2008 Legislative Bill List

May 23, 2008
Final 2008 ILA Bill List
The Governor recently disposed of all legislation sent to him by legislators during the 2008 Legislative session. The final ILA bill list begins below. But first, a few observations:

The Governor vetoed only two bills this year - HF 2645 & SF 2364 (emancipation of a minor & the collective bargaining bill). The Governor exercised his line-item veto to strike sixteen items from seven bills. In 2008, 1986 bills were introduced - about 17% (417 bills) less than in 2007 thanks to the 10-day shorter session. The legislature passed 196 bills this year, 9.9% of those that were introduced. The Governor signed all but two of these, so 9.8% of the bills introduced this year were signed into law.

HF 2663 - School Infrastructure Local Option (SILO) (Status: Signed) - This bill replaces the local option sales and services tax for school infrastructure purposes by increasing the state sales and use taxes from 5 percent to 6 percent, effective July 1, 2008. The increased use tax rate does not apply to the sale or lease of motor vehicles. The state sales and use tax rates are reduced from 6 percent to 5 percent on January 1, 2030. The increased state sales and use tax revenues are deposited into a new Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) fund to be distributed to all school districts. A statewide amount per pupil would be computed each fiscal year based upon the estimated amount that would have been generated by a 1 percent local sales and services tax divided by the combined enrollment of all school districts. Each district will receive an amount equal to the amount that it would have received under the formula if the local sales and services tax for school infrastructure was still imposed. The bill contains several related provisions. Effective 7/1/2009. Position: Monitor

HF 2679 - Education Budget (Status: Signed) - Appropriates $988.9 million from the general fund to various educational services and programs, an increase of $5.5 million over the FY08 level. Maintains current funding levels for the State Library ($1,879,827), Library Services Areas ($1,586,000), and Enrich Iowa ($1,823,432). Adds media specialists to community college "Quality Faculty Plans." Requires the Department of Education to establish an Ad Hoc Accreditation Quality Faculty Plan Protocol Committee to advise them on the development of protocols to be used by accreditation teams during site visits. Effective 7/1/2008. Position: Monitor
Line Item Veto: The Governor did veto some things in this bill, but the items noted were not affected these line-item vetoes.

HF 2699 - Economic Development Budget (Status: Signed) - Appropriates a total of $48.3 million from the General Fund, an increase of $7.4 million primarily used to replace lost federal dollars. Maintains funding for the Department of Cultural Affairs' Historical Division and Governor's Archives. Adds a new appropriation for the Iowa Cultural Caucus Project ($20,000), which takes place every four years. Effective 7/1/2008. Position: Monitor

SF 2176 - Cultural Affairs Changes (Status: Signed) - Requires the Historical Division of the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) create a digital collection of records for research purposes and make the collection available to the public. Requires DCA establish a statewide culture, history, & arts teams (CHAT) to coordinate cultural efforts. Clarifies that these teams are local organizations. Establishes a Civil War Advisory Committee to help the Historical Division plan a sesquicentennial commemoration of Iowa's role in the American civil war. Effective 7/1/2008. Position: Monitor

SF 2400 - Administration & Regulation Budget (Status: Signed) - Makes appropriations to various state agencies. Requires privately owned libraries and art galleries to file a claim in order to receive a property tax exemption if the library or gallery is used for public purposes and not for private profit. Effective 7/1/2008. Position: Line Item Veto: The Governor did veto some things in this bill, but the items noted were not affected these line-item vetoes.

SF 2417 - Healthy Iowans Tobacco Trust Appropriations (Status: Signed) - Allocates money generated from the Iowa's tobacco settlement. Spends at current levels, but includes a $200,000 increase in funding for Before & After School Grants ($505,000). Effective 7/1/2008. Position: Monitor Line Item Veto: The Governor did veto some things in this bill, but the items noted were not affected these line-item vetoes.

