HF 371 (LSB 1505YH (3) 91)

HOUSE FILE 371

BY  GUSTOFF, STONE, and GEHLBACH

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to high school athletic contests and competitions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 280.13, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   280.13  Requirements for interscholastic athletic contests and competitions.
   1.  A public school shall not participate in or allow students representing a public school to participate in any extracurricular interscholastic athletic contest or competition which is sponsored or administered by an organization as defined in this section, unless the organization is registered with the department of education, files financial statements with the department in the form and at the intervals prescribed by the director of the department of education, and is in compliance with rules which the state board of education adopts for the proper administration, supervision, operation, adoption of eligibility requirements, and scheduling of extracurricular interscholastic athletic contests and competitions and the organizations.
   2.  a.  For the purposes of this section “organization” means a corporation, association, or organization to which all of the following apply:
   (1)  It has as one of its primary purposes the sponsoring or administration of extracurricular interscholastic athletic contests or competitions, but.
   (2)  It does not prohibit member schools from participating in extracurricular interscholastic athletic contests and competitions with nonmember schools.
   b.  “Organization” does not include an agency of this state, a public or private school or school board, or an athletic conference or other association whose interscholastic contests or competitions do not include more than twenty-four schools.
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 high school athletic contests or competitions.
   Current law prohibits public schools from participating in or allowing students representing the public school from participating in any extracurricular interscholastic athletic contest or competition which is sponsored or administered by an organization unless the organization complies with certain specified requirements. Current law defines “organization” as a corporation, association, or organization which has as one of its primary purposes the sponsoring or administration of extracurricular interscholastic athletic contests or competitions. The bill modifies the definition of “organization” for purposes of these provisions to require that the organization not prohibit member schools from participating in extracurricular interscholastic athletic contests and competitions with nonmember schools.