HF 2465 (LSB 5256HZ (4) 85)

HOUSE FILE 2465

BY  COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

(SUCCESSOR TO HF 2371)
(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 595)

(As Amended and Passed by the House 2014-04-16)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the dissemination of information, by establishing a mass notification and emergency messaging system fund, and providing that specified information collected by state departments and agencies for public dissemination of emergency or routine information are considered confidential public records.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  LEGISLATIVE INTENT.  It is the intent of the general assembly, in recognition of the establishment of the mass notification and emergency messaging system fund in Code section 29C.17A, and in further recognition of the vital importance of creating and adequately funding a system for providing mass notification and emergency messaging services to the citizens of the state of Iowa, that the mass notification and emergency messaging system fund receive an annual appropriation to ensure that the system functions throughout the state on an ongoing basis.
    Sec. 2.  Section 22.7, subsection 67, Code 2014, is amended to read as follows:
   67.  Electronic mail addresses of individuals or phone numbers of individuals, and personally identifiable information about those individuals, collected by state departments and agencies for the sole purpose of disseminating emergency or routine information and notices through electronic communications that are not prepared for a specific recipient.
    Sec. 3.  Section 29C.2, Code 2014, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  6A.  “Mass notification and emergency messaging system” means a system which disseminates emergency and public safety related information to the public by various means including but not limited to telephone, wireless communications service, dual party relay service or telecommunications device, text messaging, electronic mail, and facsimile, and which integrates with federal emergency messaging systems.
    Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  29C.17A  Mass notification and emergency messaging system fund.
   1.  A mass notification and emergency messaging system fund is created in the state treasury under the control of the department. The fund shall consist of moneys appropriated by the general assembly and any other moneys available to and obtained or accepted by the department for placement in the fund. Notwithstanding section 12C.7, interest or earnings on moneys in the fund shall be credited to the fund. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys credited to the fund that remain unexpended or unobligated at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to any other fund.
   2.  Amounts contained in the fund shall be used exclusively to provide for the purchase and ongoing operation of a system capable of providing mass notification and emergency messaging to the public. The system shall be purchased from a vendor selected by the department pursuant to a competitive bidding process, and shall, once purchased, be under the control of the department. 
   3.  Information disseminated to the public through the mass notification and emergency messaging system shall be limited to imminent emergency and public safety-related issues. The department may provide access to the system for use at the county and local level. Access by a county or local government shall be at the department’s sole discretion, and if approved by the department, shall be under the control of the local commission. The commission shall establish an operational plan and procedure which meets standards adopted by the department by rule, and shall submit the operational plan and procedure for approval by the department prior to access being granted. Additional access criteria and procedures for administering the fund shall be established by the department by rule.
   4.  All personal information collected for use in the mass notification and emergency messaging system, including but not limited to the names and contact information of emergency messaging recipients, shall be considered confidential records under section 22.7. The director may, however, provide all or part of such confidential information to state or local governmental agencies possessing emergency planning or response functions if the director is satisfied that the need to know the information and its intended use are reasonable. An agency receiving confidential information pursuant to this subsection shall not redisseminate the information in any form without prior approval by the director. The release of confidential information by the department, a county or local government, or a state or local governmental agency other than as authorized pursuant to this section, and the sale of such confidential information, is strictly prohibited.