Before we proceed into the regular legislative update about what it is going on at the Capitol, we wanted to address some issues of particular interest to everyone in the library community. There have been a lot of bills introduced lately, a lot of news stories running, a lot of statements coming out of the Governor's office and from legislators, all of which touch libraries in some way.

We have a lot going on, and it's difficult to figure out the way forward at times. However, we are all going to do what we do best - We're going to hit these issues one by one, and we're going to do it with a polite and friendly smile on our faces. We are a team! Lean on each other, and we'll make it through this.

Remember that there are LOTS of legislators IN BOTH PARTIES IN BOTH CHAMBERS that are very supportive of their libraries. Lean into those legislators, call them, invite them out to your facility, and prop them up with your support! The more facts and figures they have, the better they will be armed to defend libraries.

Sexually Explicit Materials in Schools

This past Monday, February 6th, the House Oversight Committee held their first committee meeting of the year. The agenda consisted of allowing five moms to tell their stories about trying to navigate the book removal process in their schools. They gave explicit examples from about eight different books, including Gender Queer, All Boys Aren’t Blue, and Push, among others. The Committee’s Chair, Rep. Brooke Boden, indicated her interest in holding a committee meeting in the future to hear from administrators and others on the other side of this argument. 

We appreciate ILA President Sam Helmick and ILA Board member Jennie Garner for driving in to be present for the hearing. Apologies if other ILA members were also in attendance that we missed. The room was full, so unfortunately Sam and Jennie had to wait outside the room until the conclusion of the hearing. 

As we move forward on the issue of book removals, it’s important to recognize that the process is indeed very different from one school district to the next, and that both sides of this debate probably benefit from having a system in place that is predictable and easy to navigate. ILA will be working with legislators to assure them we understand some parents' desire to keep certain materials away from THEIR OWN kids, but also are committed to ensuring that parents that don't feel the same way have THEIR rights respected. Parents on both sides of this argument have valid arguments that need to be respected.

Governor Reynolds First Education Reform Bill

ILA Board member and IASL Immediate Past President Michelle Kruse came into the Capitol this past Tuesday to testify against Division II of the Governor's initial education reform bill (HSB 119) which includes a provision that would eliminate the teacher librarian master's requirement and allow anyone who has worked as a public librarian to be installed as a teacher librarian.

Michelle was joined by fellow ILA Board member Katie Dreyer. Both of them were able to touch base with a few legislators after the meeting to talk about some of the important issues facing Iowa's libraries and librarians.

Governor Reynolds New Education Reform Bill

Governor Reynolds introduced a bill (SSB 1145) this past Thursday that contains a number of education reforms. In particular, we are focused on a section of the bill that would direct the Dept. of Education to maintain a list of books that have been banned by individual school districts (Section 15) as well as a provision of the bill (Sect 16, part 4, page 9, lines 22-26) that requires written consent before a child in ANY district would be able to check out a book included on that list.

This is a dangerous precedent that could lead to the banning of hundreds of books. Since we have school district races in this State that are sometimes decided by a very low number of votes, such a provision would open the doors of the State to outside groups on both sides of the aisle that come into Iowa and flip school board seats with their only intent being to have that district get books on the Department’s ban list.

We Need YOU!

There are a number of other bills we are watching, so please check the ILA Bill Tracker often. A lot of them are coming in with the best of intentions, but without maybe an analysis of some of the unintended side effects. A great example is SF 221 (Link), which was introduced this week by 12 Republican Senators. The bill makes some changes to Iowa law governing pornography. We believe their INTENT was to help in the prosecution of human traffickers, however if you read the changes in the bill, we believe it would make OWNING a book like Gender Queer illegal in the State. 

This is the reason it is absolutely critical that ILA members are engaged and tracking what is happening at the Statehouse. If you have questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to your ILA Board members or ILA’s lobbyists. We are all in this together!

With that said, here's what else is going on

The first session of the 90th General Assembly has completed Week 5. Valentine’s Day this Tuesday will mark Session Day 37 out of the 110-day scheduled session, roughly a third of the way to the end, or at least the end of legislative per diems!

