Epidemiology, Emergency Medical Services, and Disaster Operations within IDPH. The Act takes effect April 14, 2003.

HOUSE FILE 411 - Licensing of Hunting, Fishing, and Related Activities - Military Personnel - Residency Status

SEE NATURAL RESOURCES & OUTDOOR RECREATION. This Act provides that members of the U.S. armed forces who are serving on active duty and are stationed in this state shall be considered residents for the purpose of purchasing hunting, fishing and trapping licenses or licenses for related activities.

HOUSE FILE 594 - Regulation of Electrical and Mechanical Amusement Devices

SEE GAMING. This Act provides for the registration of electrical or mechanical amusement devices that award a prize not based on the skill of the operator and of the manufacturers and distributors of those devices. The Act takes effect May 23, 2003.

HOUSE FILE 603 - Gambling in Public Places - Nonprofit Organizations Conducting Bingo Occasions

SEE GAMING. This Act provides an exception to the licensing requirements for a nonprofit organization conducting a bingo game if the bingo game is conducted primarily as an activity and not as a fundraiser.

HOUSE FILE 614 - Election Law Changes - EXTRAORDINARY SESSION - VETOED BY THE GOVERNOR

SEE ELECTIONS, ETHICS & CAMPAIGN FINANCE. This bill would have made changes to the law relating to elections, absentee balloting, and voter registration, including changes necessary to implement the federal Help America Vote Act.

HOUSE FILE 623 - Driver's License or Nonoperator's Identification Card Applications or Renewals - Selective Service Registration

SEE TRANSPORTATION. This Act provides for automatic registration with the U.S. Selective Service System upon application for a driver's license or nonoperator's identification card by a person required to register.

HOUSE FILE 628 - Regulation of Physician Assistant Services

SEE HEALTH & SAFETY. This Act provides for changes relating to licensure requirements for physician assistants.

HOUSE FILE 655 - Appropriations - Administration and Regulation

SEE APPROPRIATIONS. This Act relates to and appropriates around $86.7 million from the General Fund to various state departments, agencies and funds for FY 2003-2004. The Act also appropriates a total of around $23.7 million in other funds.

HOUSE FILE 674 - Military Service and Military Personnel - Education, Employment, Benefits, and Taxation

SEE TAXATION. This Act provides a number of exclusions and deductions in determining Iowa income tax and other related benefits for military personnel including the following:

• A person is considered to be a veteran if the person would have served during specified conflict periods except for the fact of opting to serve five years in the reserve forces. This provision takes effect May 21, 2003.
• State and local personnel called to state active duty, active state service, or federal service are entitled to a leave of absence for such time and are also entitled to return to the same position or classification held prior to such service or duty or to the position or classification that the employee would have attained if not for the interruption in civil service. This provision takes effect May 21, 2003, and applies retroactively to January 1, 2003.

HOUSE FILE 680 - Bait Dealer Licenses

SEE NATURAL RESOURCES & OUTDOOR RECREATION. This Act creates resident and nonresident retail and wholesale bait dealer licenses and sets fees for those licenses. The Act takes effect May 9, 2003.

H.J.R. 3 - Proposed Constitutional Amendment - Qualification of Electors

SEE ELECTIONS, ETHICS & CAMPAIGN FINANCE. This Joint Resolution proposes an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa relating to persons who are disqualified from voting or holding elective office. The Joint Resolution will be referred to the next General Assembly before being submitted to the electorate for ratification.

STATE GOVERNMENT

SENATE FILE 102 - Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System - Chief Executive Officer (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT. This Act provides that the term of office for the Chief Executive Officer of the Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS) is four years and shall begin on May 1 of the year of appointment and end on April 30 of the year of expiration. However, the Act provides that the term of office for the current IPERS chief executive officer on the date of the Act shall end April 30, 2008.

