February 14, 2025

You Need to Know

• Public education funding: House and Senate lawmakers are at odds over a funding increase for Iowa's K-12 schools, with the Senate passing a 2% raise Tuesday and the House countering with a 2.25% boost on Thursday.

• Mike Zimmer was sworn into the Senate, replacing Chris Cournoyer who now serves as Lt. Governor.

League Priority Bills

SSB1118 | Liability & Responsibility of Adjacent Property Owners for Sidewalk Maintenance

• Senate version of HF192, which advanced out of subcommittee on Feb. 11.
  

  • Senate version removes liability for injuries from the city while also precluding the city from assessing fines against the property owner

  • Cities are still able to address the safety issue and recoup the material and labor cost directly related to repair, replacement, or removal of hazard

HSB154 & SSB1116 | Alignment of Local Government Notice Requirements

• Standardizes public hearing notices and actions to a range of 4-20 days

  • House Subcommittee meeting scheduled for Feb. 19 at 12 p.m.

How to Read Legislative Link

• Includes all bills that have been identified by the Government Affairs team as potentially affecting cities. Bills are organized as follows:

• Bills with Upcoming Subcommittee Meetings

  • These bills will be heard in subcommittee next week. Please review for any impacts to your community for us to know as we attend and testify at these meetings. If you would like to testify yourself, we are happy to assist you.

• Newly Introduced Bills of Interest

  • We expect these bills to have a direct influence on local government, but may not affect all communities the same. Let us know of impacts to your city!

• Bills of Interest

  • These bills have not been debated the past week at the statehouse, but the Government Affairs team continues to monitor them.

• “FYI” Bills

  • These bills may have indirect effects on your community, but are not the primary focus of the League at this time. We want you to be able to elevate issues in this category to us in case they need to be monitored more closely.
    

Legislation That Advanced This Week

SF42 | EMS Funding Enhancement Act

• Passed full committee

• Companion to HF307

League Registered in Support

HF38 | Entertainment Area Establishment Act

• Passed full committee
  

League Registered in Support

SSB1010 | Civil Service Reform Act

• Passed committee with amendment
  

• Renumbered as SF311
  

• Companion to HSB82
  

SSB1104 | Regulation of Consumer Fireworks

• Passed full committee
  

• Renumbered as SF303
  

League Registered Opposed

HF157 | Special Election Procedures for Cities

• Passed Local Government Subcommittee
  

League Registered in Support

HF192 | Sidewalk Liability for Adjacent Property Owners

• Passed Judiciary Subcommittee

League Registered in Support

Legislation With Scheduled Subcommittees

HSB104 | Iowa Next Gen. 911 System Transition

• Reduces the allocation of funds to joint 911 service boards from 60% to 46% until the completion of phase 1 and phase 2 of the next generation 911 transition (a 14% cut of what gets allocated to local systems).

• House Subcommittee scheduled for 2/20 at 8:15 a.m.
  

HSB162 | Regulation of Accessory Dwelling Units

• Requires cities to adopt ordinances allowing for ADUs. 

• House Subcommittee meeting scheduled for 2/18 at 12 p.m.

New Legislation Of Interest

SSB1108 | Prohibition of Landscaping Design Regulations

• Prohibits aesthetic landscape design in commercially zoned areas.

HSB162 | Regulation of Accessory Dwelling Units

• Requires public employers to include cancer screening benefits for eligible first responders & expands the definition of cancer to encompass a broader range of cancer types.
  

HF230 & SF279 | Sports or Exposition Venues Immunity from Nuisance Actions

• Establishes that Sports of Exposition Venues cannot have nuisance actions filed against them after one year in operation.

SSB1115 | City Utility Approval Procedures

• Removes public hearing requirements and voter approval requirements for utility franchises, placing more control with city councils.

SSB1114 | Prohibits Cities from Imposing Licensing Fees on Specific Professionals

• Limits permit fees to a maximum of $500.

SSB 1117 | Imposes Limitation to the Annual Increase in Sewer Service Rates

• Rates capped at the lower of 2% above or the percentage increase of the CPI from the previous year.

SF271 | Modifies Existing Law Regarding Voting Membership on Joint 911 Service Boards

HF416 | Increases Financial Penalties for Governmental Bodies Who Violate Open Meetings Laws

HF294 | Library Tax Certification for Cities

• Allows cities to impose a public library tax upon voter approval for ten years.

• City Council can discontinue the tax by a majority vote.
  

Legislation For Your Information

HSB158 | Regulation of Minors at Drag Shows

• Prohibits business or public entities from allowing minors to attend drag shows or a performance that “exhibits a gender identity that is different than the performer’s gender assigned at birth”.

  • Violators fined at $10,000 fine per minor.

• Prohibits public entities from using state funds to host drag shows.

• House Subcommittee meeting scheduled for Feb. 18 at 12:30 p.m.

You can view all editions of Legislative Link at iowaleague.org/resource/legislative-link.

Like our membership, the Iowa League of Cities is a non-partisan, service-oriented organization that does not participate in elections, make campaign contributions, or have a political action committee (PAC).