Bill Text: IA HF2168 | 2023-2024 | 90th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to matters before the Iowa ethics and campaign disclosure board, including campaign finance filings, attribution statements, and delinquent payment penalties.(Formerly HF 638, HSB 210; See HF 2675.)

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-03-27 - Committee report approving bill, renumbered as HF 2675. [HF2168 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2023-HF2168-Introduced.html

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House File 2168 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE 2168
BY COMMITTEE ON STATE
GOVERNMENT
(SUCCESSOR TO HF 638)
(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 210)
A BILL FOR
An Act relating to matters before the Iowa ethics and campaign
disclosure board, including campaign finance filings,
attribution statements, and delinquent payment penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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Section 1. Section 68A.201, subsection 2, paragraphs a and
b, Code 2024, are amended to read as follows:
a. The name, purpose, mailing address, electronic mail
address, and telephone number of the committee. The committee
name shall not duplicate the name of another committee
organized under this section . For candidate’s committees
filing initial statements of organization on or after July
1, 1995, the candidate’s name shall be contained within the
committee name.
b. The name, mailing address, electronic mail address, and
position of the committee officers.
Sec. 2. Section 68A.201A, subsection 6, Code 2024, is
amended to read as follows:
6. The verified statement shall be filed by 4:30 in an
electronic format no later than 11:59 p.m. of the day the
filing is due.
Sec. 3. Section 68A.401, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code
2024, is amended to read as follows:
a. A state statutory political committee, a county statutory
political committee, a political committee, and a candidate’s
committee shall file all statements and reports in an
electronic format by 4:30 no later than 11:59 p.m. of the day
the filing is due and according to rules adopted by the board.
Sec. 4. Section 68A.405, subsection 1, paragraph a,
subparagraph (3), Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
(3) “Published material” means any newspaper, magazine,
shopper, outdoor advertising facility, poster, direct mailing,
brochure, internet site, campaign sign, or any other form of
printed or electronic general public political advertising.
“Published material” includes radio, television, video, or
motion picture internet advertising.
Sec. 5. Section 68A.405, subsection 1, paragraph b,
subparagraph (1), Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
(1) Except as set out in subsection 2 , published material
designed to expressly advocate the nomination, election,
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or defeat of a candidate for public office or the passage
or defeat of a ballot issue shall include on the published
material an a clear and conspicuous attribution statement
disclosing who is responsible for the published material.
Sec. 6. Section 68A.405, subsection 3, Code 2024, is amended
to read as follows:
3. For television , or video , or motion picture advertising,
the attribution statement shall be displayed on the screen
in a clearly readable manner for at least four seconds. For
radio advertising, the attribution statement shall be read in a
clearly understandable manner.
Sec. 7. Section 68B.32, subsections 3 and 5, Code 2024, are
amended to read as follows:
3. The board shall annually elect one member to serve as
the chairperson of the board and one member to serve as vice
chairperson. The vice chairperson shall act as the chairperson
in the absence or disability of the chairperson or in the
event of a vacancy in that office. The chairperson and vice
chairperson shall not be members of the same political party.
5. The board shall employ a full-time executive director who
shall be the board’s chief administrative officer. The board
shall employ or contract for the employment of legal counsel
notwithstanding section 13.7 , and any other personnel as may
be necessary to carry out the duties of the board. The board’s
legal counsel shall be the chief legal officer of the board and
shall advise the board on all legal matters relating to the
administration of this chapter and chapter 68A . The state may
be represented by the board’s legal counsel in any civil action
regarding the enforcement of this chapter or chapter 68A , or at
the board’s request, the state may be represented by the office
of the attorney general. Notwithstanding section 8A.412 , all
of the board’s employees, except for the executive director and
legal counsel, shall be employed subject to the merit system
provisions of chapter 8A, subchapter IV . The salary of the
executive director shall be fixed by the board, within the
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range established by the general assembly. The salary of the
legal counsel shall be fixed by the board, within a salary
range established by the department of administrative services
for a position requiring similar qualifications and experience.
If the executive director also serves as the board’s legal
counsel, the board may award the executive director additional
compensation which shall not annually exceed fifty percent of
the maximum annual salary for the range established by the
general assembly for the board’s executive director position.
Sec. 8. NEW SECTION . 68B.32E Delinquent penalties ——
enforcement.
1. A civil penalty assessed by the board under section
68B.32D, subsection 1, paragraph “h” , shall be paid no later
than thirty days after the order is issued. A civil penalty is
delinquent if the full amount of the civil penalty has not been
timely paid.
2. a. In lieu of paying the full amount of the civil
penalty within thirty days, a person may enter into an
installment payment plan. A payment plan must be agreed to
in writing and signed by the board’s executive director and
the person owing the civil penalty. The payment plan must
include a payment schedule with the payment dates described.
The payment plan must be established no later than thirty days
after the issuance of the order requiring the person to pay a
civil penalty, as provided under section 68B.32D, subsection
1, paragraph “h” .
b. If a payment plan is established, the civil penalty is
delinquent if an installment payment is not paid within thirty
days of the payment date provided in the payment plan.
3. If a civil penalty is delinquent for sixty days or longer
on or after July 1, 2024, the board shall assess a late fee once
each month, beginning on the later of July 1, 2024, and the
date the civil penalty becomes delinquent. The late fee must
be assessed in accordance with rules adopted by the board. The
board may waive any assessed late fee.
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4. If a civil penalty remains delinquent for thirty days or
longer, the board shall send final notice to the person owing
the civil penalty. Such notice shall be sent via restricted
certified mail, and must include notice of the applicable
action provided in subsection 5 or 6.
