H.F. 2286 Section 1. Section 53.37, Code 2016, is amended by adding 1 the following new subsection: 2 NEW SUBSECTION . 3A. The term “bond election” , as used in 3 this subchapter, means an election at which a proposition to 4 authorize an issuance of bonds by a county, township, school 5 corporation, or city, or by any local board or commission 6 authorized by law to issue bonds. 7 Sec. 2. Section 53.39, subsection 2, Code 2016, is amended 8 to read as follows: 9 2. a. All official ballots to be voted by qualified absent 10 voters in the armed forces of the United States at the primary 11 election and the general election , and all bond elections 12 that are not the general election, shall be printed prior to 13 forty-five days before the respective elections and shall be 14 available for transmittal to such qualified voters in the armed 15 forces of the United States at least forty-five days before the 16 respective elections. The provisions of this chapter apply 17 to absent voting by qualified voters in the armed forces of 18 the United States except as modified by the provisions of this 19 subchapter . 20 b. For the purposes of this subsection, the ballot for a 21 bond election that is not held in conjunction with the general 22 election shall only consist of propositions to authorize the 23 issuance of bonds by a county, township, school corporation, 24 city, or by a local board or commission. 25 Sec. 3. Section 53.40, subsection 1, paragraphs a and b, 26 Code 2016, are amended to read as follows: 27 a. A request in writing for a ballot may be made by any 28 member of the armed forces of the United States who is or 29 will be a qualified voter on the day of the election at which 30 the ballot is to be cast, at any time before the election. 31 Any member of the armed forces of the United States may 32 request ballots for all elections to be held during a calendar 33 year. The request may be made by using the federal postcard 34 application form and indicating that the applicant wishes to 35 -1- LSB 5513YH (4) 86 aw/sc 1/ 8

H.F. 2286 receive ballots for all elections as permitted by state law. 1 If the applicant does not specify which elections the request 2 is for, the county commissioner shall send the applicant a 3 ballot for each federal election and each bond election held 4 after the application is received until the end of the calendar 5 year in which the request is received. If the applicant 6 requests ballots for all elections to be held in a calendar 7 year, the commissioner, if necessary, shall forward a copy of 8 the absentee ballot request to other commissioners who are 9 responsible under section 47.2, subsection 2 , for conducting 10 elections in which the applicant is eligible to vote. 11 b. Unless the request specifies otherwise, a request for 12 the primary election shall also be considered a request for the 13 general election. In the case of the general election or a 14 bond election , request may be made not more than seventy days 15 before the election, for and on behalf of a voter in the armed 16 forces of the United States by a spouse, parent, parent-in-law, 17 adult brother, adult sister, or adult child of the voter, 18 residing in the county of the voter’s residence. However, a 19 request made by other than the voter may be required to be made 20 on forms prescribed by the state commissioner. 21 Sec. 4. Section 75.1, Code 2016, is amended by adding the 22 following new subsection: 23 NEW SUBSECTION . 1A. a. For a proposition to authorize 24 an issuance of bonds by a political subdivision that is not a 25 county, school corporation, or city, or by any local board or 26 commission authorized by law to issue bonds, to be submitted 27 to the electors at a bond election, the political subdivision 28 shall publish, at least sixty days before the day of the bond 29 election, notice including the complete text of the public 30 measure, the date of the meeting at which the election was 31 called, and the date of the bond election. The notice shall 32 be in addition to the notice of election provided in section 33 49.53. 34 b. The term “bond election” , as used in this subsection, 35 -2- LSB 5513YH (4) 86 aw/sc 2/ 8

