Funnel Week complete

The legislature’s first attempt at winnowing the number of bills eligible for discussion during the rest of legislative session wrapped up Thursday afternoon. The “funnel” refers to the date when a bill must be through a committee of one chamber to remain alive for the session. There are exceptions to the rule: appropriations, ways and means (tax), government oversight proposals are all exempt from the deadline, and amendments proposed on the floor can always resurrect a dead bill. ABI has registered on more than 160 bills already this session. Below are a few of the key issues we are watching. 

For more information about the issues below, please contact a member of the ABI public policy team. You can also learn more at the monthly ABI legislative conference call tomorrow (Fri., Feb., 19) at 9 a.m. Email Michelle Vollstedt (mvollstedt@iowaabi.org) to RSVP. 

Key Bills

Alive:

HSB 620 - Modernizes career and technical education programs

HF 2288/SSB 3001- Provides renewable chemical production tax credit

HF 2260 - Extends statewide penny sales tax for school infrastructure and addresses funding inequities

SF 84 - Ban the Box: Prevents employers from inquiring about an applicant’s criminal background on an application

SF 2193 -

SF 313 - Requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant and new mothers.

SF 2097 - Requires employers to provide paid time for prenatal care

SF 398 - Supports outreach and education for wage payment claims, requires written payroll information

HSB 574 - Levels playing field for micro-distillers

SF 2204 - Requires health insurance plans to cover eating disorder treatment

SF 2072 - Requires employer health insurance plans with more than 50 employees to cover autism treatment.

HSB 601 - Gov. Terry Branstad’s proposal to extend the statewide penny sales tax and designate a portion of the revenue for water quality

SSB 3094/HSB 634 - Creates an enhance Iowa program to increase investment in quality of life initiatives

SF 2127 - Outlines a process for debarment of contracts with state

HF 2310 - Requires carbon monoxide alarms in multi-residential dwellings

HSB 617 - Provides exemption from Iowa income tax when companies bring employees to state to work on disaster recovery efforts.

SF 410 - As amended, mandates coverage of abuse-deterrent opioids at same cost as generics

HF 2340 - Addresses nutrient load and water quality initiatives

HSB 638 - Changes underground storage tank funding

Dead:

SF 2121 - Establishes database at utilities board to track proprietary energy usage and make available to local governments, entities and individuals doing energy research

SF 2034 - Establishes a minimum solar energy purchasing standard

HF 2246 - Mandates paid sick and safe time for employees

HF 2150 - Allows rural opportunity zones to help encourage people to move to Iowa, specifically rural areas

HSB 576 - Provides adoption leave for employees

HSB 507, 508, 509, 510 - All relate to Iowa’s bottle deposit law

SSB 3098 - Provides for transparency in health insurance contracts

HF 2227 - Increases regulations for scrap metal dealers