House File 2446 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE
BY DIX, KURTENBACH, S. OLSON,
and WATTS
Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to noncitizens of the United States including
2 restricting the allocation of housing trust fund moneys,
3 prohibiting the servicing of first mortgages, relating to
4 employment, and providing for penalties.
5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 16.181, Code 2005, is amended by adding
1 2 the following new subsection:
1 3 NEW SUBSECTION. 3A. Funds allocated from the housing
1 4 trust fund shall not be used for the provision of housing for
1 5 persons who are not lawfully present in the United States.
1 6 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 73A.22 STATE ASSISTANCE
1 7 RESTRICTIONS == PERSONS EMPLOYING UNAUTHORIZED ALIENS.
1 8 1. a. A state department, institution, or agency, or any
1 9 board member, commissioner, director, manager, or other person
1 10 connected with any such department, institution, or agency,
1 11 shall not award a contract or provide developmental assistance
1 12 to an employer as defined in section 91F.1 in which the
1 13 employer or corporate officer of the employer has been found
1 14 in violation of section 91F.2 within the past five years.
1 15 b. For purposes of this section, "developmental
1 16 assistance" means any form of public assistance, including tax
1 17 expenditures, made for the purpose of stimulating the economic
1 18 development of a corporation, industry, geographic
1 19 jurisdiction, or any other sector of the state's economy,
1 20 including but not limited to industrial development bonds,
1 21 training grants, loans, loan guarantees, enterprise zones,
1 22 empowerment zones, tax increment financing, fee waivers, land
1 23 price subsidies, infrastructure constructed or improved for
1 24 the benefit of a single business or defined group of
1 25 businesses at the time it is built or improved, matching
1 26 funds, tax abatements, tax credits and tax discounts of every
1 27 kind, including corporate, franchise, personal income, sales
1 28 and use, raw materials, real property, job creation,
1 29 individual investment, excise, utility, inventory, accelerated
1 30 depreciation, and research and development tax credits and
1 31 discounts.
1 32 2. Any contract or developmental assistance awarded shall
1 33 provide that if, during the effective period of the contract
1 34 or developmental assistance, the vendor, contractor,
1 35 subcontractor, or developmental assistance recipient violates
2 1 the provisions of section 91F.2, the contract or developmental
2 2 assistance shall be terminated.
2 3 3. A state department, institution, or agency may enforce
2 4 its rights under this section by instituting a civil action in
2 5 district court in this state. In addition, a state
2 6 department, institution, or agency shall not award a contract
2 7 or provide developmental assistance to any person that
2 8 violates this section for a period of five years after the
2 9 date of the violation.
2 10 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION. 91F.1 DEFINITIONS.
2 11 As used in this chapter:
2 12 1. "Commissioner" means the labor commissioner.
2 13 2. "Employee" means a natural person who is employed in
2 14 this state for wages paid on an hourly basis by an employer.
2 15 3. "Employer" means a person, as defined in section 4.1,
2 16 who in this state employs for wages, paid on an hourly basis,
2 17 one or more natural persons. An employer does not include a
2 18 client, patient, customer, or other person who obtains
2 19 professional services from a licensed person who provides the
2 20 services on a fee service basis or as an independent
2 21 contractor, or the state, or an agency or governmental
2 22 subdivision of the state.
2 23 4. "Unauthorized alien" means a person who is not a
2 24 citizen or legal resident and who has not been lawfully
2 25 admitted to the United States for permanent residence or who
2 26 is not authorized to work in the United States.
2 27 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION. 91F.2 UNAUTHORIZED ALIENS ==
2 28 EMPLOYER PROHIBITION.
2 29 An employer shall not knowingly employ as an employee an
2 30 unauthorized alien. For purposes of this section, "knowingly
2 31 employ as an employee an unauthorized alien" includes cases in
2 32 which an employer actually knows a person is an unauthorized
2 33 alien and cases in which any person exercising reasonable care
2 34 should know from facts and circumstances that a person is an
2 35 unauthorized alien.
