House File 985 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 985 BY COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS (SUCCESSOR TO HF 198) (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 17) A BILL FOR An Act relating to services provided by the secretary of state, 1 providing fees, and making appropriations. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 1686HZ (3) 91 da/jh

H.F. 985 Section 1. Section 9.4, Code 2025, is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 9.4 Fees. 3 1. The secretary of state shall collect all fees directed 4 by law to be collected by the secretary of state, including a 5 fee to be determined by the secretary of state by rule adopted 6 pursuant to chapter 17A for a copy of any law or record. 7 2. a. The secretary of state shall adopt rules pursuant to 8 chapter 17A that specify additional fee amounts to be imposed 9 by the secretary of state for performing services under law. 10 b. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and for 11 each fiscal year thereafter, the secretary of state shall not 12 collect additional fee amounts imposed under paragraph “a” of 13 more than two million dollars. 14 c. The secretary of state shall deposit additional fee 15 amounts imposed under paragraph “a” and collected under 16 paragraph “b” in the business services modernization fund 17 created pursuant to section 9.4A. 18 Sec. 2. Section 9.4A, Code 2025, is amended to read as 19 follows: 20 9.4A Technology Business services modernization fund. 21 1. A technology modernization business services 22 modernization fund is created in the state treasury under 23 the control of the secretary of state. Moneys in the fund 24 are appropriated to the secretary of state for purposes of 25 modernizing technology used by the secretary of state to 26 fulfill the duties of office. 27 2. On and after For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2022 28 2025 , and for each fiscal year thereafter, any unobligated or 29 unencumbered moneys remaining in this the business services 30 modernization fund are appropriated to the secretary of state 31 for purposes of modernization modernizing operations within the 32 business services division until fully expended or until June 33 30, 2026, whichever occurs first . 34 3. This section is repealed July 1, 2026. 35 -1- LSB 1686HZ (3) 91 da/jh 1/ 4

H.F. 985 Sec. 3. Section 9.15, Code 2025, is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 9.15 Expedited filing service —— surcharge. 3 1. Upon the request of the filer of a document, the 4 secretary shall provide an expedited filing service. As part 5 of the service, the secretary shall file a document submitted 6 by a filer on an expedited basis. 7 2. The secretary shall implement, assess, and collect a 8 surcharge for providing the expedited filing service based on 9 the period of service as follows: 10 a. For a one-hour service, the surcharge shall be two 11 hundred fifty dollars. 12 b. For a same-day service, the surcharge shall be one 13 hundred seventy-five dollars. 14 c. For a two-day service, the surcharge shall be fifty 15 dollars. 16 b. d. For a five-day service, the surcharge shall be 17 fifteen dollars. 18 3. The surcharge shall be added to the amount of the fee 19 implemented, assessed, and collected for the actual filing of 20 the document. 21 4. At the time of the expedited filing, the secretary shall 22 provide written confirmation of the filing. 23 4. 5. Any moneys collected by the secretary under this 24 section shall be deposited in the business administration fund 25 created in section 9.13 . 26 EXPLANATION 27 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 28 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 29 GENERAL. This bill amends several sections in Code chapter 30 9 that provides for the collection of fees by the secretary of 31 state (secretary) and the appropriation of moneys from certain 32 funds under the control of the secretary of state to support 33 of the office. 34 BUSINESS SERVICES MODERNIZATION. Code section 9.4 requires 35 -2- LSB 1686HZ (3) 91 da/jh 2/ 4

H.F. 985 the secretary to collect all fees directed to be collected 1 by the secretary. This includes a special fee imposed by 2 the secretary for providing a copy of a law or record. The 3 secretary is authorized to determine the amount of the special 4 fee by rule. The bill amends that section by authorizing 5 the secretary to adopt by rule additional fee amounts to be 6 imposed and collected by the secretary. For each fiscal 7 year beginning on or after July 1, 2025, the secretary 8 cannot collect more than $2 million in such additional fee 9 amounts. The fee amounts are to be deposited in the technology 10 modernization fund created in Code section 9.4A. Moneys in the 11 fund are appropriated to the secretary of state for purposes 12 of modernizing technology used by the secretary to fulfill 13 the duties of office. The Code section is repealed on July 14 1, 2026. The bill renames the fund to the business services 15 modernization fund and revises its purpose. Under the bill, 16 for each fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 2025, moneys 17 in the fund are appropriated to the secretary for purposes of 18 modernizing operations within the business services division. 19 The bill eliminates the repeal. 20 BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION. The bill amends a provision 21 enacted in 2021 Iowa Acts, chapter 165, section 253, which 22 requires the secretary to establish and administer programs 23 providing extra services to filers of documents under a number 24 of Code sections regulating business entities. Code section 25 9.15 requires the secretary to offer a service in which 26 a business document is filed on an expedited basis. This 27 includes two additional surcharges for expedited services: 28 for a two-day service, an additional $50, and for a five-day 29 service, an additional $15. Moneys collected from the 30 surcharges are deposited in the business administration fund 31 (fund) created in the same Act (Code section 9.13). Moneys in 32 the fund are appropriated to the office of the secretary for 33 the exclusive purpose of administering business organization 34 statutes (Code Title XII). The specific business entities 35 -3- LSB 1686HZ (3) 91 da/jh 3/ 4

H.F. 985 include partnerships (Code section 486A.105A), limited 1 partnerships (Code section 488.206A), limited liability 2 companies (Code section 489.122A), for-profit corporations 3 (Code section 490.120A), other corporations for pecuniary 4 profit (Code section 491.5A), traditional modern cooperative 5 associations (Code section 499.44A), closed cooperatives 6 (Code section 501.105A), cooperatives organized under the 7 Iowa cooperative associations Act (Code section 501A.201A), 8 and nonprofit corporations (Code section 504.111A). The bill 9 provides two additional surcharges for such services: for a 10 one-hour service, an additional $250, and for same-day service, 11 an additional $175. At the time of the expedited filing, the 12 secretary must provide a written confirmation of an expedited 13 filing. 14 -4- LSB 1686HZ (3) 91 da/jh 4/ 4