The Act also requires the IPERS Investment Board and Benefits Advisory Committee to submit an evaluation of the performance of the chief executive officer prior to the expiration of the officer's term and directs the investment board to set the salary for the chief executive officer based on the pay plan applicable to employees of IPERS.

The Act takes effect May 1, 2003, and is retroactively applicable to July 1, 2002.

SENATE FILE 155 - Substantive Code Corrections (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY. This Act contains statutory corrections that adjust language to reflect current practices, insert earlier omissions, delete redundancies and inaccuracies, delete temporary language, resolve inconsistencies and conflicts, update ongoing provisions, or remove ambiguities.

Changes made include changes to Code language on the following subjects: notices of appeal in condemnation cases, Iowa Communications Network usage, filing requirements for foreign agricultural landholders, public funds deposits in financial institutions, Information Technology Council membership, employee training and retraining programs, various economic development programs, Iowa Finance Authority housing assistance, the Iowa Pollution Control Works and Drinking Water Facilities Financing Program, competition by government with private enterprise, state mandates, community empowerment board duties, military justice, elections, campaign finance reporting, the conferring of peace officer status on state officers, retirement systems, bingo and card and parlor games, references to the Division of Criminal Investigation of the Department of Public Safety, Department of Public Health administrative duties, regulation of farmers markets, regulation of registered dental assistants, county agricultural extension, the Office of Renewable Fuels and Coproducts, grade "A" milk inspection, the confinement of sexually violent predators, child abuse reporting and investigations, domestic abuse, licensing and regulation of child care facilities, increases in the number of directors on a school board, student achievement improvement cash awards to school districts, excessive size and weight permits for manufactured home transport, identification numbers for all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles, emergency services funds, annual tax sale information, animal feeding operations, water quality regulation, regulation of well contractors, waste tire hauler registration certificates, conservation easements, operation of personal watercraft, electric power utilities regulation, the organization and activities of business corporations, viatical settlement contracts and viatical settlement investment contracts, the Consumer Credit Code, licensed or certified public accountants, professional landscape architects, secured transactions under the Uniform Commercial Code, electronic transactions, cooperatives, mediator qualifications, court orders issued in adoption proceedings, documents filed and docketed by the clerk of court, probate, the Uniform Principal and Income Act, the killing of animals, crime victim restitution, and the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision.

Changes also include the striking of a definition in two Code chapters: one relating to the Department of Inspections and Appeals and the other relating to clandestine laboratory sites; the repeal of obsolete Code provisions: one in the Auditor of State chapter and one establishing a Domestic Abuse Tax Checkoff; the repeal of two redundant definitions in the Tax List chapter and the Conveyances chapter; and several directives authorizing the transfer of a provision prohibiting the possession of anthrax to another chapter and the addition of numerical Code chapter references to various cites to the popular name of certain Code chapters. The Act includes an effective date provision affecting the changes to language pertaining to business corporations, the Uniform Commercial Code, and the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision.

SENATE FILE 438 - Office of Grants Enterprise Management (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS. This Act creates in the Department of Management the Office of Grants Enterprise Management to develop and administer a system to track, identify, advocate for, and coordinate nonstate grants. The head of this office is a facilitator appointed by the director of the department. The duties of the facilitator may include developing a plan to increase state access to nonstate funding sources, developing procedures to formally notify state and local agencies of the availability of federal funds, establishing a database for grants applied for and received and to track congressional activity, providing grant application writing assistance, and reviewing other states' funding strategies and methods for possible use by this state.

The funding source of up to $125,000 for the Office of Grants Enterprise Management is the increase in the amount of indirect cost reimbursements over the amount of such reimbursements received in FY 2002-2003.

HOUSE FILE 171 - Nonsubstantive Code Corrections (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY. This Act makes Code changes and corrections that are considered to be nonsubstantive and noncontroversial, in addition to style changes.

