Grow Cedar Valley Second Funnel Legislative Update

posted on Monday, April 5, 2021 in Government Affairs

Active bills in the Iowa Legislature passed through the “second funnel” on Friday, April 2. This is a self-imposed deadline to further whittle down the number of bills under consideration in this year's session. To remain alive, a bill had to have passed either the House or the Senate and have passed out of a standing committee in the opposite chamber. Most tax and spending bills are exempt from the funnel. We have compiled a list of bills that we are either tracking or that may be of interest to our investors, augmented with information gleaned from legislative and media sources, that remained alive or are dead after the second funnel.

Alive

Provide grants from the Empower Rural Iowa broadband fund to extend coverage (HF848/SF390)

Expand tax credits to offer affordable housing aid (HF178/SSB1142)

Increase reimbursement to child care providers (HF301)

Create an "off-ramp" from the Child Care Assistance Program (HF302)

Creates an incentive for employers to provide child care for their employees (HF370)

Change number of children allowed at daycare centers (HF260)

Exempt business PPP loans/federal jobless benefits from state taxation (SF364)

Speed up previously passed tax changes by eliminating income tax triggers (SF576)

Move mental health care to state funding, cut property taxes, eliminate property tax backfill (SF587)

Create a $1 million cap on medical malpractice cases (SF537/HF772)

Limit civil liability for persons involved in agricultural tourism (SF356)

Create criminal offense for using synthetic urine to defraud employment drug tests (SF329/HSB22)

Prohibit employers from requiring implantation of microchips in employees (HF259)

Eliminate diversity plans affecting open enrollment in five school districts (HF282)

Ban hand-held electronic devices while driving (SF330/HF392)

Bar state incentives to big tech companies that engage in social-media censorship (SF580/HF633)

Revise absentee-balloting and other election laws (SF413; signed by Governor)

Dead

Prohibit tenure systems at Regent universities (HF490/SF41)

Require Regent universities’ cities to have a fire department separate from its police (HF683)

Require use of the E-Verify program in hiring (SF339)

Prohibit COVID-19 vaccine mandates by employers (SF555)

Prohibit an employer from requiring low-wage employees to enter non-compete agreements. (SF496)

Require payments for mental health telehealth services to be the same as in-person visits (HF294)

Require employers to provide accommodations to employees based on pregnancy or childbirth (SF485)

Establish year-round daylight saving time in Iowa once it’s adopted in all contiguous states (SF335)

Click here to learn more about Grow Cedar Valley Government Affairs and the 2021 Legislative Agenda.