Labor & Employment Bills in the Iowa Legislature

Posted on January 22, 2009 by Liz Overton

The Iowa Legislature has a number of bills it will be considering this session. Although some bills may die in committee it’s interesting to see what is being considered. Below are the bills and study bills that are currently in the House Labor Committee and Senate Labor & Business Relations Committee. You can see the full text of the bills on the committee websites. 

Senate Labor & Business Relations Committee:

SF 7

A bill for an act relating to notice of public disclosure of certain workers' compensation information.

SF 24

A bill for an act providing for the licensure of elevator contractors and elevator mechanics and providing penalties.

SSB 1051

A study bill for an act pertaining to the duties and regulations under the purview of the labor commissioner.

SSB 1052

A study bill for an act relating to unemployment insurance benefits and compliance with federal law regarding and in order to qualify for funding, and including effective and applicability dates.

SSB 1053

A study bill for an act relating to an increase in the balance of the unemployment compensation reserve fund and the purposes for which the fund's interest may be used.

SSB 1054

A study bill for an act providing training program extension benefits to unemployment insurance benefits, and including an applicability date.

SSB 1055

A study bill for an act requiring employers to provide notice of plant closings and mass layoffs and providing penalties.

SSB 1071

A study bill for an act relating to the duties of the labor commissioner pursuant to wage payment collection and child labor law enforcement, making an appropriation, and providing penalties.

House Labor Committee:

HF 10

A bill for an act relating to employees who are breast-feeding.

HF 11

A bill for an act to increase the state minimum hourly wage by the same percentage as the increase in federal social security benefits.

HF 24

A bill for an act requiring employers to provide employees with meal periods and rest periods and providing penalties.

HSB 61

A study bill pertaining to the duties and regulations under the purview of the labor commissioner.

HSB 62

A study bill for requiring employers to provide notice of plant closings and mass layoffs and providing penalties.

HSB 63

A study bill relating to the duties of the labor commissioner pursuant to wage payment collection and child labor law enforcement, making an appropriation, and providing penalties.

I will be tracking these bills throughout the legislative session and provide updates periodically.

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Iowa Legislature Passes Smoking Ban

Posted on April 9, 2008 by Matt Gardner
Final CigBased on the premise of worker protection, the Iowa House and Iowa Senate worked out a compromise and have passed a smoking ban for most public locations.  The bill will be signed by Governor Culver and will go in effect July 1, 2008.  Gambling areas of casinos, outdoor areas of bars, outdoor areas of county and state fairs and a few other designated areas would still permit smoking under HF 2212

It took bipartisan support to get this bill passed, by a close margin.  The controversial exemptions created issues, as did the mere fact of the perceived intrusion into individual liberties.

I'll just enjoy going out for dinner and drinks and not smelling like an ashtray.
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Bicyclers Beware

Posted on February 12, 2008 by Liz Overton

According to an article in the Des Moines Register the Iowa State Association of Counties has proposed legislation insulating “counties and cities from liability for injuries or damages resulting from bike accidents on their roads unless it is shown that government officials were notified of a road deficiency before an accident and that road crews neglected to take action.” The proposed legislation was a result of a $350,000 settlement paid by Crawford County to the widow of Kirk Ullrich who died in a 2004 RAGBRAI accident.

The need for the legislation is questionable. The current law governing county tort liability contains a laundry list of exemptions from liability for counties. Since the case was settled prior to any judicial determination we don’t know whether any of these exemptions would have applied. I would even suggest that the standard for county liability suggested in the proposed legislation is similar to the standard that a court may have imposed.   What is obvious, however, is that the county thought it had enough exposure to cause it to settle the case. 

Crawford County has since banned all RAGBRAI and similar events from occurring on its county roads. Perhaps the legislation was proposed to prevent additional counties from banning RAGBRAI from its roads. An influx of “RAGBRAI bans” could possibly prevent the event from occurring in the future which would be a detriment to the state.

photo on flickr by sandcastlematt

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