5. a. If a civil penalty owed by a person who was issued a
driver’s license in this state is delinquent under subsection
1 or 2, and if the person owes two hundred fifty dollars or
more, the board shall notify the department of transportation
to suspend the person’s driver’s license in accordance
with section 321.210E until the civil penalty is no longer
delinquent.
b. If the civil penalty owed by the person is no longer
delinquent, the board shall notify the department of
transportation to terminate the suspension of the person’s
driver’s license in accordance with section 321.210E.
6. If a civil penalty owed by a person who was not issued a
driver’s license in this state is delinquent under subsection 1
or 2, and if the person owes two hundred fifty dollars or more,
the board shall revoke any authority granted by the board for
the person to operate a candidate’s committee and a political
committee in this state until the person’s debt is no longer
delinquent.
7. Any penalty shall be stayed if an appeal is pending for
the underlying matter for which the person was issued a civil
penalty. For the duration of the stay, the penalty shall not
be deemed delinquent and is not subject to a late fee.
8. The board may waive collection of a penalty owed in
circumstances where collection is impracticable.
9. This section does not prohibit the board from taking
alternative enforcement actions permitted by this chapter or
chapter 17A.
Sec. 9. NEW SECTION . 321.210E Suspension for delinquent
civil penalties owed to the Iowa ethics and campaign disclosure
board.
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Upon receipt of notice from the Iowa ethics and campaign
disclosure board and in accordance with applicable rules
adopted by the department, the department shall suspend the
driver’s license of a person who owes a delinquent civil
penalty under section 68B.32E. The suspension shall continue
until the department receives notice from the Iowa ethics and
campaign disclosure board that the person no longer owes a
delinquent civil penalty. Upon receipt of such notice from
the Iowa ethics and campaign disclosure board, and payment
of the reinstatement fee provided under section 321.191, the
department shall terminate the suspension and reinstate the
person’s driver’s license if the person is otherwise eligible
to be issued a driver’s license.
Sec. 10. Section 321.212, subsection 1, paragraph a,
subparagraph (1), Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
(1) Except as provided in section 321.210A , 321.210E,
or 321.513 , the department shall not suspend a license for a
period of more than one year, except that a license suspended
because of incompetency to drive a motor vehicle shall be
suspended until the department receives satisfactory evidence
that the former holder is competent to operate a motor vehicle
and a refusal to reinstate constitutes a denial of license
within section 321.215 ; upon revoking a license the department
shall not grant an application for a new license until the
expiration of one year after the revocation, unless another
period is specified by law.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
This bill relates to matters before the Iowa ethics and
campaign disclosure board (board).
The bill requires a political committee and a candidate’s
committee to provide an electronic mail address along with the
name, purpose, mailing address, and telephone number of the
committee when the committee files a statement of organization
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with the board. When a committee or organization is not
organized under Code section 68A.201, such committee officers
are also required to provide an electronic mail address when
filing full disclosure reports of all financial activities with
the federal election commission or another state’s disclosure
commission.
The bill extends the deadline for required filings to be
submitted electronically to the board from 4:30 p.m. to 11:59
p.m. on the day the filings are due. By operation of law,
in computing time, the first day is excluded and the last
included, unless the last falls on Sunday or holiday, in which
case the time prescribed is extended so as to include the
whole of the following Monday, or day after the holiday, as
applicable.
The bill adds radio and internet advertising to the
definition of “published material” as used in Code chapter
68A, and strikes motion picture advertising from the
definition. “Published material”, including radio and internet
advertising under the bill, that is designed to expressly
advocate the nomination, election, or defeat of a candidate
for public office or the passage or defeat of a ballot issue
is required to include an attribution statement disclosing
who is responsible for the material. The bill requires the
attribution statement to be clear and conspicuous. For radio
advertising, the attribution statement must be read in a
clearly understandable manner.
Current law requires the board to annually elect one member
to serve as the chairperson of the board and one member to
serve as vice chairperson. The bill prohibits the chairperson
and vice chairperson from being members of the same political
party.
Under current law, the board must employ a full-time
executive director who is the board’s chief administrative
officer. The board must also employ or contract for the
employment of legal counsel and any other personnel as may
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be necessary to carry out the duties of the board. The
board’s legal counsel is the chief legal officer of the
board and advises the board on all legal matters relating to
the administration of Code chapters 68A and 68B. The bill
authorizes the board to award the executive director, if that
person also serves as the board’s legal counsel, additional
compensation. The additional compensation must not annually
exceed 50 percent of the maximum annual salary for the range
established by the general assembly for the board’s executive
director position.
The bill provides enforcement provisions related to
delinquent civil penalties assessed by the board under Code
section 68B.32, subsection 1, paragraph “h”. The bill requires
civil penalties to be paid within 30 days of the board’s order
for a penalty unless a payment plan is established. Under the
bill, the board is authorized to adopt administrative rules
and assess a late fee once each month in addition to a civil
penalty that is delinquent for 60 days or longer on or after
July 1, 2024.
The bill authorizes the board to notify the department
of transportation (DOT) to suspend the driver’s license of a
person who was issued a license in Iowa, if the person has a
delinquent penalty in excess of $250 and received notice as
provided in the bill. Under current administrative rules, the
DOT must send notice to a person whose driver’s license will
be suspended for nonpayment of a fine, penalty, surcharge, or
court costs (761 IAC 615.22). The suspension begins 30 days
after the notice is served and continues until the DOT issues a
notice terminating the suspension.
If a delinquent civil penalty of more than $250 is owed
by a person who was not issued a driver’s license in Iowa,
the board is required to revoke any authority granted by the
board for the person to operate a candidate’s committee and
a political committee in Iowa until the person’s debt is no
longer delinquent.
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The bill provides for penalties to be waived and stayed under
certain circumstances.
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