House Study Bill 160 - Introduced SENATE/HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED IOWA PUBLIC INFORMATION BOARD BILL) 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 1070DP (3) 88 ec/rh

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ 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 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 a political subdivision of this 17 state one or more boards, councils, commissions, or other 18 governing bodies subject to paragraph “a” or “b” , by a mayor, 19 or by a superintendent of schools if the school board of a 20 school district has expressly authorized the superintendent 21 to act on behalf of the school district, to develop and make 22 recommendations on public policy issues to the board, council, 23 commission, or other governing body . 24 j. An advisory board, advisory commission, advisory 25 committee, task force, or other body formally and directly 26 created by an entity organized under chapter 28E , or by 27 the administrator or joint board specified in a chapter 28E 28 agreement, to develop and make recommendations on public policy 29 issues to the entity or joint board . 30 Sec. 2. Section 21.2, subsection 2, Code 2019, is amended 31 to read as follows: 32 2. “Meeting” means a gathering in person or by electronic 33 means, formal or informal, of a majority of the members of 34 a governmental body where there is deliberation or action 35 -1- LSB 1070DP (3) 88 ec/rh 1/ 3

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

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