More Bills Signed Into Law
May 9, 2019
Gov. Reynolds is continuing to review and sign legislation into law following the adjournment of the 2019 legislative session. The governor has already put her signature on numerous bills approved by the legislature, and this week she approved two bills that ABI had been following closely during the session. On Wednesday, Gov. Reynolds signed SF 563 and SF 638.
SF 563 increases transparency and reporting requirements when it comes to pharmacy benefit managers. An initial version of the legislation contained language that would have mandated health plans to pass along a majority of the rebate issued by pharmaceutical manufacturers to the covered person versus the employer or insurance carrier. This would have inhibited employers from being able to control costs and ultimately would have raised premiums. ABI opposed this provision, and it was not included in the final bill.
SF 638 is the Standings budget legislation, which includes language that makes changes to the state judicial nominating commission. It gives the governor another selection for the commission giving her a majority of nine picks, which are subject to Senate confirmation; removes the Supreme Court justice from the commission; and changes how the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is selected. ABI supported the changes in the bill.
The governor has now signed three of the eleven budget bills into law in their entirety, including Standings (SF 638), Health & Human Services (HF 766) and Transportation (SF 600). She hasn’t signed the Economic Development (SF 608) or Education (HF 758) budgets into law yet, but is expected to do so. Both bills contain ABI-supported appropriations for Future Ready Iowa. The governor also has the authority to line-item veto provisions in budget bills, which is something ABI will be monitoring closely over the next few weeks as more legislation is approved.