HSB 113 (LSB 1416YC (1) 86)

HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON VANDER LINDEN)

A BILL FOR

An Act concerning government accountability, relating to state employee bonuses, personnel records and settlement agreements and disciplinary actions, and citizen interaction with state government, and including effective date and retroactive applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

DIVISION I
PERSONNEL RECORDS AND SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS
    Section 1.  Section 22.7, subsection 11, paragraph a, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  Personal information in confidential personnel records of government bodies relating to identified or identifiable individuals who are officials, officers, or employees of the government bodies. However, the following information relating to such individuals contained as of or after January 1, 2004, in personnel records shall be public records:
   (1)  The name and compensation of the individual including any written agreement establishing compensation or any other terms of employment excluding any information otherwise excludable from public information pursuant to this section or any other applicable provision of law. For purposes of this paragraph, “compensation” means payment of, or agreement to pay, any money, thing of value, or financial benefit conferred in return for labor or services rendered by an official, officer, or employee plus the value of benefits conferred including but not limited to casualty, disability, life, or health insurance, other health or wellness benefits, vacation, holiday, and sick leave, severance payments, retirement benefits, and deferred compensation.
   (2)  The dates the individual was employed by the government body.
   (3)  The positions the individual holds or has held with the government body.
   (4)  The educational institutions attended by the individual, including any diplomas and degrees earned, and the names of the individual’s previous employers, positions previously held, and dates of previous employment.
   (5)  The fact that the individual resigned in lieu of termination, was discharged, or was demoted as the result of a final disciplinary action upon the exhaustion of all applicable contractual, legal, and statutory remedies, and the documented reasons and rationale for the resignation in lieu of termination, the discharge, or the demotion.  For purposes of this subparagraph, “demoted” and “demotion” mean a change of an employee from a position in a given classification to a position in a classification having a lower pay grade.
    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  22.13A  Personnel settlement agreements —— state employees —— confidentiality —— disclosure.
   1.  For purposes of this section:
   a.  “Personnel settlement agreement” means a binding legal agreement between a state employee and the state employee’s employer, subject to section 22.13, to resolve a personnel dispute including but not limited to a grievance. “Personnel settlement agreement” does not include an initial decision by a state employee’s immediate supervisor concerning a personnel dispute or grievance.
   b.  “State employee” means an employee of the state who is an employee of the executive branch as described in sections 7E.2 and 7E.5.
   2.  Personnel settlement agreements shall not contain any confidentiality or nondisclosure provision that attempts to prevent the disclosure of the personnel settlement agreement. In addition, any confidentiality or nondisclosure provision in a personnel settlement agreement is void and unenforceable.
   3.  The requirements of this section shall not be superseded by any provision of a collective bargaining agreement.
   4.  All personnel settlement agreements shall be made easily accessible to the public on an internet site maintained as follows:
   a.  For personnel settlement agreements with an employee of the executive branch, excluding an employee of the state board of regents or institution under the control of the state board of regents, by the department of administrative services. 
   b.  For personnel settlement agreements with an employee of the state board of regents or institution under the control of the state board of regents, by the state board of regents.
    Sec. 3.  IMPLEMENTATION PROVISION.  This division of this Act shall not be construed to limit or impair the ability of law enforcement personnel to investigate any activity that may violate the laws of the state.
    Sec. 4.  EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT.  This division of this Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.
    Sec. 5.  RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY.  The section of this division of this Act amending section 22.7, subsection 11, applies retroactively to all information described in section 22.7, subsection 11, paragraph “a”, subparagraphs (1) through (5), as amended by this division of this Act, relating to information of such individuals contained as of or after January 1, 2004, in personnel records.

DIVISION II
STATE EMPLOYEE BONUSES
    Sec. 6.  NEW SECTION.  22.13B  Executive branch bonuses —— disclosure.
   1.  For purposes of this section:
   a.  “Bonus pay” means any additional remuneration provided an employee in the form of a bonus, including but not limited to a retention bonus, recruitment bonus, exceptional job performance pay, extraordinary job performance pay, exceptional performance pay, extraordinary duty pay, or extraordinary or special duty pay, and any extra benefit not otherwise provided to other similarly situated employees.
   b.  “Executive branch employee” means an employee of the executive branch of state government, which includes any unit of state government, including but not limited to an authority, board, commission, committee, council, department, or independent agency as defined in section 7E.4, and each principal central department enumerated in section 7E.5; the office of the governor; and the office of an elective constitutional or statutory officer.
   2.  A decision to provide bonus pay to an executive branch employee, including the amount paid and the documented reasons and rationale for the bonus paid, shall be a public record.
   3.  All decisions to provide bonus pay to an executive branch employee, including information described in subsection 2, shall be made easily accessible to the public on an internet site maintained as follows:
   a.  For decisions to provide bonus pay to an employee of the executive branch, excluding an employee of the state board of regents or institution under the control of the state board of regents, by the department of administrative services. 
   b.  For decisions to provide bonus pay to an employee of the state board of regents or institution under the control of the state board of regents, by the state board of regents.
    Sec. 7.  EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT.  This division of this Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.

