H.F. 2309 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 280.32 Extracurricular athletics —— 1 eligibility —— cause of action. 2 1. a. An interscholastic athletic team, sport, or athletic 3 event that is sponsored or sanctioned by an accredited 4 nonpublic school, school district, or organization as defined 5 in section 280.13, must be designated as one of the following, 6 based on the sex at birth of the participating students: 7 (1) Females, women, or girls. 8 (2) Males, men, or boys. 9 (3) Coeducational or mixed. 10 b. Only female students, based on their sex, may participate 11 in any team, sport, or athletic event designated as being for 12 females, women, or girls. 13 c. For the purposes of this subsection, “sex” means 14 a person’s biological sex as either female or male. The 15 sex listed on the student’s official birth certificate or 16 certificate issued upon adoption may be relied upon if the 17 certificate was issued at or near the time of the student's 18 birth. 19 d. Protections pursuant to chapter 670 shall not apply to 20 a school district employee or a school district that does not 21 comply with the requirements of this section. 22 2. a. If a student suffers direct or indirect harm as 23 a result of a violation of subsection 1, that student has a 24 private cause of action for injunctive, mandamus, damages, and 25 declaratory relief against the entity that violated subsection 26 1. 27 b. If a student is subjected to retaliation or other 28 adverse action by an accredited nonpublic school, school 29 district, or organization as defined in section 280.13, 30 as a result of reporting a violation of subsection 1 to an 31 employee or representative of the school, school district, 32 organization as defined in section 280.13, or to a state 33 or federal governmental entity having oversight authority, 34 that student has a private cause of action for injunctive, 35 -1- LSB 5990YH (5) 89 dg/jh 1/ 5

H.F. 2309 mandamus, damages, and declaratory relief, against the 1 accredited nonpublic school, school district, or organization. 2 In addition, a governmental entity shall not investigate a 3 complaint or take any adverse action against an accredited 4 nonpublic school, school district, or organization, or 5 any employee of a board of directors or the authorities in 6 charge of an accredited nonpublic school for compliance with 7 subsection 1. 8 3. If an accredited nonpublic school, school district, or 9 organization as defined in section 280.13, suffers any direct 10 or indirect harm as a result of a violation of subsection 11 1, that accredited nonpublic school, school district, or 12 organization has a private cause of action for injunctive, 13 mandamus, damages, and declaratory relief against the entity 14 that violated subsection 1. 15 4. a. A governmental entity, accredited nonpublic school, 16 or school district shall not be liable to any student for 17 complying with subsection 1. 18 b. A civil action under subsection 2 or 3 must be initiated 19 within two years from the date the alleged harm occurred. 20 c. Any party prevailing on a claim brought under subsection 21 2 or 3 is entitled to reasonable attorney fees and costs. 22 5. a. For any lawsuit brought or any complaint filed 23 against an accredited nonpublic school, a school district, 24 or an employee, board of directors member, or a member of 25 the authorities in charge of a nonpublic school, as a result 26 of compliance with subsection 1, the attorney general shall 27 provide legal representation at no cost to that entity or 28 individual. 29 b. In addition to the expenses of representation, the 30 state shall assume financial responsibility for any other 31 expense related to the lawsuit or complaint and incurred by an 32 accredited nonpublic school, a school district, or an employee, 33 board of directors member, or a member of the authorities in 34 charge of a nonpublic school, including any award for attorney 35 -2- LSB 5990YH (5) 89 dg/jh 2/ 5

H.F. 2309 fees and costs for which that entity or individual would be 1 otherwise responsible. 2 EXPLANATION 3 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 4 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 5 This bill relates to student eligibility requirements in 6 school district and accredited nonpublic school athletics. 7 The bill requires an interscholastic athletic team, sport, 8 or athletic event that is sponsored or sanctioned by an 9 accredited nonpublic school, school district, or athletic 10 organization must be designated as females, women, or girls; 11 males, men, or boys; or coeducational or mixed based on the sex 12 at birth of the participating students. The bill also requires 13 that only female students, based on their sex, may participate 14 in any team, sport, or athletic event designated as being for 15 females, women, or girls. The bill defines “sex” to mean a 16 person’s biological sex as either female or male, and provides 17 that the sex listed on the student’s official birth certificate 18 or certificate issued upon adoption may be relied upon if the 19 certificate was issued at or near the time of the student’s 20 birth. 21 The bill provides that the protections of Code chapter 670 22 (tort liability of governmental subdivisions) do not apply to 23 a school district employee or a school district that does not 24 comply with the requirements of the bill. 25 The bill allows a student who suffers direct or indirect harm 26 as a result of a violation of the bill’s requirements to have 27 a private cause of action for injunctive, mandamus, damages, 28 and declaratory relief against the school district, accredited 29 nonpublic school, or high school athletic organization. 30 The bill also provides that a student who was subjected to 31 retaliation or other adverse action by an accredited nonpublic 32 school, school district, or high school athletic organization, 33 as a result of reporting a violation of the bill’s requirements 34 to an employee or representative of the school, school 35 -3- LSB 5990YH (5) 89 dg/jh 3/ 5

H.F. 2309 district, high school athletic organization, or to a state or 1 federal governmental entity having oversight authority, has a 2 private cause of action for injunctive, mandamus, damages, and 3 declaratory relief against the accredited nonpublic school, 4 school district, or organization. 5 The bill prohibits any governmental entity from 6 investigating a complaint or taking any adverse action 7 against an accredited nonpublic school, school district, or 8 organization, or any employee of a board of directors or the 9 authorities in charge of an accredited nonpublic school, for 10 compliance with the bill’s requirements. 11 The bill allows an accredited nonpublic school, school 12 district, or high school athletic organization that suffers 13 any direct or indirect harm as a result of a violation of the 14 bill’s requirements to have a private cause of action for 15 injunctive, mandamus, damages, and declaratory relief against 16 the entity that violated the bill’s requirements. 17 The bill provides that a governmental entity, accredited 18 nonpublic school, or school district is immune from liability 19 to any student for its compliance with the bill’s requirements. 20 The bill requires a civil action based on a violation of the 21 bill’s requirements or retaliation for reporting a violation of 22 the bill’s requirements to be initiated within two years from 23 the date the alleged harm occurred. 24 The bill entitles any party prevailing on a claim brought 25 based on a violation of the bill’s requirements or retaliation 26 for reporting a violation of the bill’s requirements to 27 reasonable attorney fees and costs. 28 The bill requires the attorney general to provide legal 29 representation at no cost to an accredited nonpublic school, 30 a school district, or an employee, board of directors member, 31 or a member of the authorities in charge of a nonpublic school 32 for any lawsuit brought or any complaint filed against that 33 entity as a result of compliance with the bill’s requirements. 34 The bill also requires that, in addition to the expenses of 35 -4- LSB 5990YH (5) 89 dg/jh 4/ 5

H.F. 2309 representation, the state assume financial responsibility for 1 any other expense related to the lawsuit or complaint and 2 incurred by an accredited nonpublic school, a school district, 3 or an employee, board of directors member, or a member of the 4 authorities in charge of a nonpublic school, including any 5 award for attorney fees and costs for which that entity or 6 individual would be otherwise responsible. 7 -5- LSB 5990YH (5) 89 dg/jh 5/ 5