Bills are being introduced at a very high rate right now, partially bolstered by the 53 new legislators in the Capitol that want to see the priorities they discussed during the campaign in bill form. As of Friday, the Iowa Senate had introduced 419 bills and the Iowa House 433 bills. Remember that, unless they contain taxing or spending provisions, all of those bills need to be approved by the committee to which they were assigned by March 3rd in order to survive the First Funnel deadline.

Current Issue Focus

With school choice completed, the Legislature shifted focus the past two weeks to fixing a residential rollback (property tax) issue, school funding, tort reform, and government reorganization.

Legislation (SF 181) to fix the residential rollback calculation from an error that occurred at the Dept of Revenue last Fall emerged from House committee late Wednesday. The bill is now poised for House Debate as early as Monday, but more likely Tuesday. Efforts to have the bill amended to provide either an extra year before implementation or have the State commit to backfilling local governments for one year have come up short, however the bill does bump the local government budget deadline back to April 30th this year to provide some added flexibility.  According to the Iowa League of Cities, the Dept. of Management has emailed each city an explanation of the city budget process as it will be adapted when SF 181 becomes law.

Schools will see a 3 percent increase this year in Supplemental State Aid, thanks to legislation (SF 192) that was signed into law by the Governor this past Tuesday.  This is the largest percentage increase since a 4 percent bump in Fiscal Year (FY) 2015. Increases since that year have ranged from 1 percent to 2.5 percent every year, exceeding 2.06 percent every year since FY 20. This year’s 3 percent increases public school funding by $106.8 million and moves per-pupil funding to $7,635 (from $7,413). You can see how the current Fiscal Year 2023 General Fund state budget breaks down in the pie chart below.

Another key priority of the Governor’s, Medical Malpractice Tort Reform (HF 161), passed both chambers this past Wednesday. The bill would limit the amount of non-economic damages for medical malpractice claims to $2 million for causes of action involving a hospital and $1 million for all other causes of action. 

Last year, the House was unable to muster the 51 votes required to pass similar legislation. This year’s bill passed the chamber, 54-46, with 11 Republicans voting against the bill and one Democrat voting in favor. The Senate vote was 29-20, with 5 Republicans voting with all Democrats against the bill. The Governor is expected to sign the bill into law this week, most likely on Thursday at a bill signing event. 

Another aspect of Tort Reform the Legislature has sought to see implemented this year is to provide liability protection for trucking companies, another initiative that failed to garner 51 votes in the Iowa House last year. This year’s bill, HF201/SF228, would place a $1 million cap on noneconomic damages against a trucking company in civil cases involving personal injury or death. Both bills have passed committee in their respective chamber and can be debated at any time.

Government Reorganization is a key piece of Governor Reynold’s legislative agenda for this session. According to her office, this initiative is a culmination of input and research that has been done looking at other states and trying to find efficiencies that would better fit Iowa. The result is a 1569-page bill, SSB 1123 (Link), that aims to accomplish that goal. The House has a similar bill, HSB 126 (Link), that is one page shorter because it does not include the Senate’s Division on Confirmation of Appointments. 

The two bills hit on all parts of state government and are being handled in each chamber with multiple subcommittees focused on different sections of the bill. Amy Campbell reviewed the Senate bill and prepared a summary that you can review HERE. Additionally, the Governor’s Office has two handouts about the reorganization effort that you can view HERE and HERE.

With respect to libraries, in Amy's summary (linked HERE again), on the top of page 3, you will see that the reorganization bill proposes moving the State Library, the State Librarian and his team, and the Commission all over the Department of Administrative Services (from the Department of Education).

We became aware of this a while ago and have been working with the State Library as they prepare for this transition. The only part that gives us some concern is that the State Librarian position will be hired and fired by the Director of the Dept of Administrative Services rather than the Commission on Libraries. However, similar changes are being proposed in the Reorganization bill to a number of positions, so it's difficult to argue that this one position should remain as it is.

Don’t take away our Zoom!

Don’t worry, your Zoom access to watching Senate subcommittees isn’t going anywhere. Yet. However, the Senate has been having problems with individuals hacking into the system and displaying pornographic videos while they are trying to gather input from interested parties during subcommittee meetings on bills. This past week, a State employee had to stand in front of a screen momentarily while they tried to cut the feed. 

