June 5, 2020
Legislators got to work on some of their major priorities when session resumed Wednesday after its two-month hiatus caused by COVID-19. Friday Legislators are facing a deadline known as the “second funnel”, to pass most policy bills through either the Senate or the House as well as a committee in the other chamber to remain eligible for consideration. We expect legislators will turn their attention to the budget next week.
Liability protections for Iowa businesses, a new coronavirus-related priority for the legislature, advanced through both a House subcommittee and committee on Wednesday as an amendment to an existing bill, SF2338, which is now in the House Commerce Committee. The language provides extensive protection against civil liability for COVID-19 for businesses and health care providers. It also provides protection for those who donated equipment, hand sanitizer or PPE. The bill is on the House debate calendar for today.
The amendment:
- Requires that individuals bringing suit meet minimum medical conditions, in this case hospitalization or death. It also must be proved that the defendant in the case acted in a way that was intended to cause harm or acted with malice.
- Provides protections from liability lawsuits to persons in control of a facility unless that person recklessly disregards risks or acts with malice.
- Provides protection from lawsuits if the business was in compliance with federal or state regulations, orders or guidance.
- Provides protection from lawsuits to health care providers as their industry rapidly reacted to respond to COVID-19, treating patients with the virus, while other services and procedures were suspended.
- Provides protection from lawsuits to those involved in providing products like disinfectants and face shields needed to fight the virus unless the person disregarded a substantial or unnecessary risk or acted with malice.
- Contains language making the bill’s provisions retroactive to cover the entire period of the potential presence of the coronavirus COVID-19 in Iowa (January 1, 2020).
Wednesday the Senate and House passed the biofuels tax differential legislation that IowaBio supports, which will encourage the use of E-15 and boost demand for biofuels. SF2403, which unanimously passed both chambers, extends and modernizes fuel tax differentials for E15 and higher ethanol blends and B11 and higher biodiesel blends, which are set to expire on June 30, 2020. Passage signals continued support of renewable fuels and will put millions of dollars back into the Road Use Tax Fund each year for vital infrastructure projects.
On Wednesday, an anti-vaccination rally was held outside the capitol. Representative Jeff Shipley (R-Birmingham) spoke at the rally saying, "It doesn't matter that this vaccine doesn't exist, it's probably impossible to develop a safe vaccine, it's hardly going to work anyway and this virus isn't even killing anybody. They must think you're really stupid," he told the crowd. For more on the start of session amid coronavirus and the rally click here.
As for logistics in light of COVID-19, visitors to the capitol are required to undergo a temperature check before entering. A staff member offered face masks to those who wanted them. Signs encouraged people to maintain 6 feet of social distancing, and several hand sanitizer stations could be found around the building. During subcommittee meetings, chairs were set up a few feet apart, rather than in the traditional side-by-side rows, and gallery seating is blocked off, to encourage social distancing. The subcommittee meetings were live-streamed to a television outside the room, and submission of comments online was encouraged. You can watch live stream of the session by visiting the legislative website here.
The outlook for the state budget was revisited by the Revenue Estimating Conference last Friday, and will help legislators and the Governor understand some of the impacts of COVID-19 on state revenues, as they craft the state budget for FY2021, which begins July 1.
Linked here is the updated spreadsheet.
The highlights from the panel are as follows:
- FY2020: March estimate was $8.090 Billion. They downgraded this revenue to $7.926B (reduction of $150M). This represents positive revenue growth of 0.9% (82.4M increase for FY20 from FY19) (from March estimate of 3% growth). Important to note this is the current fiscal year that ends June 30, 2020.
- FY2021: This number will be used by legislators to build their budget during the remainder of the session that has just reconvened. The March estimate was at $8.236B. They lowered the projection to $7.876B representing a $360M downgrade from the March estimate. This means that the legislature has a lower cap of what they can spend for FY21 ($360M less than March estimate).
In addition, Last week the Governor announced global allocations for $700M of Iowa’s $1.25B share of the Federal CARES Act funding. As can be seen in the allocation chart below, relief will be provided to Iowa businesses, families, farmers, cities and counties, health care providers, and tele-initiatives.
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