Changes made include correcting references to or names of various agencies, terms, funds, programs, and other entities; correcting or updating references to one renumbered court rule and to various Code chapters and sections, some of which have been repealed; making what can best be described as grammatical or punctuation changes - some of which conform a phrase to a defined term; correcting lead-in phrases in old legislation; correcting or specifying the applicability of a provision or provisions; substituting the correct date for language referring to the effective date of a Code provision; replacing references to divisions within the Department of Natural Resources with references to the department itself; correcting Code of Federal Regulations citation style; eliminating obsolete date references; conforming the use of certain terms within a sentence; shortening a reference to the Department of Natural Resources so that it fits with related definitions provisions; changing a definition to fit the style of the other definitions in the same Code section; directing a change in the capitalization of the acronym for an assistance program for children; and substituting the word "fine" for "violation" in a transportation scheduled violations provision.

The changes that apply to an effective date in Code Section 29A.90, the Military Code chapter, apply retroactively to April 22, 2002. Changes that correct various lead-in phrases in legislation from 2002 take effect May 2, 2003, and are applicable, due to the effective dates of the original legislation, as follows: the change to 2002 Iowa Acts, Chapter 1093, in section 124 of this Act (relating to the movement of swine), on April 8, 2002; the change to 2002 Iowa Acts, Chapter 1132, in section 126 of this Act (relating to a petition for involuntary city development action), on July 1, 2002; and the change to 2002 Iowa Acts, Chapter 1140, in section 127 of this Act (relating to school transportation hearings and appeals), on May 2, 2002.

HOUSE FILE 204 - Massage Therapy - Modalities - Licensing Exemption (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT. This Act requires the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), in conjunction with the Board of Massage Therapy Examiners, to conduct a study regarding the modalities associated with the practice of massage therapy. The study shall be conducted with the input of licensed massage therapists, reflexologists, and unlicensed persons practicing modalities related to massage therapy, with the objective of determining which modalities shall be included under the definition of "massage therapy" and require licensure. The study shall focus on the health, safety and welfare of the public regarding the modalities reviewed, and IDPH must submit a report of the results and recommendations of the study to the General Assembly by January 15, 2004.

The Act provides that an individual who is engaged exclusively in the practice of reflexology or an unlicensed individual who is practicing a modality related to massage therapy, but whose professional practice does not fall within the definition of "massage therapy" contained in Code Section 152C.1, shall not be required to be licensed as a massage therapist for a one-year period beginning July 1, 2003, and ending June 30, 2004. The Act provides, however, that beginning July 1, 2004, these individuals shall be subject to licensure unless, based on the study, they are permanently exempted from licensure by statute.

HOUSE FILE 342 - Iowa Department of Public Safety Peace Officers' Retirement, Accident, and Disability System - Temporary Incapacity for Duty - Sick Leave (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT. This Act provides that a peace officer in the Department of Public Safety who is a member of the Peace Officers' Retirement, Accident, and Disability System and who is temporarily incapacitated in the line of duty and unable to work shall be entitled to pay and allowances without being required to use sick leave during the period of time they are temporarily incapacitated and unable to work. The Act takes effect April 9, 2003.

HOUSE FILE 534 - Department of Administrative Services - Establishment and Authority (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT. This Act provides for the reorganization of certain departments of state government by establishing a new Department of Administrative Services in new Code Chapter 8A. The Act eliminates the departments of Personnel, General Services, Information Technology, and the position of director for each of those departments, repeals Code Chapters 14B, 18 and 19A concerning those departments, and transfers most of the functions and duties of those departments and directors to the new department and its director. The finance functions of the Department of Revenue and Finance are also transferred to the new department and the current Department of Revenue and Finance is renamed the Department of Revenue. The Act also establishes the Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System as an independent agency of the executive branch of state government and transfers responsibility related to the Peace Officers' Retirement, Accident, and Disability Retirement System (PORS) from the Department of Personnel to the Department of Public Safety.

DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES. New Code Chapter 8A provides for the duties and responsibilities of the new Department of Administrative Services. The Code chapter is divided into five articles. Article 1 of the new Code chapter provides for the establishment of the department, the appointment and duties of the director as it relates to the department, and other provisions governing the department. Article 2 of the new Code chapter establishes the information technology duties of the department, which are currently the primary responsibility of the Information Technology Department under Code Chapter 14B. Article 3 of the new Code chapter establishes the duties of the department as it relates to the physical resources of state government. This article encompasses most of the current functions performed by the Department of General Services as provided in Code Chapter 18. Article 4 of the new Code chapter establishes the duties of the department as it relates to the human resources of state government. This article includes most of the functions performed by the Department of Personnel as provided in Code Chapter 19A. Finally, Article 5 of the new Code chapter establishes the duties of the department as it relates to the financial administration of state government and encompasses most of the finance duties performed by the Department of Revenue and Finance under Code Chapter 421.

In addition, the Act directs the department to consider how state government services relating to printing, information technology, mail, human resource benefits and payroll, financial accounting, property management, fleet management, and purchasing shall be delivered to state government. The department is directed, generally, to examine the feasibility of conducting a competitive bidding-type process, defined by the Act as managed competition, concerning how these services should be delivered. In addition, the department is directed to conduct such a competitive process by July 1, 2005, unless more efficient results can be obtained through other means, for printing and fleet management services. In addition, the department is to examine, by September 1, 2004, the possible transfer of state employees providing information technology services to the new department. The department is directed to consult with the Auditor of State regarding any managed competition process utilized.

CONFORMING AND MISCELLANEOUS CHANGES. The Act makes several changes to the Code to conform to the establishment of the department, the elimination of the departments of General Services, Personnel, and Information Technology, and the renaming of the Department of Revenue and Finance to the Department of Revenue. In addition, the Act provides that the Director of the Department of Administrative Services is responsible for serving on those boards and commissions where the current directors of Personnel, General Services, and Information Technology are required to serve.

The Act transfers the responsibility for the State Employee Suggestion Program from the Executive Council and the Department of Management to the department as provided in new Code Section 8A.110 and the maximum possible award to an employee for a suggestion is raised from $2,500 to $10,000.

The Act modifies the membership of the Information Technology Council, and provides that the council serves primarily in an advisory capacity and shall submit recommendations to the department for review and establishment of rates. New Code Section 8A.204, providing for the council, takes effect May 23, 2003.

The Act makes significant changes to the current printing and document management functions of the Department of General Services. Current Code provisions making the Department of General Services largely responsible for the printing needs of state government, including those of the legislative branch, and the maintenance and control of printing machinery are eliminated. While the new Code article authorizes the new department to adopt print specifications and rules covering printing contracts, as well as to provide bidding requirements for printing services, the specificity of the requirements as currently provided in Code Chapter 18 are eliminated.

As to functions currently provided or governed by the Department of Personnel, the Act eliminates, unless otherwise provided by a collective bargaining agreement, the 30-day limit on a disciplinary suspension without pay under the merit system. The Act also modifies current law by providing that the new department can make the state's deferred compensation program available to other nonstate governmental employees.

Code Section 8.36A, relating to the level of full-time equivalent (FTE) positions authorized for executive branch agencies, is amended by allowing an agency to request permission from the Director of the Department of Management to exceed the authorized level in order to convert a contract position to an FTE position. Evidence is required to show that the conversion will result in cost savings and comparable or better services. If the director approves, the agency's authorized level of FTE positions is increased and the increase is reported to the General Assembly.

Code Section 8.63, concerning the Innovations Fund, is amended to permit the State Innovations Fund Committee to approve an "enterprise loan" to a state agency if the agency has a plan and the capability to use the loan to provide internal services to government that meet customer needs and provide value to customers, and the agency expects to receive payment for those services from customers to cover expenses and repayment of the loan. This section of the Act takes effect May 23, 2003.

