First Funnel Deadline has Arrived; What's Alive and What's Dead

ALIVE:

SF 504 - Governor’s Unemployment Insurance Tax Bill: Steady progress has been made on Governor Reynolds’ proposal to align unemployment insurance premiums directed to the Iowa Unemployment Trust Fund with benefits paid out of the fund. Iowa employers contributed $423 million in the last 12 months and benefits in the same period totaled $271 million. The Iowa fund now maintains a $1.95 billion dollar balance. Beyond balancing premiums and benefits, the Governor’s plan also adjusts tax rates paid by employers, lowering top rates down to the minimum allowed under federal law. An amendment to the Governor’s plan was added in the Senate Workforce Committee that would actually increase contributions for some. The intent of the legislation was to deliver tax relief for all payers and this doesn’t align with that principle. The Senate bill has been referred to the Ways and Means Committee and we are told that the House Ways and Means Committee will be originating a bill for that chamber.

• ABI Position: Support

HF 767/SF 110 - Drug and Alcohol Testing Reform: Reforms to Iowa’s onerous and arcane drug and alcohol testing statute have survived the first funnel deadline as the House Labor and Workforce Committee and the Senate Workforce Committee have both passed legislation. The bill makes some long sought changes that will make it a bit easier for employers to administer a drug and alcohol testing program and mitigate some of the legal risk that currently exists. The legislation explicitly allows for employers to classify certain jobs as “safety sensitive positions”, provides more options to employers and employees concerning how drug and alcohol testing results are exchanged, flips the burden of proof to the plaintiff to prove their case against the business and establishes an evidentiary standard for the plaintiff to meet when in court. ABI appreciates the leadership of Representative Josh Meggers and Senator Adrian Dickey as they are managing the legislation in their respective chambers.

• ABI Position: Support

HSB 99/SF 383 - Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs): We have reported earlier that companion bills sought by the Iowa Pharmacy Association have passed out of the House Commerce Committee and Senate Health and Human Services Committees and are now “funnel proof” and available for debate for the remainder of session.  Several ABI members have analyzed the bills and report six and seven-figure negative impacts to their health care plans. ABI wants to recognize Iowa Senate Commerce Chair Mike Bousselot for standing up for Iowa business. Bousselot introduced a PBM reform bill this week that changed the conversation on how to help local pharmacies. Much of the text mirrored legislation U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley plans to move through Congress regulating PBMs in a way that does not move costs on to employers. A separate section of Bousselot’s bill defined small pharmacies and pharmacies in pharmacy deserts and created a $3 dispensing fee to support those entities. This is a strong counterpoint to the Pharmacy Association bill that makes no distinction on pharmacy size and created a dispensing fee of $10.68. If, as we understand, the goal is to help small independent pharmacies, the largest portion of this plan lands instead with large chain pharmacies and big box stores.

• ABI Position: Oppose

HSB 313/SSB 1208 - Property Tax System Overhaul: Ways & Means Chairs Dan Dawson and Bobby Kaufmann introduced legislation this week that would reboot Iowa’s property tax system. It would be the largest overhaul of our system in decades. It would phase out rollbacks for all classes of property over five years, implement a 2% revenue restriction (the revenue restriction excludes new growth), provide for a $25,000 homestead exemption, lower the uniform levy to $2.97 while cutting property taxes by $400 million and streamling the school funding formula. 

This bill is not being fast-tracked as the Chairmen are seeking feedback from all stakeholders. If you have feedback for ABI staff, please contact JD Davis or Brad Hartkopf. Read more from Radio Iowa.

• ABI Position: Developing

HSB 123/SSB 1112 - Governor’s Energy Bill: On Thursday of this week, the Senate Commerce Committee advanced their version of the Governor’s energy bill, matching action taken in the House Commerce Committee earlier. A comprehensive bill that makes changes to planning requirements of utilities, allowing an “all of the above” fuel source allowance for advanced regulation, some allowance for negotiated rates for large customers, and other matters. Further amendment of the bill is anticipated.

• ABI Position: Developing

SF 308 - Whistleblower Protections: A strange piece of legislation remains alive in the Senate. The first section of the bill criminalizes employer retaliation against an employee who discloses company information to a member of the Iowa General Assembly. The second half of the bill, and perhaps most important for the sponsor, is a prohibition on compelling a member of the general assembly for testimony in legal proceedings and producing records of communication.

