Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Governor Culver Signed Three Bills Today
(Des Moines) – Today, Governor Chet Culver signed the following bills into law:
House File 369: HF 369 is a non-controversial bill dealing with elevator regulation, proposed by Iowa Workforce Development. It clarifies sections of the code dealing with elevator regulation supersede general building code regulations and changes the definition of material lift elevators to elevators used only for movement of materials. This bill clarifies code language to ensure it is followed over conflicting provisions in the state and local building codes.
House File 258: HF 258, the Revised Iowa Nonprofit Corporation Act (Revised Act), became effective in 2005 for nonprofits, and is based on model statutes developed by the American Bar Association (ABA). HF 258 offers a proposed code change which is considered a technical amendment that should have been included in the Revised Act in 2005. This change includes oversight language as it relates to the duty of care, and it codifies this duty of care as such duty has developed in case law. The inclusion of oversight language makes the Revised Act current with the standards for the duty of care as they currently exist. There was minimal opposition to this bill from the Legislature. In addition, per input from the ABA, the bill offers a technical change that will ensure proper decision making and oversight occur at the executive level of non-profits.
Senate File 39: SF 39 is a non-controversial bill dealing with campaign contributions, disclosure reports and signs and the transfer of prohibited campaign donations, proposed by the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure. It clarifies that the standard mileage rate for campaign transportation will be computed by IRS standards and denies the window for unorganized committees to avoid making disclosure reports about their financial activity. This bill requires that mandatory statements and reports be sent to the Ethics Board and posted on their website and requires an additional report from ballot issue committees regarding their activity several weeks after the election. It clarifies that political signs can be posted on most private property and requires that the prohibited funds received from unknown sources be remitted to the Ethics Board and State Treasurer rather than to the Director of the Department of Administrative Services.