NFIB/Iowa's 2017 Session Scorecard

Date: May 17, 2017

The 2017 Iowa legislative session ended on Saturday, April 22.

The 87th General Assembly, controlled by a Republican House and Senate was historic, with several pieces of legislation passed into law that will help continue to grow small businesses here in Iowa.

Here is a quick snapshot of the key measures that NFIB helped usher through during the 2017 session:

HF295: the “Preemption Bill” prevents cities and counties from unilaterally implementing minimum wage increases and other employment mandates that are inconsistent with the rest of the State. This piece of legislation prevents the possibility of hundreds of regulatory regimes from cropping up in Iowa creating an unpredictable and unsustainable landscape for Iowa’s small business. – Passed both the House and Senate; signed by the Governor

HF 518: “Workers Comp Reform” is legislation which rebalance’s an employee’s need for medical care and replacement income due to injuries on the job with an employer’s need for predictable and insurable cost effective structures to accommodate their employees. Key elements of the bill include: Shifting the burden to the employee when an injury may be due to intoxication; Clarifying the code that the date of injury must be reported within 90 days of the employee realizing the injury is work related; Ensuring employer light duty programs can continue; Making the shoulder a scheduled member; Prohibits double recovery of permanent total disability benefits; Requires that commutations can no longer be unilaterally requested by the plaintiff, but must be agreed upon by all parties; Prevents attorneys from taking advantage of injured workers by taking fees on voluntary payments by an employer to an employee; and Significantly reduces the interest rates on workers’ compensation judgments. – Passed both the House and Senate; signed by the Governor

SF 438: “PLA Reform” is legislation eliminating the practice of government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs). These agreements affect all publicly-financed construction projects and would typically require that all employees be referred through the union, designate the union as the sole representative of the employees, and require private contractors to contribute to union benefits funds. Under the PLA system, taxpayers are forced to pay a higher premium for publicly-financed constructions projects, while many smaller businesses are excluded from participation in these projects. – Passed both the House and Senate; signed by the Governor

SF 376: “Asbestos Reform” is legislation that relates to asbestos bankruptcy claims. It requires a plaintiff to disclose claims against other trusts within 90 days and is designed to stop “double dipping” which has put small businesses at a disadvantage In the past. The bill is intended to ensure that funds continue to remain in trusts for future Iowans, while also protecting businesses from over aggressive trial lawyers. – Passed both the House and Senate; signed by the Governor

HF291: “Chapter 20 Reform” This legislation makes many changes to laws governing collective bargaining for wages, healthcare and other benefits for public employees. It mostly excludes public safety professionals from the bill. The bill will make government more efficient and streamline many outdated processes. Compared to other states, Iowa has a high number of public employees at all levels of government, especially considering the size of the state’s population. This disparity is troubling and noncompetitive for the State and has a great impact on Iowa taxpayers. – Passed both the House and Senate; signed by the Governor

HF 478: “Property Assessment Appeals Board Bill” is legislation that eliminates the sunset on the property assessment appeals board (PAAB) and changes how protests are treated at the local level. The protest portions of this bill were added late in the session due to the outrage by many property owners over large increases in their assessments. Unfortunately, time ran out in the session and the bill only addressed giving property owners more time to protest local assessments. Look for this to be a hot button issue in 2018. – Passed both the House and Senate; waiting to be signed by the Governor

Matt Everson
NFIB State Director
Iowa

Related Content: Small Business News | Economy | Iowa

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