Senate Study Bill 1218
SENATE FILE
BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON
LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL BY
CHAIRPERSON QUIRMBACH)
Passed Senate, Date Passed House, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act concerning the appointment of members to local boards,
2 commissions, committees, and councils.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
4 TLSB 2238XC 83
5 ec/rj/24
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 69.16D LOCAL APPOINTIVE BOARDS
1 2 == MEMBERSHIP SELECTION.
1 3 Opportunities to serve on all appointive boards,
1 4 commissions, committees, and councils of a political
1 5 subdivision of the state that are established by the Code
1 6 shall be open to all members of the community on the basis of
1 7 their qualifications and without bias or preference towards
1 8 gender, race, religion, national origin, disability, sexual
1 9 orientation, or any other demographic characteristic on which
1 10 it is forbidden to discriminate under the law of this state.
1 11 Political subdivisions shall utilize a fair and unbiased
1 12 method of selecting the best qualified applicants for such
1 13 appointments so that the appointments reflect a reasonable
1 14 balance between genders and demographic characteristics and
1 15 are broadly reflective of the populations of the communities
1 16 they serve. Political subdivisions shall consciously and
1 17 actively seek the participation of and solicit applications
1 18 for appointment from all groups of the community so that
1 19 appointments can be made on merit alone and without bias as to
1 20 gender or other demographic characteristics.
1 21 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 216A.61 GENDER BALANCE OF LOCAL
1 22 BOARDS == REPORTING REQUIREMENT.
1 23 The governing body of a county, city, or school board,
1 24 shall, during the first regularly scheduled meeting of the
1 25 body in 2010, and each third year thereafter, approve a
1 26 written report including the total number of members and the
1 27 number of women and men members as of January 1 of that year
1 28 for each appointive board, commission, committee, or council
1 29 of the applicable county, city, or school board that is
1 30 established by the Code. Each county, city, and school board
1 31 shall make copies of the report available during the meeting,
1 32 shall publish the report with the minutes of that meeting, and
1 33 shall file a copy of the report with the commission. The
1 34 commission shall compile the information reported by each
1 35 county, city, and school district, and make the compilation
2 1 available to the public.
2 2 EXPLANATION
2 3 This bill concerns the membership of appointive boards,
2 4 commissions, committees, and councils of political
2 5 subdivisions of the state.
2 6 New Code section 69.16D provides that appointment
2 7 opportunities to local appointive boards established by the
2 8 Code shall be open to all members of the community on the
2 9 basis of their qualifications and without bias or preference
2 10 toward gender, race, religion, national origin, disability,
2 11 sexual orientation, or any other discriminatory demographic
2 12 characteristic. The new Code section also provides that
2 13 political subdivisions shall utilize a process of selecting
2 14 the best qualified applicants for such appointments so that
2 15 the appointments reflect a reasonable balance between genders
2 16 and demographic compositions of the communities they serve.
2 17 New Code section 216A.61 requires counties, cities, and
2 18 school districts to approve a written report in 2010, and each
2 19 third year thereafter, listing the total number of members,
2 20 and the number of men and women members as of that year, for
2 21 each applicable appointive board of that county, city, or
2 22 school district. The bill requires that copies of the report
2 23 be made available at the meeting in which the report is
2 24 approved, be included with the minutes of that meeting, and be
2 25 filed with the commission on the status of women. The bill
2 26 requires the commission to compile the information submitted
2 27 and make the compilation available to the public.
2 28 LSB 2238XC 83
2 29 ec/rj/24