Bills Associated with infoNET
Bill Number: | HF626 |
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Title: | Non-Medical Switching-Prescription Drugs |
Description: | Ensures that health insurance providers do not obstruct individuals from accessing necessary prescription medications, particularly when they are stable on a specific treatment recommended by their healthcare provider. It prohibits actions by insurers that may restrict coverage or escalate costs for these individuals, while permitting substitutions or adjustments to covered medications under specific circumstances. Additionally, it outlines regulations and mechanisms for enforcement. It affirms the authority of healthcare providers to prescribe alternative medications when deemed medically necessary and allows insurers to modify their lists of covered medications accordingly. These regulations apply to health plans in the state commencing or continuing after January 1, 2024. |
Status: | Senate Unfinished Business Calendar |
Category: | Insurance |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HF2232 |
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Title: | Interpreter/Transliterator Employers |
Description: | Proposes that employers who provide interpreting or transliterating services to their employees can obtain a license from the board of sign language interpreters and transliterators. Additionally, employees of licensed employers can offer these services without needing their own individual license, as long as they meet the necessary licensure requirements. The bill mandates the board to establish rules governing the licensure process, including application, approval, suspension, reinstatement, renewal, and revocation of licenses issued to employers. |
Status: | Senate Unfinished Business Calendar |
Category: | Accessibility |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HF2364 |
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Title: | State Park Accessibility |
Description: | Requires the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to create recommendations to make state parks more accessible for people with disabilities and advertise those changes on their website. |
Status: | Senate Unfinished Business Calendar |
Category: | Accessibility |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HF2390 |
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Title: | DIAL Duties |
Description: | Broadens the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing's (DIAL) ability to report regulatory offenses alongside criminal offenses, allows sharing of dependent adult abuse findings with relevant authorities, and removes a notification requirement before completing abuse investigations. Ensures consistency in definitions across relevant legal codes. Changes language throughout, replacing "alleged dependent adult abuser" with "alleged perpetrator of dependent adult abuse". |
Status: | Sent to Governor |
Category: | Other |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HF2397 |
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Title: | Mental Health Transportation |
Description: | Allows ambulance service programs to transport individuals in the midst of a mental health crisis to designated mental health access centers. The bill also directs the Department of Health and Human Services to assist in payments to these service programs for transporting individuals to mental health access centers, matching the payment amounts allowed for transporting individuals to hospital emergency departments. |
Status: | Senate Unfinished Business Calendar |
Category: | Behavioral/Mental Health |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HF2404 |
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Title: | HHS Matters |
Description: | Division 1 - Establishes penalties for unauthorized disclosure of adoption information, excepting department staff who share the information internally in order to provide services for the child. |
Status: | Senate Floor, Second Time |
Amendments: | Senate Amendment (H-8230): Allows HHS to establish health care coordination and intervention teams reimbursed by Medicaid to conduct individual case reviews to determine whether additional health services or interventions may be appropriate for an individual's care needs. The team would review cases involving individuals with complex conditions who are in need of urgent placement and services, but could also include others. These reviews could be initiated by HHS or a provider (which includes health care providers, mental health professionals, and substance use professionals). Effective upon enactment. |
Category: | Government |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HF2466 |
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Title: | Secretary of State's Election Clean-Up |
