HF 2216 (LSB 5716YH (1) 90)

HOUSE FILE 2216

BY  BRADLEY

(COMPANION TO SF 2068 BY MCCLINTOCK)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to certain employees of the department of corrections, including collective bargaining, health insurance for a surviving spouse and children of certain employees of the department, and certain operational and employment matters involving the department, and including applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 20.3, subsection 11, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  g.  A nonsupervisory employee of the Iowa department of corrections with ongoing direct contact with inmates.
    Sec. 2.  Section 509A.13D, subsection 3, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  The governing body of the state shall not be required to pay for the full cost of the health insurance under this section; however, the governing body of the state may pay the full cost or a portion of the cost of the health insurance. If the full cost or a portion of the cost of the coverage is not paid by the governing body of the state, the surviving spouse and each surviving child who is eligible for health insurance under this section may elect to continue coverage by paying that portion of the cost of the health insurance not paid by the governing body of the state.
    Sec. 3.  Section 904.108, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new paragraphs:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  p.  Establish a training program for employees of the department with ongoing direct contact with inmates in self-defense and other de-escalation techniques when confronted with potentially violent interactions involving inmates.
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  q.  Establish uniform safety practices to be implemented at all correctional institutions under the control of the department that provide guidelines designed to protect the safety of employees and inmates at correctional institutions. 
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  r.  Adopt rules to allow an employee of the department who has witnessed a trauma event to take between five and thirty days of paid leave depending upon the severity of the trauma event. If the appointing authority of a correctional institution determines that an employee has been held hostage, the employee shall be eligible for a paid leave of absence of up to ninety days, as determined by a licensed physician, to allow for recovery from mental and physical stress and any related conditions. Such paid leave shall not be charged against the employee’s sick leave account.
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  s.  Establish protocols for allowing employees of the department with ongoing direct contact with inmates access to information identified in section 904.602, subsection 2, for purposes of the administration of the department’s programs of services or assistance to inmates.
    Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  904.322  Contract employees —— pay or benefits.
   The department shall not enter into an employment contract with a person to perform a function of the department and provide the contract employee with pay or benefits in excess of pay and benefits provided an employee of the state performing similar work.
    Sec. 5.  APPLICABILITY.  The section of this Act amending section 20.3 applies to collective bargaining procedures pursuant to chapter 20 initiated on or after the effective date of this Act.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to the department of corrections.
   The bill designates nonsupervisory employees of the Iowa department of corrections with ongoing direct contact with inmates as public safety employees for the purposes of collective bargaining pursuant to Code chapter 20, the public employment relations Act. Code chapters 20 and 400 include collective bargaining procedures specifically applicable to public safety employees that are not applicable to other public employees, including procedures relating to the scope of collective bargaining negotiations, arbitration procedures, and certain matters relating to city civil service employment. This provision applies to collective bargaining procedures pursuant to Code chapter 20 initiated on or after the effective date of the bill.
   Code section 509A.13D, providing for continuation of health insurance coverage for a surviving spouse and children of certain department of corrections employees, is amended to provide that the state shall be required to pay the full cost of the health insurance. Current law provides that the state shall not be required to pay for the cost of the health insurance.
   The bill establishes additional duties of the director of the department of corrections. The bill requires the director to establish a training program for employees of the department with ongoing direct contact with inmates in self-defense and other de-escalation techniques when confronted with potentially violent interactions involving inmates, establish uniform safety practices to be implemented at all correctional institutions, adopt rules to allow an employee of the department who has witnessed a trauma event to take between 5 and 30 days of paid leave depending upon the severity of the trauma event and to allow an employee who has been held hostage up to 90 days of paid leave, and to establish protocols for allowing employees of the department with contact with inmates access to certain specified confidential information. 
   The bill also requires that the department of corrections shall not enter into an employment contract with a person to perform a function of the department that provides the contract employee with pay or benefits in excess of pay and benefits provided an employee of the state performing similar work.