H.F. 2286 means an election at which a proposition to authorize an 1 issuance of bonds by a political subdivision that is not a 2 county, school corporation, or city, or by any local board or 3 commission authorized by law to issue bonds, is submitted to 4 the electors. 5 Sec. 5. Section 75.1, subsection 2, Code 2016, is amended 6 to read as follows: 7 2. a. When a proposition to authorize an issuance of bonds 8 has been submitted for the first time to the electors under 9 this section and the proposal fails to gain approval by the 10 required percentage of votes, such proposal, or any proposal 11 which incorporates any portion of the defeated proposal, shall 12 not be submitted to the electors for a period of six months one 13 year from the date of such regular or special election and . 14 b. If a proposal fails to gain approval by the required 15 percentage of votes at an election following the one-year 16 period described in paragraph “a” or the two-year period 17 described in this paragraph, such proposal, or any proposal 18 which incorporates any portion of the defeated proposal, shall 19 not be submitted to the electors for a period of two years from 20 the date of such regular or special election. 21 c. Proposals submitted to the electors under this subsection 22 may only be submitted on a date specified in section 39.2, 23 subsection 4 , paragraph “a” , “b” , or “c” , as applicable. 24 Sec. 6. Section 260C.15, subsection 1, Code 2016, is amended 25 to read as follows: 26 1. a. Regular elections held by the merged area for the 27 election of members of the board of directors as required by 28 section 260C.11 or for any other matter authorized by law 29 and designated for election by the board of directors of the 30 merged area shall be held on the date of the school election 31 as fixed by section 277.1 . However, elections held for the 32 imposition, rate increase, or discontinuance of the twenty and 33 one-fourth cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation 34 levy authorized in section 260C.22 shall be held either on the 35 -3- LSB 5513YH (4) 86 aw/sc 3/ 8

H.F. 2286 date of the school election as fixed by section 277.1 or at a 1 special election held on the second Tuesday in September of 2 the even-numbered year. The election notice shall be made a 3 part of the local school election notice published as provided 4 in section 49.53 in each local school district where voting is 5 to occur in the merged area election and the election shall be 6 conducted by the county commissioner of elections pursuant to 7 chapters 39 through 53 and section 277.20 . 8 b. Additional notice of an election to authorize a bond 9 issuance shall be given as provided in section 277.2, as if the 10 merged area were a school district. 11 Sec. 7. Section 277.2, Code 2016, is amended to read as 12 follows: 13 277.2 Elections on public measures. 14 1. Unless otherwise stated, the date of an election on a 15 public measure authorized to be held by a school district is 16 limited to the dates specified in section 39.2, subsection 4 , 17 paragraph “c” . 18 2. For a bond election, the board shall, at least sixty days 19 before the day of the bond election, publish notice in addition 20 to the notice required by section 49.53. The additional notice 21 shall include the complete text of the public measure, the date 22 of the meeting at which the bond election was called, and the 23 date of the bond election. The term “bond election” , as used 24 in this section, shall mean an election at which a proposition 25 to authorize an issuance of bonds by the school district is 26 submitted to the electors. 27 Sec. 8. Section 296.4, Code 2016, is amended to read as 28 follows: 29 296.4 Notice —— ballots. 30 1. Notice of the election shall be given by the county 31 commissioner of elections by publication in accordance with 32 section 49.53 . Additional notice of the election shall be 33 given as provided in section 277.2. 34 2. The county commissioner of elections shall conduct the 35 -4- LSB 5513YH (4) 86 aw/sc 4/ 8

H.F. 2286 election pursuant to the provisions of chapters 39 to 53 and 1 certify the results to the board of directors. 2 Sec. 9. Section 298.18, subsection 3, Code 2016, is amended 3 to read as follows: 4 3. a. Notice of the election shall be given by the 5 county commissioner of elections according to section 49.53 . 6 Additional notice of the election shall be given as provided 7 in section 277.2. 8 b. The county commissioner of elections shall conduct the 9 election pursuant to the provisions of chapters 39 through 10 53 and certify the results to the board of directors. The 11 proposition shall not be deemed carried or adopted unless the 12 vote in favor of such proposition is equal to at least sixty 13 percent of the total vote cast for and against the proposition 14 at the election. Whenever such a proposition has been approved 15 by the voters of a school corporation as hereinbefore provided, 16 no further approval of the voters of such school corporation 17 shall be required as a result of any subsequent change in the 18 boundaries of such school corporation. 19 Sec. 10. Section 331.305, Code 2016, is amended to read as 20 follows: 21 331.305 Publication of notices. 22 Unless otherwise provided by state law, if notice of an 23 election, hearing, or other official action is required by this 24 chapter , the board shall publish the notice at least once, not 25 less than four nor more than twenty days before the date of the 26 election, hearing, or other action, in one or more newspapers 27 which meet the requirements of section 618.14 . Notice of an 28 election shall also comply with section 49.53 . For a bond 29 election, the board shall, at least sixty days before the 30 day of the bond election, publish an additional notice. The 31 additional notice shall include the complete text of the public 32 measure, the date of the meeting at which the bond election 33 was called, and the date of the bond election. The term “bond 34 election” , as used in this section, shall mean an election at 35 -5- LSB 5513YH (4) 86 aw/sc 5/ 8