Description: | Changes the deadline for voter registration forms to the next business day after Thanksgiving or when election offices are open. The bill requires thorough training for all election staff before each election, not just for primary and general elections as before. The state election commissioner sets rules for this training, and county commissioners must confirm their offices met requirements within 20 days after each election. The bill also introduces rules for recounts, requiring detailed reports signed by most board members and allowing for corrections. It updates rules on absentee ballots, precinct-specific ballot styles, and the meeting date for presidential electors. Finally, it makes technical adjustments for candidate withdrawals in school district elections to ensure consistency and accuracy. |
Status: | Senate Unfinished Business Calendar |
Category: | Voting & Elections |
Recent Action: | |
Companion Bills: | SF2376 |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HF2488 |
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Title: | Prior Authorizations |
Description: | Requires a utilization review organization to respond to a request for a prior authorization within 48 hours for urgent requests and 10 days for non-urgent requests, with some exceptions. Utilization review organizations work with healthcare providers and insurance companies to evaluate the medical necessity, appropriateness, and efficiency of healthcare services provided to patients. Requires utilization review organizations to annually review all healthcare services requiring authorization and eliminate unnecessary requirements for routinely approved services. Complaints regarding organizational compliance can be directed to the insurance division, though they won't be considered public records. |
Status: | House Floor, Second Time |
Amendments: | Senate Committee Amendment: Added in the Patient's Right to Save Act, which did not make the funnel deadline on the House side (SF 2381). |
Category: | Health Care |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HF2550 |
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Title: | Reorganization 2.0 |
Description: | Makes the following changes to organization, structure, and functions of state and local governments and adjusts code to to reflect these changes. Division 1 -- Department of Natural Resources (DNR) -- grants the director of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the authority to designate specific children from the state training school to carry out tasks for the DNR within state parks, game and forest areas, and other DNR-controlled lands. Eliminates the requirement for DNR to offer permanent housing to these children. |
Status: | Assigned to Committee |
Committee: | House Ways & Means Committee |
Amendments: | Senate bill is on Senate Calendar |
Category: | Government |
Recent Action: | |
Companion Bills: | SF2377 |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HF2574 |
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Title: | State Boards/Commissions |
Description: | Makes numerous changes to state boards, commissions, committees, councils, and other state government entities. |
Status: | House Unfinished Business Calendar |
Category: | Government |
Recent Action: | |
Companion Bills: | SF2385 |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HF2589 |
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Title: | Work Without Worry |
Description: | The Work Without Worry bill aims to ensure that employed individuals with disabilities can access Medicaid benefits regardless of their wages, removing barriers to employment. It proposes raising the income limit to 450% of the Federal Poverty Level and eliminating asset limits, allowing individuals to save money without losing Medicaid coverage. The bill eliminates the "marriage penalty" by only counting the earnings of the person with a disability. The Right to Repair bill was added into this bill. It eliminates the requirement a person get a prescription before seeking prior authorization for a complex rehabilitation technology repair. |
Status: | Assigned to Committee |
Committee: | House Appropriations Committee |
Category: | Medicaid |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Support |
Bill Number: | HF2610 |
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Title: | Election Law Changes |
Description: | Division 1 -- Address Confidentiality Program -- Allows the Secretary of State to use the Address Confidentiality program to send mail to a person at a shelter. The Secretary of State can cancel registration in the Address Confidentiality Program if they receive credible information that the registrant has died. Allows registrant mail to be held for up to 30 days. |
Status: | Senate Unfinished Business Calendar |
Category: | Voting & Elections |
Recent Action: | |
Companion Bills: | SF2380 |
Client's Position: | Opposed |
Bill Number: | HF2612 |
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Title: | AEA/Special Education Reform (House Version) |