3 1 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION. 91F.3 PENALTIES.
3 2 1. An employer who violates section 91F.2 is subject to a
3 3 civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars.
3 4 2. A corporate officer of an employer who, through
3 5 repeated violation of section 91F.2, demonstrates a pattern of
3 6 employing unauthorized aliens commits a serious misdemeanor.
3 7 3. An employer who, through repeated violation of section
3 8 91F.2, demonstrates a pattern of employing unauthorized aliens
3 9 may be ordered to pay punitive damages.
3 10 Sec. 6. NEW SECTION. 91F.4 DUTIES AND AUTHORITY OF THE
3 11 COMMISSIONER == ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.
3 12 1. The commissioner shall adopt rules to implement and
3 13 enforce this chapter.
3 14 2. In order to carry out the purposes of this chapter, the
3 15 commissioner or the commissioner's representative, upon
3 16 presenting appropriate credentials to an employer's owner,
3 17 operator, or agent in charge, may:
3 18 a. Inspect employment records relating to the employees of
3 19 the employer.
3 20 b. Interview an employer, owner, operator, agent, or
3 21 employee, during working hours or at other reasonable times.
3 22 3. If the commissioner has reason to believe than an
3 23 employer may be in violation of this chapter, the commissioner
3 24 shall notify the attorney general, and provide the attorney
3 25 general with any supporting information, for prosecution of
3 26 the violation by the attorney general.
3 27 Sec. 7. NEW SECTION. 91F.5 PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO
3 28 CERTAIN ACTIONS BY EMPLOYEES == PENALTY == CIVIL REMEDY.
3 29 1. An employer shall not discharge an employee or take or
3 30 fail to take action regarding an employee's appointment or
3 31 proposed appointment or promotion or proposed promotion, or
3 32 regarding any advantage of an employee as a reprisal for a
3 33 failure by that employee to inform the employer that the
3 34 employee made a disclosure of information to any law
3 35 enforcement agency if the employee reasonably believes the
4 1 information evidences a violation of section 91F.2.
4 2 2. Subsection 1 does not apply if the disclosure of the
4 3 information is prohibited by statute.
4 4 3. An employer who violates subsection 1 commits a simple
4 5 misdemeanor.
4 6 4. Subsection 1 may be enforced through a civil action.
4 7 a. An employer who violates subsection 1 is liable to an
4 8 aggrieved employee for affirmative relief, including
4 9 reinstatement, with or without back pay, or any other
4 10 equitable relief the court deems appropriate, including
4 11 attorney fees and costs.
4 12 b. If an employer commits, is committing, or proposes to
4 13 commit an act in violation of subsection 1, an injunction may
4 14 be granted through an action in district court to prohibit the
4 15 person from continuing such acts. The action for injunctive
4 16 relief may be brought by an aggrieved employee or the attorney
4 17 general.
4 18 Sec. 8. Section 535B.11, Code 2005, is amended by adding
4 19 the following new subsection:
4 20 NEW SUBSECTION. 8. Refuse to service a first mortgage
4 21 loan for residential real property intended to be used as a
4 22 primary residence in this state to a person who is neither a
4 23 citizen of the United States nor lawfully admitted for
4 24 permanent residence under the federal Immigration and
4 25 Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. } 1101 et seq.
4 26 EXPLANATION
4 27 This bill relates to the financing of housing for
4 28 noncitizens of the United States. The bill prohibits funds
4 29 allocated from the housing trust fund in Code section 16.181
4 30 by the Iowa finance authority to be used to provide housing
4 31 for persons who are not lawfully present in the United States.
4 32 The housing trust fund provides funds to local housing
4 33 authorities for the local housing trust fund program and the
4 34 project=based housing program.