DIVISION III
GOVERNMENTAL ACCOUNTABILITY PORTAL
    Sec. 8.  Section 23.1, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   23.1  Citation and purpose.

   This chapter may be cited as the “Iowa Public Information Board Act”. The purpose of this chapter is to enhance citizen interaction with state government and to provide an alternative means by which to secure compliance with and enforcement of the requirements of chapters 21 and 22 through the provision by the Iowa public information board to all interested parties of an efficient, informal, and cost-effective process for resolving disputes.
    Sec. 9.  Section 23.6, Code 2015, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  11A.  Develop and maintain an internet-based government accountability portal to provide public access to and to foster public interaction with state government agencies. The portal shall facilitate public access and interaction with state agencies by allowing the public to register complaints, make comments and suggestions, and receive timely responses to information requests.
    Sec. 10.  GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PORTAL —— DEVELOPMENT.  The Iowa public information board, in collaboration with the office of the chief information officer, shall develop and establish a government accountability portal to serve as a primary access point for citizens to interact with state government agencies, enabling the public to register complaints, make comments and suggestions, and receive timely responses to information requests. 
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill concerns government accountability and government employment practices.
   PERSONNEL RECORDS AND SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS. This division of the bill relates to personal information in confidential personnel records of government bodies and personnel settlement agreements.
   Code section 22.7(11), governing personal information in confidential personnel records of government bodies, is amended. Previous legislation, effective May 12, 2011, provides that certain information in confidential personnel records is considered a public record. The bill provides that this information in a confidential personnel record as of or after January 1, 2004, is a public record. The bill further amends this subsection to provide that information in an official’s, officer’s, or employee’s personnel records concerning the fact that such an individual resigned in lieu of termination or was demoted as the result of a final disciplinary action by a government body and the documented reasons and rationale for any resignation in lieu of termination, discharge, or demotion against an individual are public records and not confidential. Under current law, only the fact in a personnel record that the individual was discharged is considered a public record and not confidential. The amendments to this subsection take effect upon enactment and apply retroactively to information contained as of or after January 1, 2004, in personnel records.
   New Code section 22.13A provides that personnel settlement agreements between the state and an employee of the state shall not contain any confidentiality or nondisclosure provisions that attempt to prevent the disclosure of the personnel settlement agreement and shall be made available to the public on an internet site. In addition, the bill provides that any confidentiality or nondisclosure provision in a personnel settlement agreement is not enforceable. New Code section 22.13A is applicable to employees of the executive branch of government and defines a personnel settlement agreement as a binding legal agreement between a state employee and the state employee’s employer, subject to Code section 22.13 relating to settlement agreements as public records, to resolve a personnel dispute including but not limited to certain grievances. The bill provides that the internet site be maintained by the department of administrative services or board of regents, as applicable, based on the employee covered. The bill also provides that the requirements of this new provision shall not be superseded by any collective bargaining agreement. These provisions of this division of this bill take effect upon enactment.
   The division further provides that this division of the bill shall not be construed to limit the ability of law enforcement personnel to investigate any activity that may violate state law.
   STATE EMPLOYEE BONUSES. This division of the bill concerns executive branch bonuses. New Code section 22.13B requires that information concerning bonus pay awarded to an executive branch employee in any amount, including the name of the employee, the amount paid and the reasons for the bonus, shall be made easily accessible to the public on an internet site. This division of the bill takes effect upon enactment.
   GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PORTAL. This division of the bill concerns establishment of a government accountability portal under the authority of the Iowa public information board. The bill amends Code section 23.1 to provide that a purpose of the Code chapter is to enhance citizen interaction with state government and amends Code section 23.6 to require the Iowa public information board to develop and maintain an internet-based government accountability portal. The bill directs the Iowa public information board, in collaboration with the office of the chief information officer, to develop and establish a government accountability portal to serve as a primary access point for citizens to interact with state government agencies.