Description: | Charges Iowa Department of Education (DE) to oversee AEA operations, beginning July 1, 2025. Creates a Division of Special Eduation in DE (13 employees plus 5 employees located in each AEA). Makes local AEA Boards advisory. Permits AEAs to provide evidence-based professional development services within their AEA boundary. Requires AEA administrators be licensed teachers with either a special education endorsement or special education suppor t authorization. Caps AEA administrator salaries at average salary of school administrators within the AEA boundaries. Requires AEA to establish collaborative relationships with other community agencies. Sets up an AEA Task Force to make further recommendations. Makes changes to AEA funding beginning 7/1/2025 (100% special education goes to schools and schools must use their designated AEA; media services fully fee-for-service (all goes to schools); 100% professional development goes to schools for first year then becomes fully fee for service on 7/1/2026). Bill summary at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fjBdDTtw4UMc7731FX-lPYBRKy_NnBRtiUquU8_f1jk/edit. Signed by governor March 27, 2024. |
Status: | Signed |
Category: | Education |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HF2631 |
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Title: | Therapeutic Classroom Incentive Fund |
Description: | Reallocates any unspent funds from the Department of Education's allocation, originally designated for reimbursing school districts' transportation costs linked to therapeutic classroom services. Instead of returning these unspent funds, the bill authorizes them to be deposited into the Therapeutic Classroom Incentive Fund. The Department of Education then determines how to allocate these remaining funds, utilizing them to provide grants to school districts under the Therapeutic Classroom Incentive Grant Program. This program aims to enhance or expand therapeutic classroom services for students with emotional, behavioral, or developmental needs. |
Status: | Senate Floor with Companion |
Category: | Education |
Recent Action: | |
Companion Bills: | SF2189 |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HF2634 |
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Title: | Housing Trust Fund |
Description: | Removes the current $7 million annual cap on the amount of Real Estate Transfer Tax funds that can be transferred to the Housing Trust Fund. |
Status: | Assigned to Committee |
Committee: | Senate Ways & Means Committee |
Category: | Housing |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HF2655 |
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Title: | Property Tax Assessments |
Description: | Changes property tax assessment limitations for commercial child care facilities. Takes effect upon enactment and applies retroactively to January 1, 2024. This bill is identical to the Governor's tax bill (SSB3038), Division VI, the Childcare Facility Property Tax Assessment Limitations. |
Status: | Assigned to Committee |
Committee: | Senate Ways & Means Committee |
Category: | Taxes |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HF2667 |
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Title: | Iowa ABLE Savings |
Description: | The bill increases the maximum yearly deduction for contributions to a beneficiary's 529 or IAble account to $5,500 and exempts direct transfers to Roth individual retirement accounts from state income tax. It also sets rules for dealing with abandoned virtual currency and lets the treasurer decline some types while selling abandoned ones. |
Status: | Assigned to Committee |
Committee: | Senate Ways & Means Committee |
Amendments: | SF2236 in Senate Ways & Means Committee |
Category: | Other |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HR106 |
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Title: | Marfan Syndrome Awareness |
Description: | Designates February 2024 as Marfan Syndrome Awareness Month in Iowa. Marfan syndrome is a genetic disorder affecting connective tissue, crucial for the body's structure. It impacts around 1 in 5,000 people, regardless of race or ethnicity, often inherited from parents. Early recognition of symptoms, like elongated limbs and heart issues, is vital. While there's no cure, treatments exist, including medication and surgery. Organizations like the Michael Henter Foundation raise awareness. The resolution emphasizes the need for public awareness to enable early diagnosis and eventual cure discovery. It requests sending a copy to relevant foundations to support their efforts. |
Status: | House Floor |
Category: | Other |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HSB741 |
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Title: | Easy Enrollment Health Care |
Description: | Establishes an easy enrollment health care coverage program that utilizes the state income tax form. |
Status: | Assigned to Committee |
Committee: | House Ways & Means Committee |
Category: | Health Care |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HSB743 |
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Title: | Prior Authorization Reimbursement |
Description: | Requires Medicaid MCOs to pay providers 100 percent of items or services for which prior authorization was obtained. |
Status: | Assigned to Committee |
Committee: | House Ways & Means Committee |
Category: | Medicaid |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | HSB744 |
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Title: | Complex Rehab Technology Reimbursement |
Description: | Prohibits Medicaid from requiring a prescription or a face-to-face visit for reimbursement of complex rehabilitation technology repairs if previously prescribed or reimbursed. |
Status: | Assigned to Committee |