The Act changes the repeal of the Years of Service Incentive Program created in Code Section 70A.38 from June 30, 2003, to June 30, 2008. The program permits state executive branch employers the option to offer a financial incentive to an employee for terminating state employment. This section of the Act takes effect May 23, 2003.

The Act also includes several transition provisions governing the establishment of the new department and the elimination of the departments of General Services, Personnel, and Information Technology.

HOUSE FILE 545 - Newspapers Designated for Official Publications (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, REGULATION AND LABOR. This Act specifies that in order to be designated for official publication of notices and reports of proceedings, a newspaper must be published at least once a week for at least 50 weeks per year, rather than just at a regular frequency.

HOUSE FILE 548 - Certified Law Enforcement Officers - Training - Tribal Government Police (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY. This Act relates to law enforcement training at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy.

The Act provides that a law enforcement officer of a tribal government may receive training and be certified at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy. The Act further provides that a tribal law enforcement officer trained at the academy is subject to the certification and revocation of certification rules in Code Chapter 80B. A tribal government shall also pay all of the costs of training a tribal officer at the academy.

The Act also requires training at the academy to include a sexual assault curriculum.

HOUSE FILE 604 - State Government Annual Reports - Financial Information (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT. This Act requires that a state government annual report made to the General Assembly must include financial information pertaining to the topic of the report. The financial information must include budget and actual revenue and expenditure information for the fiscal year covered by the report and for the previous fiscal year and may include budget information for future fiscal years. In addition to any narrative, the financial information must be provided in a graphic form utilizing a columnar format.

HOUSE FILE 616 - Cemetery or Funeral Merchandise and Funeral Services - Cancellation or Purchase Agreements (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, REGULATION AND LABOR. This Act prohibits a cancellation penalty upon cancellation of a purchase agreement for cemetery merchandise, funeral merchandise, funeral services, or a combination thereof by providing that when such a purchase agreement is canceled, the seller must refund or transfer, upon a written demand, no less than the purchase price adjusted for inflation, using the Consumer Price Index amounts announced by the Commissioner of Insurance annually, less any actual expenses incurred by the seller which have been specified in the purchase agreement. The amount of actual expenses deducted from the purchase price by the seller cannot exceed 10 percent of the purchase price.

The Act defines "actual expenses" as all reasonable business expenses, including but not limited to marketing and promotional expenses, investment management fees, annual reporting fees related to accounting and regulatory requirements, licensing fees of the establishment, and administration, regulatory reporting, and custody expenses related to purchase agreements, computer expenses, licensing fees, and office expenses.

HOUSE FILE 636 - Legislative Branch Functions - Services, Staff, Sales, and Publications (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON ADMINISTRATION AND RULES. This Act affects certain legislative branch functions by consolidating bill drafting, fiscal analysis, budget review, government oversight, committee staffing, legislative information, and computer support functions under one central nonpartisan agency, and by providing that procurement functions for the legislative branch are controlled by the Senate, House of Representatives, and the new central nonpartisan agency, respectively.

CONSOLIDATED AGENCY. The Act creates a single, nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency (LSA) by combining the functions and duties of the Legislative Service Bureau, Legislative Fiscal Bureau, and Legislative Computer Support Bureau. The Legislative Council is responsible for overseeing the LSA. The LSA's principal functions, inherited from its predecessor agencies, include the provision of the following services: legal and fiscal analysis, bill drafting, fiscal note preparation, budget review, state government oversight and performance evaluation, legislative and congressional redistricting, legislative committee staffing, official legal publication services, legislative information to the public, library information, legislative visitor protocol services, capitol tour guide services, and legislative computer system services.

NEW FUNCTIONS. New functions transferred to the LSA include the provision of legal analysis and staffing services for the Administrative Rules Review Committee and publication of the Iowa Official Register, also known as the Redbook. The LSA is also charged with analyzing and summarizing fiscal impact statements submitted to the Administrative Rules Review Committee. Such statements must be prepared by the executive branch rulemaking agencies if annual or five-year costs of a rule change necessitate expenditures of $100,000 or $500,000, respectively.

