House File 48 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 48 BY GUSTOFF A BILL FOR An Act prohibiting employer control of employee political 1 candidacy and contributions, and making penalties 2 applicable. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 1545YH (3) 91 ss/ns

H.F. 48 Section 1. Section 55.4, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended 1 to read as follows: 2 1. Any public employee who becomes a candidate for any 3 elective public office shall, upon request of the employee and 4 commencing any time within thirty days prior to a contested 5 primary, special, or general election and continuing until 6 after the day following that election, automatically be 7 given a period of leave. If the employee is under chapter 8 8A, subchapter IV , the An employee may choose to use accrued 9 vacation leave, accrued compensatory leave, or leave without 10 pay to cover these periods. The appointing authority or 11 employer may authorize other employees to use accrued vacation 12 leave or accrued compensatory leave instead of leave without 13 pay to cover these periods. An employee who is a candidate for 14 any elective public office shall not campaign while on duty as 15 an employee. 16 Sec. 2. Section 55.4, Code 2025, is amended by adding the 17 following new subsection: 18 NEW SUBSECTION . 1A. An appointing authority or employer 19 shall not take any adverse action against an employee for 20 seeking election to any public office or prohibit an employee 21 from seeking election to a public office in the event the 22 employee informs the appointing authority or employer that the 23 employee intends to seek such election. 24 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 68A.507 Employer control of employee 25 contributions prohibited. 26 An employer employing persons in Iowa shall not do any of the 27 following: 28 1. Prohibit an employee from making a contribution to a 29 committee. 30 2. Require an employee to receive approval prior to making 31 a contribution to a committee. 32 3. Limit the amount of any contribution an employee makes 33 to a committee. 34 4. Take any adverse action against an employee for an 35 -1- LSB 1545YH (3) 91 ss/ns 1/ 2

H.F. 48 employee’s contributing to or failing to contribute to a 1 committee. 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 requires any appointing authority or employer 6 to, upon request, grant an employee who is a candidate for an 7 elective public office leave commencing any time within 30 days 8 before an election. Current law requires a public employer to 9 grant a public employee such leave requests. The bill also 10 prohibits an appointing authority or employer from taking 11 adverse actions against an employee for seeking election to 12 a public office or from prohibiting an employee from seeking 13 election to a public office, in the event the employee informs 14 the appointing authority or employer that the employee intends 15 to seek election to a public office. By operation of law, a 16 person who violates these provisions of the bill is guilty of 17 a simple misdemeanor for each day of the offense. A simple 18 misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than 30 19 days or a fine of at least $105 but not more than $855 or by 20 both. 21 The bill also prohibits an employer who employs people 22 in Iowa from prohibiting, limiting, or requiring approval 23 for the contributions of employees to political committees 24 or candidates’ committees. By operation of law, a person 25 who violates this provision of the bill is guilty of a 26 serious misdemeanor. A serious misdemeanor is punishable by 27 confinement for no more than one year and a fine of at least 28 $430 but not more than $2,560. 29 -2- LSB 1545YH (3) 91 ss/ns 2/ 2