Senate File 519 - Reprinted SENATE FILE 519 BY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT (SUCCESSOR TO SSB 1202) (As Amended and Passed by the Senate April 13, 2011 ) A BILL FOR An Act relating to organizations representing school 1 boards, board members, and administrators, and to the 2 responsibilities and duties of such organizations, and 3 providing penalties and remedies. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 SF 519 (6) 84 kh/rj

S.F. 519 Section 1. Section 279.38, Code 2011, is amended by striking 1 the section and inserting in lieu thereof the following: 2 279.38 Membership in organizations —— requirements. 3 1. As used in this section: 4 a. “Compensation” means the same as defined in section 8F.2, 5 subsection 2. 6 b. “Organization” means a local, state, regional, or 7 national organization which relates to the functions of 8 the board of directors of a school district or to the 9 administrators of a school district and to which a school board 10 pays monetary fees for products or services or annual dues in 11 accordance with subsection 2. “Organization” includes a related 12 for-profit or not-for-profit subsidiary of an organization. 13 2. a. The board of directors of a school district, the 14 duly elected members of the school board, and designated 15 administrators of school districts may join or participate in 16 organizations, including but not limited to organizations such 17 as the Iowa association of school boards, the urban education 18 network, Iowa school finance information services, and the 19 school administrators of Iowa. The school board may pay out 20 of funds available to the school board reasonable monetary 21 fees for products or services or annual dues for membership of 22 the school board, or a board member or administrator, in such 23 an organization. Such an organization that receives fees or 24 dues for membership from a school board shall be considered a 25 taxpayer-funded organization. 26 b. Each school board that pays monetary fees or annual dues 27 to an organization shall annually report to the local community 28 and to the department of education the amount paid in annual 29 dues, fees, or assessments for products or services received 30 from the organization, and the total amount of any revenue 31 or dividend payments received from the organization. The 32 information shall be submitted to the department electronically 33 in the format specified by the department. 34 3. The financial condition and transactions of an 35 -1- SF 519 (6) 84 kh/rj 1/ 6

S.F. 519 organization shall be audited in the same manner as school 1 corporations as provided in section 11.6. The organization 2 shall establish an audit committee to review the financial 3 condition and transactions of the organization and the report 4 of examination conducted in accordance with this subsection. 5 The auditor conducting an examination in accordance with this 6 subsection shall have full access to the audit committee 7 and to all of the organization’s records, reports, audits, 8 tax reports, and all other documents and papers issued or 9 maintained by the organization. 10 4. An organization shall do all of the following: 11 a. Publish annually on its internet site, and in a report 12 submitted annually to the department of education, the standing 13 committees on government oversight, and the general assembly, 14 all of the following: 15 (1) A listing of the school districts that pay fees or dues 16 for membership in the organization and the moneys paid by each 17 school district. 18 (2) The total revenue the organization receives from each 19 school district resulting from the payment of monetary fees or 20 annual dues, and the total net profit from the sale of products 21 and services to the school district by the organization. 22 (3) An accounting, broken down by individual employee, 23 of the total amount of moneys expended for reimbursement of 24 expenses incurred by and compensation paid to each of the ten 25 highest paid employees of the organization as evidenced by the 26 tax forms submitted by the organization to the internal revenue 27 service. 28 (4) An accounting of all moneys expended for reimbursement 29 of expenses incurred by and compensation paid to all 30 legislative representatives and lobbyists of the organization. 31 b. Submit to the general assembly and the standing committee 32 on government oversight copies of all reports the organization 33 provides to the United States department of education relating 34 to federal grants and grant amounts that the organization 35 -2- SF 519 (6) 84 kh/rj 2/ 6