DIRECTOR. The Director of the LSA is appointed by the Legislative Council for a term as set by the council. The director is responsible for supervising all functions, employees, and outside service providers of the LSA. The director or the director's designee is named a member of the state Revenue Estimating Conference.

EMPLOYEES. LSA employees are prohibited from participating in partisan political activities, from being advocates or opponents of issues subject to legislative debate, and generally from making public policy recommendations. However, employees performing certain functions may still make recommendations in the areas of state expenditures and budgets, and government oversight and performance evaluation. Attorney-employees are required to provide legal analysis through the exercise of their independent, professional judgment. Employees are required to provide services in a manner so as to preserve the constitutional privileges of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives, including certain confidentiality protections of the members. Employees are protected from being compelled to give testimony in judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings regarding legislative intent directly relating to the passage or rejection of legislation.

PROCUREMENT AND DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLICATIONS. The Senate and House of Representatives and the LSA are authorized to determine their own procurement procedures, principally relating to the publication of bills and amendments, journals, the Iowa Code, the Iowa Acts, the Iowa Administrative Bulletin and Code, and the Iowa Court Rules. The LSA is authorized to set prices for the sale of both its electronic and print copies of the official legal publications, and to determine policies and procedures with regard to distribution of free copies to governmental entities. The Senate and House are authorized to determine the distribution of bills, amendments and journals. Code editing authority regarding both the Iowa Code and Iowa Administrative Code is updated, principally to match current practice.

SALES TAX EXEMPTION. The sales tax exemption covering sales of historical mementos is expanded to exempt all sales by the LSA, principally the sale of legal publications.

The Act takes effect April 14, 2003.

HOUSE FILE 648 - State Archives and Records (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT. This Act creates new Code Chapter 304B, the State Archives and Records Act, relating to the administration of the state records program by consolidating applicable Code sections into one Code chapter that deals with the government records program.

The Act modifies and reorganizes multiple levels of duties and responsibilities of the State Records Commission, Department of Cultural Affairs, and state agency heads in the creation, organization, maintenance, use, and final disposition of government records by destruction or permanent preservation.

The Act provides for the establishment of the State Records Commission, and provides for commission responsibilities relating to the develo

The Act further defines the management and administrative duties of the department relating to government records and the State Archives and further defines the responsibilities of state agency heads with respect to government records.

The Act additionally provides for the establishment of the Iowa Historical Records Advisory Board to serve as the central advisory body for historical records planning in the state and also as a coordinating body to facilitate cooperation among historical records repositories and other information agencies within the state.

HOUSE FILE 676 - Veterans Trust Fund (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT. This Act establishes a Veterans Trust Fund under the control of the Commission of Veterans Affairs.

The fund receives any appropriations and gifts or other moneys provided for purposes of the fund, and interest and earnings on the moneys credited to the fund. Moneys in the fund are not subject to appropriation or transfer except as provided by law. Moneys in the fund cannot be expended for purposes of the fund until the minimum balance in the fund is $50 million. Once the fund reaches the minimum balance, the interest and earnings and other moneys credited to the fund in excess of that amount are appropriated to the commission to be used for the purposes of the fund. The General Assembly did not provide an appropriation to the fund during the 2003 Session. Appropriations from the fund are to be used for the benefit of veterans and the spouses and dependents of veterans such as college tuition aid and nursing facility expenses that are not payable by another source. The term "veteran" is defined to include a person who served in the U.S. armed forces during certain periods of armed conflict or war and certain former members of the military reserves and the National Guard and veterans of other types of military-related service or a resident of this state who served in the armed forces, completed a minimum aggregate of 90 days of active federal service, and was discharged under honorable conditions.