• ABI Position: Oppose

SSB 1205/HSB 305 - IEDA Tax Credit Reform: Thank you to the members of the Economic Growth and Tax policy committees of ABI for giving the public policy team your feedback on a proposal to reform the tax credits used by the Iowa Economic Development Authority. IEDA seeks to modernize their portfolio of credits as tax rates have reduced. As Ways and Means bills, these measures are not subject to the funnel deadline and member feedback will continue to inform our advocacy.

• ABI Position: Developing

SF 54 - Third Party Litigation Financing: This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee adopted a consensus amendment and reported a bill bringing transparency to the practice of third parties financing legal proceedings. Bills like the one in Iowa have been adopted in response to this rapidly growing activity. Concerning is the possibility that the interests of the financiers and the litigating parties may not align and cases that might otherwise settle, remain in the legal system. Other concerns include the financing of intellectual property litigation for the purposes of obtaining information through discovery.

• ABI Position: Support

HF 796 - Restrictions on SNAP Dollar Use: The House Health and Human Services Committee has voted out legislation that would narrow the scope of products that SNAP dollars (food stamps) could be used on. It would require Iowa’s Health and Human Services Department to seek a waiver from the federal government to impose such a restriction. ABI members manufacture products currently eligible that would become ineligible if the bill was enacted. It’s been referred to the Appropriations Committee.

• ABI Position: Oppose

SF 394 - Labeling Legislation: The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved legislation to mitigate some liability risk that manufacturers of pesticides face. If the label of a pesticide registered at the federal level meets the requirements of federal law and the standards set out by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a lawsuit could not be brought against the manufacturer under the legal theory of “duty to warn”. The bill is critical to ensuring certain pesticide products can remain available for our farmers to utilize.

• ABI Position: Support

HF 248 - Adoption Mandate: Over the last several years, the Legislature has considered various forms of a bill that would require employers to provide the same benefits and policies they give to employees who have newborn children for the first year to employees who adopt a child. The House State Government Committee approved a bill that provides for that, but only extends the mandate to cover children aged 0-6 and ensures that disability leave cannot be awarded unless an employee meets the standard set out in the employer’s policies. In the past, the bill has been 0-18 and did not include the disability carveout. ABI has successfully helped narrow the scope of the bill.

• ABI Position: Undecided

HF 191 - Intentional Emission of Air Contaminants: The House Environmental Protection Committee approved a bill that would prohibit the intentional emission of air contaminants for the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight. It would prohibit geoengineering and require the Environmental Protection Commission to write rules. There are questions that need to be answered, including how do you define air contaminants and some other terms in the bill and what kind of penalties are imposed on those who violate the law. There is a concern this could open the door to activists frivolously suing industry. ABI will continue to monitor the bill

• ABI Position: Undecided

DEAD:

HF 450/SF 454 - Permanent Partial Disability Determination Under Work Comp: There was legislation filed in both chambers that would circumvent the Workers Compensation Commissioner’s authority by automatically mandating that for purposes of determining loss or permanent impairment for purposes of permanent partial disability, the most recent annual update to the most recent edition of the guide published by the American Medical Association would be utilized. Right now, the Work Comp Commissioner uses a version of the fifth edition, which opponents say is dated. ABI was against the legislation because we believe the Commissioner should be able to retain the authority to decide what version is used versus automatically updating to a version that hasn’t been studied and could be detrimental to businesses. Neither bill passed the subcommittee level.

• ABI Position: Against 

HF 421 - Extending the Statute of Limitations Under Work Comp: ABI played a significant role in re-writing Iowa’s workers’ compensation statute in 2017. The changes brought some balance back to that part of the law and helped reduce premiums that businesses pay for the program. This year, a bill was filed to extend the statute of limitations, which would open the door to additional costs being imposed on businesses. ABI educated policymakers on the perils of this bill and no subcommittee was held.

• ABI Position: Against

HF 48 - Employee Leave to Run for Office: A House State Government Subcommittee considered legislation that would require private sector employers to allow for 30 days of leave, if requested by an employee running for office, before the primary or general election. The bill would also prohibit employers not allowing employees to make campaign contributions to committees, limiting the amount of money an employee makes to a committee or taking any adverse action against an employee for contributing or failing to contribute to a committee. Though the bill passed out of subcommittee, it did not go through the full committee.

• ABI Position: Undecided