The Senate is working with law enforcement to try to track down those responsible. Since the Senate pages that run the system are all minors, the perpetrator will likely face a harsh punishment should they be caught. If the interruptions can’t be stopped, the Senate and the House are likely going to be forced to re-evaluate the risks of putting these meetings online for the public. 

Tax Reform Out For Discussion Early

Typically, the Legislature holds off on discussing tax reform until the latter part of the session, after the funnel deadlines have wrapped up much of the policy discussion for the year. This year, the Legislature will likely have the rollback recalculation bill (SF 181 - discussed above) signed into law by the end of this week, and they are introducing some major tax reform bills that are garnering a lot of attention. Previously, we have discussed the House’s first tax bill, HF1, and below we break down two the Senate’s big tax bills that are beginning to be discussed.

SSB 1124 (Link) is a property tax limitation bill that would make a number of changes to the property tax system in Iowa including the following:



• Create a new Combined General Fund Levy (CGFL) that would replace a number of other city and county property tax levies. The process for determining the CGFL would be connected to assessment growth, and a growth limitation would be applied in subsequent years. The Iowa League of Cities has created a webpage to help cities try to determine their specific calculations; you can view that page HERE. 
• Would automatically reduce the new levy rates if taxable values exceed 102.5% of the previous year, but would allow rates to be increased by the city or county up to 103.25% of the previous year’s amount.
• Reduces population-based thresholds for bonding by 30 percent and makes other bonding changes.
• Adds new reporting requirements for Annual Financial Reports, including a list of bonds, notes, and obligations issued as well as project or purpose of the issuance and whether approved by election of subject to petition for election.

There is a subcommittee meeting for SSB 1124 scheduled for this Tuesday at 3:45pm in G15 of the Capitol basement. You are welcome to log into Zoom and join by going HERE.

SSB 1125 (Link) is a far-reaching tax bill that makes changes to the state sales tax, the local option sales tax (LOST), tax increment financing, and a number of other credits and exemptions. The bill includes the following provisions:

• Increases the state sales tax from 6% to 7%, and simultaneously eliminates the LOST. The goal is to keep most taxpayers at the same rate; the only people seeing a tax increase would be those living in one of the few areas of the State that don’t have the LOST. The bill intends to distribute these new funds back to local cities and counties in the same amount and to be used in the same manner as that local government indicated when it was approved by their local taxpayers.
• Triggers state funds in the amount of 3/8 of one cent to start flowing into the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund. The bill also adds two new provisions to the allocation formula for the Trust Fund – an allocation for construction, maintenance, and expansion of roads under the jurisdiction of the Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR), and an allocation to go toward the salaries and employee benefits paid to conservation officers, park rangers or park managers within the DNR.
• Deposits revenues from the water service tax into the general fund. Right now, half of those funds go toward water quality, but would be more than replaced by the funds flowing into the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund for these purposes.
• Phases out the homestead property tax credit and replaces it with a homestead property tax exemption that would be phased in and then set at $10,000 beginning in 2027. The cost would cease to be covered by the State. A similar transition would take place for the Veterans Property Tax Credit.
• Prevents the inclusion of the $5.40 school foundation levy in TIF projects for wind turbines.
• Rollback - Reduces the amount of taxable value on pipeline property from 100% to 90%, and also phases in a reduction on the amount of taxable value for commercial, industrial and railway property from 90% down to 80%.
• Prohibits use of the Charitable Conservation Contribution Tax Credit for property conveyed on or after January 1, 2025.
• Increases the elderly property tax credit to 300% of the federal poverty level.
• Increases the military service property tax exemption to $4,000 by 2025.
• Prohibits residential property from receiving urban revitalization tax exemptions after July 1, 2024, and prohibits commercial property from doing so unless the owner and the local government enter into a written agreement specifying the minimum value until the termination date under the agreement.
• Allows the City of Des Moines to increase their franchise fee up to 7.5% (from 5%) if those revenues are used to reduce the City’s public transit property tax levy.