HSB 117 (LSB 1386YC (1) 87)

HOUSE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON RIZER)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to limitations on public school district bond elections and including effective date provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 75.1, subsection 2, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  a.  When a proposition to authorize an issuance of bonds by a political subdivision subject to this chapter that is not a school district has been submitted to the electors under this section and the proposal fails to gain approval by the required percentage of votes, such proposal, or any proposal which incorporates any portion of the defeated proposal, shall not be submitted to the electors for a period of six months from the date of such regular or special election and may only be submitted on a date specified in section 39.2, subsection 4, paragraph “a”, “b”, or “c”, as applicable.
   b.  Except as provided in paragraph “c”, when a proposition to authorize an issuance of bonds by a school district has been submitted to the electors under this section, another proposition to issue bonds by the school district submitted to the electors on or after the effective date of this Act shall not be submitted to the electors for a period of six months from the date of such regular or special election and may only be submitted on a date specified in section 39.2, subsection 4, paragraph “c”.
   c.  When a proposition to authorize an issuance of bonds by a school district has been submitted to the electors under this section and the proposal fails to gain approval by the required percentage of votes, such proposal, or any proposal which incorporates any portion of the defeated proposal, submitted to the electors on or after the effective date of this Act shall not be submitted to the electors for a period of one year from the date of such regular or special election and may only be submitted on a date specified in section 39.2, subsection 4, paragraph “c”.
    Sec. 2.  EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT.  This Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill makes changes relating to election requirements and limitations for the issuance of certain bonds by school districts.
   Current law provides that when a bond proposition is submitted to voters and fails to gain approval, the entity submitting the proposal is prohibited from resubmitting the proposal to voters, in any form, for a period of six months.
   Under the bill, if a school district submits a proposal to issue bonds to the voters, the school district is then prohibited from submitting another bond proposal to voters for a period of six months. Additionally, if a school district submits a proposal which fails to gain approval of the voters, the school district is then prohibited from resubmitting the proposal to voters for a period of one year.
   Code section 75.1 applies to school corporations, which by operation of Code section 260C.16, includes merged areas (community colleges). The bill does not apply to merged areas.
   The bill takes effect upon enactment.