H.F. 2286 which a proposition to authorize an issuance of bonds by the 1 county is submitted to the electors. 2 Sec. 11. Section 362.3, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 3 2016, is amended to read as follows: 4 a. If notice of an election, hearing, or other official 5 action is required by the city code, the notice must be 6 published at least once, not less than four nor more than 7 twenty days before the date of the election, hearing, or other 8 action. For a bond election the city council shall, at least 9 sixty days before the day of the bond election, publish an 10 additional notice. The additional notice shall include the 11 complete text of the public measure, the date of the meeting 12 at which the bond election was called, and the date of the bond 13 election. The term “bond election” , as used in this paragraph 14 “a” , shall mean an election at which a proposition to authorize 15 an issuance of bonds by the city is submitted to the electors. 16 Sec. 12. Section 384.26, subsection 3, Code 2016, is amended 17 to read as follows: 18 3. Notice of the election must be given by publication as 19 required by section sections 49.53 and 362.3. Notwithstanding 20 the authorization to post notice in section 362.3, subsection 21 2, a city shall publish the notice in a newspaper of general 22 circulation in the city. At the election the ballot used for 23 the submission of the proposition must be in substantially the 24 form for submitting special questions at general elections. 25 Sec. 13. IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT. Section 25B.2, subsection 26 3, shall not apply to this Act. 27 EXPLANATION 28 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 29 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 30 This bill makes changes relating to notice and election 31 requirements and limitations for the issuance of certain bonds 32 by political subdivisions of the state. 33 Current law specifies those bond issuances requiring 34 voter approval and the dates of the elections at which these 35 -6- LSB 5513YH (4) 86 aw/sc 6/ 8

H.F. 2286 public measures may be submitted to the voters and requires 1 that notice of the election be published between 4 and 20 2 days prior to the election. The notice is required to show 3 all public measures to be voted on at election. The bill 4 requires counties, cities, townships, school districts, and 5 merged areas, and any local board or commission authorized by 6 law to issue bonds, to publish notice of the election on the 7 proposition to issue the bonds at least 60 days before the day 8 of the election. The bill applies to those bond issuances that 9 under current law may be issued only upon voter approval. The 10 additional notice is required to include the complete text of 11 the public measure, the date of the meeting at which the bond 12 election was called, and the date of the bond election. 13 The bill also provides that a military or overseas voter 14 may request and vote an armed forces absentee ballot for a 15 local bond election. Under current law, armed forces absentee 16 ballots must be printed 45 days before an associated election 17 and must be mailed to military and overseas voters at specified 18 times. Under current law, armed forces absentee ballots are 19 only available for federal elections. Current law also allows 20 certain family members of military and overseas voters to 21 request armed forces absentee ballots on behalf of an eligible 22 voter and requires that a county commissioner of elections 23 (county auditor) send armed forces absentee ballots to an 24 eligible voter for every federal election during a given 25 calendar year, if a voter’s request for such a ballot in that 26 year does not specify a particular election. The bill extends 27 these provisions to include bond elections. 28 Current law provides that when a bond proposition is 29 submitted to voters and fails to gain approval, the entity 30 submitting the proposal is prohibited from resubmitting the 31 proposal to voters, in any form, for a period of six months. 32 Under the bill, if an entity submits a proposal which fails to 33 gain approval of the voters, the entity is then prohibited from 34 resubmitting the proposal to voters for a period of one year. 35 -7- LSB 5513YH (4) 86 aw/sc 7/ 8

H.F. 2286 If a failed proposal is later resubmitted and again fails to 1 gain approval, the entity is then prohibited from resubmitting 2 the proposal for two years. 3 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code 4 section 25B.3. The bill makes inapplicable Code section 25B.2, 5 subsection 3, which would relieve a political subdivision from 6 complying with a state mandate if funding for the cost of 7 the state mandate is not provided or specified. Therefore, 8 political subdivisions are required to comply with any state 9 mandate included in the bill. 10 -8- LSB 5513YH (4) 86 aw/sc 8/ 8