Governor signs 30 bills this week

April 13, 2017

Gov. Terry Branstad continues to review and sign legislation. Gov. Branstad has seven days to act on legislation once it is sent to him unless the legislation is a budget bill, which he has 30 days to review. This week, Gov. Branstad signed several more pieces of legislation that will encourage growth in the private sector and increase competition among government construction projects.

Learn more about bills that could impact business:
Senate File 438: Prohibits project labor agreements on public construction projects. The bill will increase competition on public projects and provide for cost savings for Iowa taxpayers. This bill passed the Iowa Senate on March 9, 26-21, and the Iowa House on April 4, 57-41.

Senate File 413: Limits the statute-of-repose periods for improvements to real property and including applicability provisions. This bill passed the Iowa Senate on March 8, 32-16, and the Iowa House on March 21, 57-39.

House File 529: Increases penalties for violations of the state occupational safety and health law. This bill conforms Iowa Code with federal law and includes an automatic index. This bill passed the Iowa House on March 13, 95-0, and the Iowa Senate on April 3, 49-0.   

House File 576: Relates to background investigations of individuals employed through temporary staffing agencies with certain health care providers. This bill passed the Iowa House on March 21, 97-0, and the Iowa Senate on April 6, 49-0.

House File 572: Conforms Iowa’s Workforce Development Board with the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The legislation’s passage is critical to ensure Iowa does not lose out on more than $40 million of federal dollars. The bill also allows more flexibility to use the REED Act monies appropriated last year for Iowa Workforce Development to upgrade their unemployment computer systems. The bill passed the Iowa House on March 21, 88-9 and the Iowa Senate on April 3, 49-0.

House File 542: Increases the eligibility requirements for individuals claiming unemployment insurance benefit in consecutive years from $250 to eight times the weekly wage. This bill passed the Iowa House on March 20, 58-39, and the Iowa Senate on April 4, 29-21.

House File 533: Corrects a 2016 Iowa Supreme Court decision and codifies how the unemployment system at Iowa Workforce Development has worked for the last 40 years. The court decision had determined a claimant who was disqualified from misconduct from supplemental/concurrent employment may still draw wage credits from other base employers. The bill passed the Iowa House on March 20, 97-0, and the Iowa Senate on April 4, 42-8.