Committee: | House Ways & Means Committee |
Category: | Medicaid |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Support |
Bill Number: | SF295 |
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Title: | Guardianships/Conservatorships |
Description: | Makes changes to requirements for adult and minor guardianships and conservatorships. Gives juvenile court exclusive jurisdiction in guardianship proceedings of a minor. Makes provisions for court visitors, recording of hearings, temporary guardianships, background checks, and reporting for guardians and conservators. |
Status: | Sent to Governor |
Category: | Other |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | SF2057 |
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Title: | Elderly/Disabled Property Tax Credit |
Description: | Proposes an increase in the maximum allowable property taxes considered for calculating the elderly and disabled property tax credit or rent reimbursement. The adjustment raises the limit from $1,000 to $2,000. This change applies to claimants who are under 70 years of age and have household incomes below 250 percent of the federal poverty level. These revisions will take effect on January 1, 2025, for claims filed on or after that date under the relevant section of the tax code. |
Status: | Assigned to Committee |
Committee: | Senate Ways & Means Committee |
Category: | Taxes |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | SF2096 |
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Title: | Gender Balance Requirements |
Description: | Repeals gender balance requirements for appointed local and state government boards, councils, commissions. |
Status: | Sent to Governor |
Category: | Government |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Undecided |
Bill Number: | SF2159 |
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Title: | Biomarker Testing Coverage |
Description: | Requires health insurance, including private and Medicaid, to cover biomarker testing when it is supported by medical and scientific evidence. Biomarker testing involves analyzing an individual's tissue, blood, or other biospecimen for specific identifiers that can indicate health conditions or disease risk. |
Status: | Senate & House Floors |
Category: | Insurance |
Recent Action: | |
Companion Bills: | HF2668 |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | SF2163 |
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Title: | Medical Income Assistance Trust Fees |
Description: | This bill increases the monthly limit on trust expenses for beneficiaries from $10 to $50 without requiring court approval, aiming to better compensate the individuals managing the trust. |
Status: | Senate Unfinished Business Calendar |
Amendments: | HF 2135 not placed on unfinished business calendar, so may be dead. |
Category: | Guardianships |
Recent Action: | |
Companion Bills: | HF2135 |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | SF2268 |
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Title: | Assistance/Service Animals |
Description: | The bill changes how landlords manage assistance and service animals for individuals with disabilities. Instead of immediately exempting pet rules and charges, landlords now evaluate requests for these animals as reasonable accommodations and must respond promptly. The bill also lists when landlords can deny requests, such as financial burden or safety concerns. |
Status: | Senate Floor, Second Time |
Amendments: | House Amendment (S-5087): Rewrites the bill by carving out service animals in some areas where there was a conflict with federal law. |
Category: | Other |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | SF2354 |
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Title: | Behavioral Health Service System |
Description: | Transitions mental health and disabilities services system to a behavioral health service system, and transfers disability services to the HHS' division of aging and disability services. Transition to become effective July 1, 2025. |
Status: | Senate Floor |
Amendments: | HF 2509 on House Calendar |
Category: | Behavioral/Mental Health |
Recent Action: | |
Companion Bills: | HF2673 |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | SF2398 |
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Title: | Governor's Tax Bill |
Description: | Division 1 – Combines the Economic Emergency Fund (EEF) and the Cash Reserve Fund (CRF), and then eliminates the EEF. Raises the cap on the CRF from 7.5% to 12.5% of adjusted revenue estimates. Allows expenditures that would have been authorized under the EEF to be acceptable under the CRF. Division 2 – Replaces current Iowa law that implements a flat 3.9% income tax rate by 2026 with a 3.65% income tax rate in 2024 (applicable retroactively to 1/1/2024). Moves the flat income tax rate down to 3.5% in 2025 and subsequent years. Division 3 – Requires withholding to be adjusted within 60 days and provides penalties for over-withholding. Effective upon enactment. Division 4 – Raises on 1/1/2025 the threshold from $200 to $1000 the amount of estimated tax liability a taxpayer can have before they need to make estimated payments. Division 5 – Ensures that lump sum distributions from retirement accounts are exempt from income taxes. The previously passed law exempted retirement income, but did not specifically exempt qualified lump sum distributions. Retroactive to 1/1/2024. Division 6 – Alters the property tax calculation on child care facilities to allow them to be taxed at the same rate as residential property. Current law taxes commercial properties this way only on the first $150,000 of value and then taxes value above $150,000 at 90% of assessed value. Retroactive to 1/1/2024. Division 7 – Makes modifications to the unemployment trust fund and allocations into that fund. Reduces by half the statewide average weekly wage contribution flowing into the fund and makes a number of other changes to the system. |
