Senate File 2039

                                       SENATE FILE       
                                       BY  DEARDEN and FRAISE


    Passed Senate, Date               Passed House,  Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to the composition of the Iowa state fair board
  2    by providing that the composition of district directors be
  3    bipartisan and gender balanced.
  4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  5 TLSB 5727XS 80
  6 da/gg/14

PAG LIN

  1  1    Section 1.  Section 173.5, subsection 2, Code 2003, is
  1  2 amended to read as follows:
  1  3    2.  Each year, the convention shall elect a successor to
  1  4 one of the two district directors whose term expires following
  1  5 the adjournment of the convention, as provided in section
  1  6 173.4.  In electing a successor, the convention shall adopt
  1  7 and comply with rules necessary to ensure that the composition
  1  8 of all district directors is bipartisan and gender balanced as
  1  9 if the district directors were appointed pursuant to sections
  1 10 69.16 and 69.16A.
  1 11    Sec. 2.  ELECTION OF DISTRICT DIRECTORS.  This Act does not
  1 12 require that a person who has been elected as a district
  1 13 director vacate that position before the expiration of the
  1 14 director's term.  However, the convention shall adopt rules in
  1 15 order to provide for the implementation of the amendment to
  1 16 section 173.5 as provided in this Act with all deliberate
  1 17 speed.
  1 18                           EXPLANATION
  1 19    This bill amends a provision in Code chapter 173, which
  1 20 provides for the Iowa state fair, including its administration
  1 21 by the Iowa state fair board.  The board is vested with
  1 22 authority over the Iowa state fair and other events held on
  1 23 the Iowa state fairgrounds, and it is also responsible for the
  1 24 fairgrounds.
  1 25    The board is composed of the governor, the secretary of
  1 26 agriculture, and the president of Iowa state university (or
  1 27 their designees), and 12 directors representing six state
  1 28 districts.  The district directors are elected at an annual
  1 29 convention and serve staggered terms.
  1 30    The bill amends Code section 173.5, which provides for the
  1 31 election of successors to serve as district directors.  The
  1 32 bill provides that in electing a successor, the convention
  1 33 must ensure that the composition of the 12 elected district
  1 34 directors is gender and politically balanced in the same
  1 35 manner as is the composition of boards whose members are
  2  1 appointed pursuant to Code sections 69.16 and 69.16A.
  2  2    The bill provides that it does not require that a person
  2  3 elected as a district director vacate their position.  It does
  2  4 require that the convention adopt rules necessary to implement
  2  5 the bill's provisions.
  2  6 LSB 5727XS 80
  2  7 da/gg/14