House File 715 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 715 BY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 160) 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 1070HV (3) 88 ec/rh

H.F. 715 Section 1. Section 21.2, subsection 1, paragraphs a, c, e, 1 h, and j, Code 2019, 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 and budgetary issues. 13 h. An advisory board, advisory commission, advisory 14 committee, task force, or other body formally and directly 15 created by statute or executive order of this state or created 16 by an executive order of any measure, including a motion, 17 resolution, amendment, or ordinance, by a political subdivision 18 of this state , one or more boards, councils, commissions, or 19 other governing bodies subject to paragraph “a” or “b” , by a 20 mayor, or by a superintendent of schools if the school board of 21 a 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 and budgetary issues to the 24 board, council, commission, or other governing body . 25 j. An advisory board, advisory commission, advisory 26 committee, task force, or other body formally and directly 27 created by an entity organized under chapter 28E , or by 28 the administrator or joint board specified in a chapter 28E 29 agreement, to develop and make recommendations on public policy 30 and budgetary issues to the entity or joint board . 31 Sec. 2. Section 21.2, subsection 2, Code 2019, is amended 32 to read as follows: 33 2. “Meeting” means a gathering in person or by electronic 34 means, formal or informal, of a majority of the members of 35 -1- LSB 1070HV (3) 88 ec/rh 1/ 3

H.F. 715 a governmental body where there is deliberation or action 1 upon any matter within the scope of the governmental body’s 2 policy-making or budgetary duties. Meetings shall not include 3 a gathering of members of a governmental body for purely 4 ministerial or social purposes when there is no discussion of 5 policy or budgetary duties or no intent to avoid the purposes 6 of this chapter . 7 Sec. 3. Section 21.4, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2019, 8 is amended to read as follows: 9 a. Except as provided in subsection 3 , a governmental body 10 shall give notice of the time, date, and place of each meeting 11 including a reconvened meeting of the governmental body, and 12 the tentative agenda of the meeting, in a manner reasonably 13 calculated to apprise the public of that information. 14 Reasonable notice shall include advising the news media 15 any person who have has filed a request for notice with the 16 governmental body and posting the notice on a bulletin board or 17 other prominent place which is easily accessible to the public 18 and clearly designated for that purpose at the principal office 19 of the body holding the meeting, or if no such office exists, 20 at the building in which the meeting is to be held. 21 Sec. 4. Section 21.4, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code 2019, 22 is amended to read as follows: 23 a. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph “c” , notice 24 conforming with all of the requirements of subsection 1 shall 25 be given at least twenty-four hours prior to the commencement 26 of any meeting of a governmental body , excluding weekend days 27 and paid holidays as specified in section 1C.2, unless for good 28 cause such notice is impossible or impractical, in which case 29 as much notice as is reasonably possible shall be given. 30 EXPLANATION 31 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 32 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 33 This bill relates to the regulation of a governmental body 34 and public notice requirements under the open meetings law 35 -2- LSB 1070HV (3) 88 ec/rh 2/ 3

H.F. 715 (Code chapter 21). 1 The bill amends the definition of governmental body under 2 the open meetings law to specify that only advisory boards, 3 advisory commissions, advisory committees, task forces, or 4 any other body that are formally and directly created by a 5 political subdivision of this state, specified governmental 6 bodies, by a mayor, or by a superintendent of schools if the 7 school board of a school district has expressly authorized the 8 superintendent to act on behalf of the school district, are 9 considered governmental bodies subject to the open meetings 10 law. 11 The bill amends the definition of a meeting that is subject 12 to the requirements of the open meetings law by expanding the 13 definition to include any deliberations or actions (including 14 recommendations) taken by a governmental body as defined in 15 the open meetings law, that are within a governmental body’s 16 budgetary duties. 17 The bill provides that reasonable notice of a meeting shall 18 include providing notice to any person, and not just the news 19 media, if the person has filed a request for notice. 20 The bill also excludes weekend days and paid holidays as 21 specified in Code section 1C.2 when determining the 24-hour 22 time period for purposes of public notice under the open 23 meetings law. 24 -3- LSB 1070HV (3) 88 ec/rh 3/ 3