SF 2424 - State Retirement System Changes (Status: Signed) - This bill makes numerous changes to public retirement systems, including the public safety peace officers' retirement, accident, and disability system, the Iowa public employees' retirement system (IPERS), and the statewide fire and police retirement system, as well as other employee benefit matters. Among the numerous other changes in the bill, beginning July 1, 2011, IPERS will determine a required contribution rate for each membership group, including members in regular service, which is the contribution rate the system actuarially determines is the rate required by the system to discharge its liabilities as to that membership group as a percentage of the covered wages of members in that membership category. Code sections concerning annuity contracts for area education agency (AEA) and school district employees, are stricken and rewritten by the bill. If your retirement is under the State of Iowa’s jurisdiction, please take a moment to pull up this bill and review its contents. Effective 7/1/2008. Position: Monitor

SF 2425 - Health/Human Services Budget (Status: Signed) - Appropriates funds to various health & human services programs. Establishes an Early Childhood Iowa Council to function as an alliance of stakeholders for early care, health and education systems that affect children ages 0-5 in order to oversee the development of an integrated early care system. The Council will advise the Governor, Legislature, and public and private agencies on these matters. Establishes as the vision of the Council as "Every child, beginning at birth, will be healthy and successful." Invites anyone with an interest in furthering this vision to be a member of the Council. Establishes a steering committee of the council to organize & manage the efforts and a "state liaison team" to include the following state agencies that have an impact on children's lives - Child Health Specialty Clinics, Community Empowerment Office, Department of Education, State Librarian, Governor's Office, Department of Human Rights, Department of Human Services, ISU Extension, and Department of Public Health. Duties and reporting requirements are outlined. Effective 7/1/2008. Position: Monitor
Line Item Veto: The Governor did veto some things in this bill, but the items noted were not affected these line-item vetoes.

SF 2432 - RIIF (Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund) Budget (Status: Signed) - Spends $484.1 million on various infrastructure projects, and authorizes $130.7 million in bonds to build a new prison. Maintains Enrich Iowa library funding ($1 million, of which $50,000 is distributed equally among the LSAs). Effective 7/1/2008. Position: Monitor
Line Item Veto: The Governor did veto some things in this bill, but the items noted were not affected these line-item vetoes.
Top Priorities: Library Issues 2008
Þ Provide statewide access to additional high-demand databases, such as test preparation software through the State Library of Iowa.
Þ Increase funding for Enrich Iowa to raise reimbursement rates of the popular and heavily used Open Access program.
Þ Increase funding for the Library Service Areas (LSAs) to support the Early Childhood Initiative and encourage family literacy, and provide valuable support services to Iowa’s libraries.
Þ Support full implementation of the teacher librarian requirement and the end to the two-year waiver period.
Þ Preserve hometown governance in Iowa public libraries by maintaining support for the local decision-making.
Important Dates
Þ November 4th, 2008 – Election Day 2008. All 100 Iowa House seats and one-half of Iowa’s Senate seats (25) are on the ballot. VOTE !!!!
Þ January 12th, 2009 – First Day of the 2009 Legislative Session.

The Best Resources for Your Advocacy Needs:Find Your Legislator - http://www.legis.state.ia.us/findleg/
Contact Your Legislator - http://www.legis.state.ia.us/aspx/Legislators/LegislatorInfo.aspx
Legislative Committee Listings - http://www.legis.state.ia.us/aspx/Committees/CommitteeInfo.aspx
Track Legislation (instantly updated) - http://www.legis.state.ia.us/Legislation.html
Listen to Debate (live) - http://www.legis.state.ia.us/Audio/Audio.html
House & Senate Calendars (weekly & daily) - http://www.legis.state.ia.us/Chambers.html
Session Calendar - http://www.legis.state.ia.us/Current/TimeTable.html
How a Bill Becomes a Law - http://www.legis.state.ia.us/Pubinfo/bill2law.htm
Guide to the General Assembly - http://www.legis.state.ia.us/Central/Guides/gaguide.pdf
2008 ILA Legislative Agenda - http://www.iowalibraryassociation.org/associations/2221/files/ILA%202008%20Legislative%20Agenda.pdf

Your Capitol Team
Mike Dargan, Government Affairs Committee Chair - MikeDargan@iowalibraryassociation.org
Amy Campbell, ILA Lobbyist – amy@campbell-patterson.com
Craig Patterson, ILA Lobbyist – craig@campbell-patterson.com