S.F. 519 administers or distributes to school districts. 1 c. Provide education and training to the organization’s 2 board members in the fiduciary duties and legal 3 responsibilities of members. 4 5. An organization shall not pay an employee or officer 5 of the organization, a member of the organization’s governing 6 board, or a legislative representative or lobbyist for the 7 organization, a bonus or other consideration of any type which 8 is in addition to compensation paid and published and reported 9 as required by subsection 4. In addition, the organization 10 shall not allow any other entity to pay an employee or 11 officer of the organization, a member of the organization’s 12 governing board, or a legislative representative or lobbyist 13 for the organization for services performed on behalf of the 14 organization. However, the organization may pay an employee 15 a commission if the terms for paying the commission are in 16 writing under an agreement which is a public document and the 17 employee’s compensation, which shall list the amount of the 18 commission, is published and reported in the same manner as 19 provided in subsection 4. 20 6. a. A person who serves as the head of an organization 21 or otherwise serves in a supervisory capacity within the 22 organization shall not require an employee of the organization 23 to inform the person that the employee made a disclosure 24 of information permitted by this subsection and shall not 25 prohibit an employee of the organization from disclosing any 26 information to a member of the governing board or to any 27 public official, a law enforcement agency, a state agency, the 28 auditor of state or an auditor conducting an examination of 29 the organization in accordance with section 11.6, the office 30 of the attorney general, the office of citizens’ aide, or to a 31 committee of the general assembly if the employee reasonably 32 believes the information evidences a violation of law or rule, 33 mismanagement, a gross abuse of funds, an abuse of authority, 34 or a substantial and specific danger to public health or 35 -3- SF 519 (6) 84 kh/rj 3/ 6

S.F. 519 safety. However, an employee may be required to inform the 1 person that the employee made a disclosure of information 2 permitted by this subsection if the employee represented that 3 the disclosure was the official position of the employee’s 4 immediate supervisor or employer. 5 b. A person shall not discharge an employee from or take 6 or fail to take action regarding an employee’s appointment or 7 proposed appointment to, promotion or proposed promotion to, 8 or any advantage in, a position administered by, or subject 9 to approval of, the person or the organization’s governing 10 board as a reprisal for a failure by that employee to inform 11 the person that the employee made a disclosure of information 12 permitted by this subsection, or for a disclosure of any 13 information by that employee authorized under paragraph “a” 14 if the employee reasonably believes the information evidences 15 a violation of law or rule, mismanagement, a gross abuse of 16 funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific 17 danger to public health or safety. However, an employee may 18 be required to inform the person that the employee made a 19 disclosure of information permitted by this subsection if the 20 employee represented that the disclosure was the official 21 position of the employee’s immediate supervisor or employer. 22 c. Paragraphs “a” and “b” do not apply if the disclosure of 23 the information is prohibited by statute. 24 d. A person who violates paragraph “a” or “b” commits a 25 simple misdemeanor. 26 e. Paragraph “b” may be enforced through a civil action. 27 (1) A person who violates paragraph “b” is liable to 28 an aggrieved employee for affirmative relief including 29 reinstatement, with or without back pay, or any other equitable 30 relief the court deems appropriate, including attorney fees and 31 costs. 32 (2) When a person commits, is committing, or proposes to 33 commit an act in violation of paragraph “b” , an injunction may 34 be granted through an action in district court to prohibit the 35 -4- SF 519 (6) 84 kh/rj 4/ 6

S.F. 519 person from continuing such acts. The action for injunctive 1 relief may be brought by an aggrieved employee or the attorney 2 general. 3 f. A person shall not discharge an employee from or take 4 or fail to take action regarding an employee’s appointment or 5 proposed appointment to, promotion or proposed promotion to, 6 or any advantage in, a position administered by, or subject 7 to approval of, the person or the organization’s governing 8 board as a reprisal for the employee’s declining to participate 9 in contributions or donations to charities or community 10 organizations. 11 g. The person and the organization’s governing board 12 shall provide procedures for notifying the organization’s 13 new employees of the provisions of this subsection and shall 14 periodically conduct promotional campaigns to provide similar 15 information to the organization’s employees. The information 16 shall include the toll-free telephone number of the citizens’ 17 aide. 18 7. a. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph “b” , all 19 meetings of the governing board of the organization shall 20 comply with the requirements of chapter 21 and all records of 21 the governing board and the organization shall be maintained 22 in accordance with chapter 22. 23 b. The governing board of the organization may keep the 24 following records confidential and the governing board may hold 25 a closed session meeting to discuss the following matters: 26 (1) Personal information in confidential personnel records 27 maintained by the governing board of the organization. 28 (2) Information related to legal matters including 29 discussions or consultations with an attorney. Attorney 30 billing records are not confidential records except for such 31 records that are subject to the attorney-client privilege. 32 (3) Pricing, product, service, business strategy, or 33 marketing information which if released, would give an 34 advantage to competitors, vendors, or other parties and that 35 -5- SF 519 (6) 84 kh/rj 5/ 6