Senate File 384 - Introduced SENATE FILE 384 BY COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT (SUCCESSOR TO SSB 1073) A BILL FOR An Act relating to governmental bodies and advisory bodies and 1 public notice requirements under the open meetings law. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 1041SV (2) 86 rh/rj

S.F. 384 Section 1. Section 21.2, subsection 1, paragraphs a, c, e, 1 h, and j, Code 2015, are amended to read as follows: 2 a. A board, council, commission, or other governing body 3 expressly created by the statutes of this state or by executive 4 order of the governor . 5 c. A multimembered body formally and directly created by 6 one or more boards, councils, commissions, or other governing 7 bodies subject to paragraphs paragraph “a” and or “b” of this 8 subsection . 9 e. An advisory board, advisory commission, advisory 10 committee, or task force formally and directly created by 11 the governor or the general assembly to develop and make 12 recommendations on public policy issues to the governor or the 13 general assembly . 14 h. An advisory board, advisory commission, advisory 15 committee, task force, or other body formally and directly 16 created by statute or executive order of this state or created 17 by an executive order of a political subdivision of this 18 state one or more boards, councils, commissions, or other 19 governing bodies subject to paragraph “a” or “b” or by a 20 mayor or superintendent of schools, if the school board of a 21 school district has expressly authorized the superintendent 22 to act on behalf of the school district, to develop and make 23 recommendations on public policy issues to the board, council, 24 commission, or other governing body . For purposes of this 25 paragraph, “governmental body” does not include an advisory 26 board, advisory commission, advisory committee, task force, or 27 other body formally or directly created by a public hospital 28 licensed pursuant to chapter 135B. 29 j. An advisory board, advisory commission, advisory 30 committee, task force, or other body created by an entity 31 organized under chapter 28E , or by the administrator or joint 32 board specified in a chapter 28E agreement, to develop and make 33 recommendations on public policy issues to the entity or joint 34 board . 35 -1- LSB 1041SV (2) 86 rh/rj 1/ 3

S.F. 384 Sec. 2. Section 21.2, subsection 2, Code 2015, is amended 1 to read as follows: 2 2. “Meeting” means a gathering in person or by electronic 3 means, formal or informal, of a majority of the members of 4 a governmental body where there is deliberation or action 5 upon any matter within the scope of the governmental body’s 6 policy-making duties. Meetings shall not include a gathering 7 of members of a governmental body for purely ministerial or 8 social purposes when there is no discussion of policy duties or 9 no intent to avoid the purposes of this chapter . 10 Sec. 3. Section 21.4, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code 2015, 11 is amended to read as follows: 12 a. Notice conforming with all of the requirements 13 of subsection 1 of this section shall be given at least 14 twenty-four hours , exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and any 15 holiday when state or federal offices are closed, prior to the 16 commencement of any meeting of a governmental body unless for 17 good cause such notice is impossible or impractical, in which 18 case as much notice as is reasonably possible shall be given. 19 Each meeting shall be held at a place reasonably accessible to 20 the public, and at a time reasonably convenient to the public, 21 unless for good cause such a place or time is impossible or 22 impractical. Special access to the meeting may be granted to 23 persons with disabilities. 24 EXPLANATION 25 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 26 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 27 This bill relates to the regulation of a governmental body 28 and public notice requirements under the open meetings law 29 (Code chapter 21). 30 The bill amends the definition of governmental body under 31 the open meetings law to specify that only advisory boards, 32 advisory commissions, advisory committees, task forces, or any 33 other body that are formally and directly created by specified 34 governmental bodies or a mayor or superintendent of schools, if 35 -2- LSB 1041SV (2) 86 rh/rj 2/ 3

S.F. 384 the school board of a school district has expressly authorized 1 the superintendent to act on behalf of the school district, are 2 considered governmental bodies subject to the open meetings 3 law. 4 The bill excludes from the definition of a governmental body 5 an advisory board, advisory commission, advisory committee, 6 task force, or other body formally or directly created by a 7 public hospital licensed pursuant to Code chapter 135B. 8 The bill amends the definition of a meeting that is subject 9 to the requirements of the open meetings law to exclude 10 references to only policymaking actions, expanding the 11 definition to include any deliberations or actions (including 12 recommendations) taken by a governmental body as defined in the 13 open meetings law that are within a governmental body’s duties. 14 The bill excludes weekend days and state and federal 15 holidays when state or federal office are closed when 16 determining the 24-hour time period for purposes of public 17 notice under the open meetings law. 18 -3- LSB 1041SV (2) 86 rh/rj 3/ 3