S-3115

   Amend Senate File 546 as follows:
   1.  By striking everything after the enacting clause and inserting: 
   <Section 1.  Section 24.9, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  Each municipality shall file with the secretary or clerk thereof the estimates required to be made in sections 24.3 through 24.8, at least twenty days before the date fixed by law for certifying the same to the levying board and shall forthwith fix a date for a hearing on the estimates, and shall publish such estimates and any annual levies previously authorized as provided in section 76.2, with a notice of the time when and the place where such hearing shall be held not less than ten nor more than twenty days before the hearing. Provided that in municipalities of less than two hundred one thousand population or less such estimates and the notice of hearing shall be posted in three public places in the district in lieu of publication. For any other municipality such publication shall be in a newspaper published in the municipality, if any, if not, then in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality.
   Sec. 2.  Section 362.3, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   b.  A publication required by the city code must be in a newspaper published at least once weekly and having general circulation in the city. However, if the city has a population of two hundred one thousand or less, or in the case of ordinances and amendments to be published in a city in which no newspaper is published, a publication may be made by posting in three public places in the city which have been permanently designated by ordinance.
   Sec. 3.  Section 362.3, subsection 2, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  In the case of notices of elections, a city with a population of two hundred one thousand or less meets the publication requirement of this section by posting notices of elections in three public places which have been designated by ordinance.
   Sec. 4.  Section 372.13, subsection 6, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   6.  Within fifteen days following a regular or special meeting of the council, the clerk shall cause the minutes of the proceedings of the council, including the total expenditure from each city fund, to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the city. The publication shall include a list of all claims allowed and a summary of all receipts and shall show the gross amount of the claims. The list of claims allowed shall show the name of the person or firm making the claim, the reason for the claim, and the amount of the claim. If the reason for the claims is the same, two or more claims made by the same vendor, supplier, or claimant may be consolidated if the number of claims consolidated and the total consolidated claim amount are listed in the statement. However, the city shall provide at its office upon request an unconsolidated list of all claims allowed. Matters discussed in closed session pursuant to section 21.3 shall not be published until entered on the public minutes. However, in cities having more than one hundred fifty thousand population, the council shall each month print in pamphlet form a detailed itemized statement of all receipts and disbursements of the city, and a summary of its proceedings during the preceding month, and furnish copies to the city library, the daily newspapers of the city, and to persons who apply at the office of the city clerk, and the pamphlet shall constitute publication as required. Failure by the clerk to make publication is a simple misdemeanor. The provisions of this subsection are applicable in cities in which a newspaper is published, or in cities of two hundred over one thousand population or over, but in all other cities, posting the statement in three public places in the city which have been permanently designated by ordinance is sufficient compliance with this subsection.
   Sec. 5.  Section 384.15A, subsection 4, paragraph a, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   The council shall set a time and place for a public hearing on the resolution before the date for adoption of the resolution and shall publish notice of the hearing not less than ten nor more than twenty days prior to the hearing in a newspaper published at least once weekly and having general circulation in the city. However, if the city has a population of two hundred one thousand or less, publication may be made by posting in three public places in the city. If the city has an internet site, the notice shall also be posted and clearly identified on the city’s internet site for public viewing beginning on the date of the newspaper publication or public posting, as applicable. Additionally, if the city maintains a social media account on one or more social media applications, the public hearing notice or an electronic link to the public hearing notice shall be posted on each such account on the same day as the publication of the notice. All of the following shall be included in the notice:
   Sec. 6.  Section 384.16, subsection 3, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  Following, and not until, adoption of the resolution under section 384.15A, the council shall set a time and place for public hearing on the budget before the final certification date and shall publish notice of the hearing not less than ten nor more than twenty days before the hearing in a newspaper published at least once weekly and having general circulation in the city. However, if the city has a population of two hundred one thousand or less, publication may be made by posting in three public places in the city. A summary of the proposed budget and a description of the procedure for protesting the city budget under section 384.19, in the form prescribed by the director of the department of management, shall be included in the notice. Proof of publication of the notice under this subsection 3 and a copy of the resolution adopted under section 384.15A must be filed with the county auditor. The department of management shall prescribe the form for the public hearing notice for use by cities.
   Sec. 7.  Section 618.1, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   618.1  Publications in English Publication requirements.
   1.  All notices, proceedings, and other matter whatsoever, required by law or ordinance to be published in a newspaper, shall be published only in the English language and in official newspapers published primarily in the English language.
   2.  a.  All publications made in an official newspaper at the rates contained in section 618.11 shall also be posted by the official newspaper to the official newspaper’s internet site within forty-eight hours of receipt from the public posting entity, independent of the publication schedule of the official newspaper’s printed version and not subject to any paywall or subscription.
   b.  A public posting entity’s statutory notice requirement is satisfied as soon as a statutorily required public notice is posted pursuant to this subsection regardless of whether the statutorily required public notice has been printed in the official newspaper’s printed version.
   3.  If no official newspaper exists in a public posting entity’s jurisdiction, the public posting entity satisfies the requirements of this chapter by posting a statutorily required public notice to the public posting entity’s official internet site or the relevant county’s official internet site, and as provided in section 4.
   4.  A public posting entity shall also post a physical copy of a required public notice on a bulletin board or other prominent place which is easily accessible to the public and clearly designated for that purpose at the principal office of the public posting entity, or if no such office exists, at the building in which a meeting is to be held, if applicable.
   5.  Nothing in this chapter modifies the duty of a public posting entity to make public use copies of required notices available to the public as otherwise required by law.
   6.  Nothing in this chapter modifies a public posting entity’s requirement to keep a record of statutorily required public postings if another section requires such records to be kept.
   Sec. 8.  NEW SECTION.  618.1A  Definitions.
   For the purposes of this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
   1.  “Official internet site” means the internet site used by a public posting entity to conduct or communicate official business and information.
   2.  “Official newspaper” means a newspaper meeting the requirements of section 618.3,
   3.  “Official newspaper’s internet site” means an internet site owned and operated by an official newspaper to publish an electronic version of the official newspaper.
   4.  “Official newspaper’s printed version” means the physical version of an official newspaper.
   5.  “Paywall” or “subscription” means a fee charged by an official newspaper to members of the public to receive or access printed or electronic publications of the official newspaper.
   6.  “Publication schedule” means the time of and interval between the publication of an official newspaper’s printed version.
   7.  “Public posting entity” means the state of Iowa, a county, a city, a public school district, a private agency as defined in section 28E.2, a public agency as defined in section 28E.2, or any other public entity who is required by law or ordinance to post a public notice.
   8.  “Statutorily required public notice” means a notice required by the Iowa code to be made available to members of the public.
   Sec. 9.  Section 618.3, Code 2023, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  5.  Has an official newspaper’s internet site that provides public access to statutorily required public notices that are to be published in the official newspaper’s printed version independent of the publication schedule of the official newspaper’s printed version and not subject to a paywall or subscription.
   Sec. 10.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2025.>
   2.  Title page, line 2, by striking <providing for fees,>

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CHRIS COURNOYER