4 35 The bill also provides that a mortgage banker or mortgage
5 1 broker licensed under Code chapter 535B or other mortgagee who
5 2 services mortgages on residential real estate in this state
5 3 shall refuse to provide certain mortgage loans to a person who
5 4 is not either a citizen of the United States or a lawful
5 5 permanent resident under the federal Immigration and
5 6 Nationality Act. This restriction under the bill applies only
5 7 to first mortgage loans for residential real property that is
5 8 intended to be used as a primary residence of the mortgage
5 9 applicant. Under current law, a "first mortgage loan" is
5 10 defined as a loan of money secured by a first lien on
5 11 residential real property and includes a refinancing of a
5 12 contract of sale, an assumption of a prior loan, and a
5 13 refinancing of a prior loan. A violation of this provision of
5 14 the bill would be a violation of Code chapter 535B and subject
5 15 to enforcement by the superintendent of the division of
5 16 banking of the department of commerce. The superintendent may
5 17 conduct an investigation or examination, issue a cease and
5 18 desist order, and request that the attorney general file a
5 19 civil action for injunctive relief, restitution for an
5 20 aggrieved mortgagor, and costs for the investigation and
5 21 prosecution.
5 22 New Code section 73A.22 is created to prohibit state
5 23 entities from awarding a contract or providing developmental
5 24 assistance to a person who violates the provisions of the bill
5 25 concerning the employment of unauthorized aliens as
5 26 established in new Code section 91F.2. The bill defines
5 27 "developmental assistance" as any form of public assistance,
5 28 including tax incentives, grants, or other subsidies. The
5 29 bill provides that a person violating this new provision shall
5 30 have their contract or developmental assistance terminated.
5 31 The bill grants state entities the right to enforce their
5 32 rights in district court and provides that a person violating
5 33 this provision shall be prohibited from receiving a state
5 34 contract or developmental assistance for five years.
5 35 The bill creates new Code chapter 91F prohibiting employers
6 1 from employing unauthorized aliens. The bill defines
6 2 "unauthorized aliens" as any person who is not a citizen or
6 3 legal resident and who has not been lawfully admitted to the
6 4 United States for permanent residence or who is not authorized
6 5 to work in the United States. An "employer" is any person who
6 6 employs for wages, paid on an hourly basis, one or more
6 7 natural persons. The bill prohibits employers from knowingly
6 8 employing an unauthorized alien. The bill provides that a
6 9 violation can occur in cases in which an employer actually
6 10 knows a person is an unauthorized alien as well as a situation
6 11 in which any person exercising reasonable care should know
6 12 from facts and circumstances that a person is an unauthorized
6 13 alien. The bill provides that a violation of this chapter is
6 14 subject to a civil penalty of $1,000 and a corporate officer
6 15 of an employer who, through repeated violations of the
6 16 chapter, demonstrates a pattern of employing unauthorized
6 17 aliens, commits a serious misdemeanor. An employer who
6 18 demonstrates a pattern of employing unauthorized aliens may be
6 19 ordered to pay punitive damages. The bill further authorizes
6 20 the labor commissioner within the department of workforce
6 21 development to adopt rules to administer and enforce this new
6 22 chapter and grants the commissioner the authority to
6 23 investigate employer records and to interview employees. The
6 24 bill provides that the commissioner shall forward any
6 25 suspected violations of this chapter to the attorney general
6 26 for prosecution. The bill further provides that an employer
6 27 shall not discharge an employee from or take or fail to take
6 28 action regarding an employee's appointment or proposed
6 29 appointment, promotion or proposed promotion, or regarding any
6 30 advantage of an employee as a reprisal for a failure by that
6 31 employee to inform the employer that the employee made a
6 32 disclosure of information to any law enforcement agency if the
6 33 employee reasonably believes the information evidences a
6 34 violation of Code section 91F.2, 710A.2, 710A.3, or 710A.4.
6 35 An employer who violates the provisions of this chapter is
7 1 liable to an aggrieved employee for affirmative relief
7 2 including reinstatement, with or without back pay, or any
7 3 other equitable relief the court deems appropriate, including
7 4 attorney fees and costs. In addition, an action for
7 5 injunctive relief may be brought by an aggrieved employee or
7 6 the attorney general.
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