Governor signs school aid, public intoxication legislation into law

DES MOINES - Without fanfare, Gov. Terry Branstad has signed legislation increasing the state aid to local schools by 2.25 percent.

The funding, about $153 million or 87 percent of the new revenue the state will have available next year, was a compromise agreed to by the Democratic-controlled Senate and Republican-controlled House. It was less than the 2.45 percent increase he requested - and the 4 percent Senate Democrats sought, but reflects a budget outlook made tighter by revenue slippage.

Senate File 174 and 175, which sets the growth in categorical aid to schools, were among the 29 bills Branstad signed Wednesday. Only one of them, SF 2218 allowing first responders to administer drugs to combat drug overdoses, was signed in public.

He had a private signing of SF 2022 with representatives of the Meskwaki Indian settlement near Toledo. It relates criminal jurisdiction on the Sac and Fox tribal settlement.

Another bill, House File 588, will require that handicapped drivers issued placards after Jan. 1 to park in specially designated zones must renew those permits every five years. It maintains current lifetime removable windshield placards previously issued to disabled Iowans but would make devices temporary and subject for renewal by the state Department of Transportation every five years.

SF 2164 will allow people ticketed for public intoxication to have the offense removed or expunged after two years if they have not committed another crime beyond a traffic violation or simple misdemeanor. Under HF 2283, it will be legal to carry a firearm while operating or riding on a snowmobile or an all-terrain vehicle.

The governor also signed HF 2385 that modifies penalties for littering and illegal dumping.

The other bills he signed were:

House File 2341 - an Act relating to the operation of certain schools under the purview of the college student aid commission.

House File 228 - an Act relating to transitional coaching authorizations issued by the board of educational examiners and making penalties applicable.

House File 588 - an Act relating to the issuance of persons with disabilities removable windshield parking placards, and including effective date and applicability provisions.

House File 617 - an Act providing for special vehicle registration plates displaying a decal designed and issued by a non-profit organization, providing fees, making penalty applicable, and including effective date provisions.

House File 2282 - an Act relating to the appointment of guardian ad litem in an adoption proceeding.

House File 2345 - an Act relating to annual reports by county engineers and the department of transportation, including reports on the use of road use tax fund moneys to replace or repair structurally deficient bridges under county jurisdiction.

House File 2359 - an Act relating statutory corrections which may adjust language to reflect current practices, insert earlier omission, delete redundancies and inaccuracies, delete temporary language, resolve inconsistencies and conflicts, update ongoing provisions, or remove ambiguities, and including effective date provisions.

House File 2370 - an Act relating to exemptions from registration of postsecondary schools by the college student aid commission.

House File 2363 - an Act relating to member attendance at a closed session of a governmental body.

Senate File 378 - an Act relating to reimbursement of defense costs of peace officers and corrections officers.

Senate File 2059 - an Act relating to persons on probation, parole, or work release at the violator facility or a residential facility operated by the judicial district department of correctional services.

Senate File 2102 - an Act relating to access to the information program for drug prescribing and dispensing administered by the board of pharmacy.

Senate File 2110 - an Act relating to persons examining and obtaining their own criminal history data.

Senate File 2111 - an Act providing that certain peace officers and law enforcement officials are not required to use a notarial stamp when administering oaths or acknowledging signatures.

Senate File 2144 - an Act relating to the disclosure of behavioral health information for the purpose of patient care coordination, and including effective date provisions.

Senate File 2147 - an Act including certain board of regents institution peace officers and civil commitment unit for sex offenders employees in the protection occupation category of the Iowa public employees' retirement system.

Senate File 2162 - an Act providing for the use of an electronic filing system for administrative proceedings by the administrative hearings division of the department of inspection and appeals.

Senate File 2164 - an Act relating to the expungement of criminal offenses for alcohol consumption in public, public intoxication, simulated public intoxication, or similar local ordinances, or when finding of contempt has been entered, and including applicability provisions.

Senate File 2194 - an Act concerning administrative law judges appointed or employed by the public employment relations board.

Senate File 2214 - an Act relating to the dispensing of additional quantities of a prescription within the limitations of the prescription.

Senate File 2242 - an Act relating to the administration of city elections by permitting the county commissioner of elections to designate a city clerk to receive city candidate filings.

Senate File 2258 - an Act concerning child welfare, including provisions relating to children under the custody, control, and supervision of the department of human services and provisions relating to children who are sex trafficking victims.

Senate File 2276 - an Act relating to the standards for land surveying, including requirements for recorded document formatting, monument preservation certificates, and retracement plats of survey.