Comment on Here is what’s alive and dead in the Iowa Legislature

Here is a status report on some bills being considered by Iowa lawmakersAlive• Boost next fiscal year’s state K-12 education funding by $36.5 million (SF269*)• Require K-12 schools offer in-person classroom instruction option (SF160*)• Revamp early-voting/absentee-balloting election laws (SF413*)• Appropriate $21 million in state supplement to finance Workday contract (SF284*)• Exempt business PPP loans/federal jobless benefits from state taxation (SF364)• Accelerate income tax triggers/phase out inheritance tax (SF576)• Revamp mental health financing/cut property taxes (SF587)• Enact permit-less constitutional carry gun laws (HF756)• Ban hand-held electronic devices while driving (SF330/HF392)• Amend Iowa Constitution to clarify no right to abortion (SJR2)• Amend Iowa Constitution with gun rights protection (SJR7)• Halt high-tech state incentives due to social-media censorship (SF580/HF633)• Add new method for creating charter schools (HF813)• Enact “back the blue” police protections/enhanced crime penalties (SF534)• Supplement K-12 schools for COVID-19 costs (SF532)• Governor’s ethanol expansion proposal (SF481/HSB185)• Governor’s plan to expand broadband grant program (SF390/HF848)• Governor’s plan to expand affordable housing options (SSB1142/HF178)\• Bar interference with transportation of agricultural animal (HF655/SF421)• Require amusement ride attendants be at least age 16 (SF114/HF558) • Create crime for assisted reproduction fraud (SF529)• Cap medical malpractice/trucking mishap awards at $1 million (SF537/HF772)• Crack down on businesses selling glass/metal pipes used to smoke meth (SF363)• Allow parental request for child to retake grade due to COVID-19 progress concerns (SF90)• Provide legal immunity for firearms makers/dealers (HF621)• Make multiple traffic changes/shield police liability in vehicle pursuits (SF333)• Allow licensed cosmetologists/barbers to work at wedding venues (HF760)• Toughen criminal penalties for drivers causing death/injury due to excessive speed (HF753)• Create crime for failing to assist someone in imminent danger of death (SF243) • Designate county flood mitigation as an essential purpose (HF523)• Criminalize sexual exploitation of a minor by adult providing training/instruction (SF562)• Create crime for defrauding employment drug/alcohol test using synthetic urine (SF329/HSB22)• Change number of children allowed at day care centers (HF260)• Bar cities/counties from regulating sale of natural gas/propane (HF555)• Establish lifetime trout fishing license for seniors (HF234)• Allocate state money to K-12 schools to offset cost of COVID-19 in-person learning (HF439)• Clarify deceptive/unfair rental car practices (HF730)• Phase out state tax gambling casinos pay on marketing promotions (SF169)• Establish liability Immunity for agricultural tourism (SF356)• Expand child care opportunities for Iowa families (HF301/HF302)• Allow grocery stores to opt out of bottle-deposit law (SF470)• Bar businesses from requiring employee microchip implants (HF259)• Eliminate diversity plans affecting open enrollment in five school districts (HF282)• Allow 5-year-olds to participate in voluntary preschool for a two-year period (HF318)• Regulate low-speed electric bikes (HF493)• Remove preference for Iowa coal (SF468)• Set Iowa residency requirements at UI medical/dental schools (HF468)• Allow expungement of some non-violent Class D felony convictions (HF831)• Create “unauthorized sampling” criminal offense for trespassers (HF775)• Allow home-schooling parents to teach driver’s education (SF546)• Expand Teach Iowa scholars program (SF547)• Change regulations for highway billboards (SF548)• Enhance penalties for drivers who leave accident scene (HF524)• Enhance penalty for caretakers involved in dependent adult death (SF450)• Exempt legislative pages from some educational requirements (SF517)• Ban sexist/racist stereotyping in diversity training (HF802)• Require regents’ universities to protect First Amendment rights (HF744)• Ban city ordinances preventing landlords from rejecting federal housing vouchers (SF252)• Allow counties to collect driver’s license fees (HF419)• Modify lighting devices on snow plows (HF654)• Create public safety equipment fund (HF708/SF489)• Create civil remedy when sexually explicit images disclosed without consent (SF324/HSB31)• Grant liability immunity for veterinarians aiding authorities in a civil/criminal case (HF746/SF340)• Beef up criminal/civil enforcement of massage therapy activities (SF388/HF452)• Implements process for collection/tracking of sexual abuse evidence collection kits (HF426/SF451)• Create Department of Public Safety cold case investigation unit (HF312/SF561)• Create sexual assault forensic examiner program (HF603/SF570)• Bar harassment by filing false police report (HF821)• Add crimes of assault/financial exploitation of older Iowans (SF522)Dead• Provide state-funded “students first” scholarships to private-school families (SF159)• Allow student-athletes to profit from use of name/image/likeness (SF245)• Prohibit/remove most automated traffic enforcement cameras (SF516)• Bar employers from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations (SF555)• Establish daylight saving time as the eventual official time in Iowa (SF335) • End faculty tenure at regent universities (HF490/SF41)• Legalize e-sports wagering (HSB200)• Reduce penalty for first offense marijuana possession conviction (SF533)• Restore voting rights for eligible felons (HF818)• Post information on medication abortions at medical facilities (HF383)• Eliminate statute of limitation on criminal actions involving sexual abuse of minors (SF572)• Cut off state funds for cities/counties that “defund” police (SF479)• Create offense for slower drivers who “camp” in divided highway left lane (HF494)• Allow smoking at Iowa Veterans Home under certain circumstances (SF257)• Instruct Department of Transportation to install adult changing stations in highway rest stops (HF492)• Create Department of Human Services asset/identity verification system for public assistance (SF389)• Bar employers from noncompete agreements with low-wage employees (SF496)• Place four-year limit on term of Iowa Veterans Home commandant (SSB1097)• Bar loaded firearm when operating electric scooter (HF738)• Amend Iowa Constitution guaranteeing right to hunt/fish/enjoy resources (HJR8)• Change front license plate requirement for some vehicles (SF419)• Expand protections for mobile-home owners (SF469)• Establish new remote worker grant fund/program (SF491)• Require in-person regent university graduation ceremonies (HSB246)• Amend state constitution to clarify lieutenant governor line of succession (SJR2003)• Bar employers from knowingly hiring “unauthorized aliens” (SF339)• Pare back state board appointees/commissioners subject to Senate confirmation (SF423) • Halt privileges to hunt/fish/camp for up to a year for Iowa convicted of littering (SF465)• Amend state constitution to restore felon voting rights (HJR11)• Make over-the-counter birth control available at pharmacies for adult women (HSB121)• Allow override of presidential executive orders (HF815)• Block strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP) libel actions (HF456)• Give utilities authority to trim trees interfering with power lines (HF460)• Require regent universities to hire a public policy events director (HF153)• Require mental health insurance parity for telehealth services (HF294)• Allow landlords to pay delinquent water bills with security deposit (HF749)• Change law on confidential law enforcement reports (SF513) • Allow more frequent veterans card game tournaments (SF510)• Require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers (SF485)• Change window tint standards/procedures for motor vehicles (SF332)* Bill signed into law by governor