House File 2475 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 2475 BY GUSTOFF A BILL FOR An Act providing for the public examination of a record 1 associated with a donation made to a government body by a 2 nonprofit corporation. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 5259YH (3) 91 da/jh

H.F. 2475 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 22.3B Nonprofit corporations —— 1 records of a supporting organization. 2 A domestic or foreign nonprofit corporation formed or 3 transacting business in this state under chapter 504 and 4 filing as a supporting organization under section 509(a)(3) of 5 the Internal Revenue Code shall be deemed a government body. 6 Any record belonging to the nonprofit corporation shall be 7 deemed to be a public record, unless otherwise required to be 8 confidential under state statute or federal law statute or 9 regulation. 10 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 22.3C Nonprofit corporations —— 11 records of donations to an educational foundation. 12 1. A domestic or foreign nonprofit corporation formed or 13 transacting business in this state under chapter 504 shall be 14 deemed a government body for the limited purpose of allowing a 15 person the right to examine and copy a record belonging to the 16 nonprofit corporation, if all the following apply: 17 a. The record relates to a donation made by the nonprofit 18 corporation to an educational institution or private foundation 19 as defined in section 509 of the Internal Revenue Code that 20 supports a public educational institution. 21 b. The record is not required to be confidential under 22 state statute or federal statute or regulation. Otherwise, any 23 record belonging to the nonprofit corporation that relates to 24 the donation shall be deemed to be a public record. 25 2. As used in subsection 1, a “public educational 26 institution” includes any of the following: 27 a. A public school district as described in chapter 274, 28 including a charter school under chapter 256E, or a charter 29 school or an innovation zone school under chapter 256F. 30 b. An area education agency established pursuant to chapter 31 273. 32 c. A community college as defined in section 260C.2. 33 d. An institution governed by the state board of regents 34 pursuant to chapter 262. 35 -1- LSB 5259YH (3) 91 da/jh 1/ 4

H.F. 2475 Sec. 3. Section 22.7, subsection 52, Code 2026, is amended 1 by striking the subsection. 2 Sec. 4. Section 173.22A, subsection 2, Code 2026, is amended 3 to read as follows: 4 2. Moneys in the Iowa state fairgrounds trust fund shall not 5 be deposited in the state treasury, but shall be held separate 6 and apart from both the state fair’s operating moneys and the 7 state fair foundation fund established in section 173.22 . The 8 board as trustee shall hold only legal title to these moneys, 9 which shall not form any part of the general fund of the state. 10 The moneys shall not be subject to appropriation by the general 11 assembly or subject to transfer pursuant to chapter 8 . The 12 moneys are not and shall not be deemed public funds for any 13 purpose. The fund shall be an institutional endowment fund 14 within the meaning of and subject to chapter 540A . The fund 15 shall not be subject to audit by the auditor of state, but 16 shall be audited annually by a certified public accountant. 17 The annual audit shall be delivered to the auditor of state, 18 who may include it in any further report that the auditor of 19 state deems appropriate. However, an annual audit shall be a 20 confidential record to the extent required in section 22.7, 21 subsection 52 . The moneys may be held in perpetuity, subject 22 to the provisions for release or modification of restrictions 23 on the moneys as provided in chapter 540A . 24 EXPLANATION 25 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 26 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 27 BACKGROUND. Under Iowa’s open records law, a person has a 28 right to examine and copy a public record and to publish or 29 otherwise disseminate a public record belonging to a government 30 body (Code section 22.2) subject to narrow exceptions providing 31 for the confidentiality of certain public records (see Code 32 section 22.7). A government body includes a state agency, 33 local government unit (e.g., county, city, or school district), 34 or a tax-supported district or nonprofit corporation other than 35 -2- LSB 5259YH (3) 91 da/jh 2/ 4

H.F. 2475 a fair conducting a fair event as provided in Code chapter 174, 1 whose facilities or indebtedness are supported in whole or in 2 part with property tax revenue (Code section 22.1). A public 3 record includes all documents, tape, or other information, 4 stored or preserved in any medium. 5 BILL’S PROVISIONS —— GENERAL. This bill provides for the 6 public examination of a record associated with a nonprofit 7 corporation (corporation) formed in this state as a domestic 8 corporation or formed in another jurisdiction and authorized to 9 transact business in this state as a foreign corporation (Code 10 chapter 504). 11 BILL’S PROVISIONS —— RECORDS BELONGING TO A NONPROFIT 12 CORPORATION ACTING AS SUPPORTING ORGANIZATION. The bill 13 provides that any record belonging to a corporation filing as a 14 supporting organization under section 509(a)(3) of the Internal 15 Revenue Code (IRC) is deemed a government body and a record 16 belonging to the corporation is deemed to be a public record, 17 unless the record is confidential under another Iowa statute or 18 federal statute or regulation. Section 509(a)(3) applies when 19 the supporting organization providing a donation has a nexus 20 to the operations or control of the supported organization 21 receiving the donation. 22 BILL’S PROVISIONS —— RECORDS BELONGING TO A NONPROFIT 23 CORPORATION SUPPORTING A PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION. The 24 bill provides that a corporation is deemed to be a government 25 body for the limited purpose of allowing a person the right 26 to examine and copy a record belonging to the corporation, if 27 certain conditions are satisfied. The record must relate to 28 a donation made by the corporation to a public educational 29 institution or to a private foundation that supports a public 30 educational institution, and the record cannot be confidential 31 under another Iowa statute or federal statute or regulation. 32 The bill eliminates a current exception that provides for the 33 confidentiality of records relating to a charitable donation 34 made to a foundation acting solely for the support of certain 35 -3- LSB 5259YH (3) 91 da/jh 3/ 4

H.F. 2475 institutions, including a university governed by the state 1 board of regents, the Iowa state fair, or a community college. 2 -4- LSB 5259YH (3) 91 da/jh 4/ 4