Capitol Notebook: Iowa Senate passes bill to repeal gender balance requirements for boards

DES MOINES — Iowa Senate lawmakers passed a bill on Tuesday that would repeal requirements that Iowa’s boards and commissions have an equal number of men and women.

Supporters of Senate File 2096 said the gender balance rules are an unfair quota and members of boards and commissions should be selected only by their merit and qualifications. Opponents said it rolls back a landmark achievement toward gender equity in the state.

Iowa’s laws requiring a gender balance on its administrative boards, which were passed to address a lack of women and gender discrimination on the boards, have been in place since 1987. The mandate was extended to city and county boards in 2012.

According to research from Iowa State University’s Carrie Chapman Catt Center, Iowa was the first state to require gender-balanced boards and commissions, and it is the only state to require gender balance for all levels of government.

The bill passed the chamber 32-15, with support from Republicans and opposition from nearly all Democrats. It would need to pass in the House and be signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds before becoming law.

Senate Democrats, who largely opposed the bill, used debate time on Tuesday to point out areas where they see gender discrimination persisting today. Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, said that women are often not treated the same as men in medical decisions and women must pay more for products and services.

“We need to be intentional to be inclusive,” she said. “Gender balance doesn’t just magically happen overnight, and we’ve seen, even with Iowa being first in the country for gender balance, we still haven’t gotten there.”

Sen. Annette Sweeney, a Republican from Iowa Falls, acknowledged women still face barriers in the state, but she said the current system means women end up on the boards only to fill a quota. She said she does not want women on boards to be a “token female.”

“I want to be there because I earned it,” she said. “I want to be there because I’ve done my homework, and I know why I’m on this board.”

Rep. Herman Quirmbach of Ames was the sole Democrat to vote in favor of axing the gender balance requirements during debate. He pointed to women graduating college at a higher rate than men and said women are going into the workforce well qualified to compete on their merits without a balance being mandated by law.

A federal judge this year struck down the gender balance requirement for the State Judicial Nominating Commission, arguing it violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

House bill would allow teens to work unsupervised in some child care settings

Iowa 16- and 17-year-olds would be allowed to care for younger children unsupervised for brief periods at child care centers.

House File 2305 passed the Iowa House on a 55-36 vote, with Democrats largely opposed. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration, where it will need to win approval before being sent to the governor to be signed into law.

The bill states teenage child care workers would be allowed to watch children under the age of 5 by themselves to cover brief absences of an adult staff member for no more than five minutes, during nap times or other breaks.

Proponents said the bill will help short-staffed child care centers have more flexibility. The original bill would have required the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to amend its administrative rules to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to care for infants and toddlers up to age 5 at child care centers, without additional supervision, provided that at least two adults employed by the center were present.

Lawmakers in 2022 passed and Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation allowing child care centers the ability to hire 16- and 17-year-olds to work or substitute in their facilities without adult supervision, as long as they're caring for school-aged children. Previously, child care workers had to be 18 to work unsupervised.

“Having been brought this piece of legislation by child care providers in our state and knowing that we have young people in our state that have a passion for learning more about early childhood development and education, I am happy to move this bill forward,” Rep. Devon Wood, R-New Market, said on the House floor.

Rep. Austin Baeth, D-Des Moines, said he’s heard from child workers and providers who are concerned the bill “may leave open a window of opportunity in which those periods of time, based on the letter of this bill, that what’s construed as brief may go longer and face unsafe situations where you have children watching children.”

Penalties for swatting

Increased penalties for swatting — the term for when an individual calls public safety agencies with fake warnings of criminal or violent activity in order to draw a response from law enforcement — passed unanimously in the Iowa Senate.

Under Senate File 2161, swatting would become a Class D felony in Iowa, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine between $750 and $7,500. Any swatting incident that resulted injury or death would be a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine between $1,000 and $10,000.

With its passage out of the Senate, Senate File 2161 is eligible for consideration in the Iowa House.

Left-lane driving ban

Driving in the left lane of traffic without passing would be illegal, and punishable by a $135 fine, under legislation approved by the Iowa Senate.

Senate File 2116 would require drivers, when there are two lanes of traffic moving in the same direction, to use the left lane only for passing other vehicles, preparing to exit, or while merging into the roadway, avoiding an obstruction or complying with a traffic-control device.

When there are three or more lanes of traffic moving in the same direction, the bill would require drivers to stay in a lane bordered by lanes on both sides unless they’re passing, preparing to exit, merging, avoiding an obstruction or following traffic control.

The bill passed the Senate with bipartisan support, on a 38-8 vote, and is now eligible for consideration in the Iowa House.