Status: | Senate Floor |
Category: | Taxes |
Recent Action: | |
Companion Bills: | HSB543 |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | SJR2003 |
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Title: | Income Tax Constitutional Amendments |
Description: | Proposes an ammendment to Iowa's Constitution to regulate tax bills and set one flat rate for individual income taxes. The ammendment would require that any bill raising income tax rates or adding new income-based taxes be approved by at least two-thirds of both the Iowa House of Representatives and the Iowa Senate. Additionally, it forbids Iowa from having different income tax rates for different income levels. If passed, the ammendment would need to be voted on again by the next general assembly before being approved by the public. |
Status: | Senate Floor with Companion |
Category: | Constitutional Amendments |
Recent Action: | |
Companion Bills: | HJR2006 |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | SR102 |
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Title: | Brain Health |
Description: | Aims to address the stigma surrounding mental health by introducing the term "brain health" as a synonym. It emphasizes that the brain is susceptible to diseases and disorders, and maintaining its health is crucial for overall well-being. By promoting awareness and education, the bill seeks to encourage Iowans to take preventive measures and seek early treatment for brain health issues. The Senate resolves to recognize "brain health" as encompassing all aspects of the brain that affect mood and behavior, and encourages its use alongside existing terms like mental health and mental illness to promote a stigma-free environment for accessing brain health services. |
Status: | Adopted |
Category: | Behavioral/Mental Health |
Recent Action: | |
Companion Bills: | HR102 |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | SSB3141 |
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Title: | Income Tax Rate |
Description: | This bill replaces the income tax rate in the Iowa Code (set to hit 3.9% in 2026) with a rate of 3.775% in 2026 and 3.65% in 2027. The bill also sets up a long-term plan to eventually eliminate Iowa’s income tax. The bill would invest roughly $2.6 Billion of the Taxpayer Relief Fund (current balance of more than $3 Billion) and then transfer 5% of the proceeds each year into an Income Tax Elimination Fund which could be used to ratchet down the income tax rate until it eventually hits zero. The funds would be managed by the Iowa Public Employee Retirement System (IPERS). |
Status: | Assigned to Committee |
Committee: | Senate Ways & Means Committee |
Category: | Taxes |
Recent Action: | |
Companion Bills: | HSB720 |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | SSB3183 |
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Title: | MEPD Program |
Description: | Increases the maximum disregard of assets for a couple in the Medicaid Employed Persons with Disabilities (MEPD) program to $21,000. |
Status: | Assigned to Committee |
Committee: | Senate Appropriations Committee |
Category: | Medicaid |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |
Bill Number: | SSB3192 |
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Title: | Governor's Economic Development Budget |
Description: | Appropriates $41,882,391 to economic development, workforce, housing and other related programs and agencies, an increase overall of $82,853. 45% of this budget goes to the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA); 40% to Iowa Workforce Development (IWD); 10% to the Board of Regents; 2.5% to the Iowa Finance Authority (IFA); and 2.5% to the public Employment Relations Board. Eliminates the Butchery Innovation & Revitalization funding ($633,325 general fund & $366,675 other funds) and ends the program, increases World Food Prize by $250,000, adds $2,016,675 of other funds to the Manufacturing 4.0 program, increases funding for IEDA administration by $114,151, adds $120,007 to vocational rehabilitation, eliminates work based learning intermediate network funding ($1.5 million), and eliminates the future ready Iowa coordinator funding ($150,000). You can read more detail on this bill at: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/SCGR/1444384.pdf. |
Status: | Assigned to Committee |
Committee: | Senate Appropriations Committee |
Category: | Budgets |
Recent Action: | |
Client's Position: | Track |