Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to adopt an amendment to HF 2280 that establishes fees and penalties relating to animal breeding and keeping.

Highlights:

-Exempts livestock or any other agricultural animal used in agricultural production from this act (Sec. 1). -Requires the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship to provide for the operation of a commercial establishment by issuing or renewing an authorization, including any of the following (Sec. 4):

-A certificate of registration for a pound, animal, shelter, or research facility; -A state license for a boarding kennel, commercial kennel, or pet shop; and -A state license or permit for a commercial breeder, dealer, or public auction. A federal licensee must apply for and be issued either a permit or a state license in lieu of a permit.

-Requires a person to be issued a separate state license, certificate of registration, or permit for each commercial establishment owned or operated by the person, unless the establishments are in the same location (Sec. 4). -Specifies that authorization expires annually and must be renewed on or before the authorization's expiration date (Sec. 4). -Requires a commercial establishment applying for the issuance or renewal of a permit to provide the department with proof that the person has a federal license (Sec. 4). -Prohibits the department from requiring that it enter the premises of a commercial establishment in order to issue or renew a permit, unless it has reasonable cause to monitor the establishment (Sec. 4). -Establishes a $15 fee for a certificate of registration for a privately owned pound that sells dogs or cats (Sec. 5). -Establishes the following fees for state licensing of commercial establishments (Sec. 5):

-A boarding kennel, $30; -A commercial breeder, $40. However, a commercial breeder who owns, keeps, breeds, or transports a greyhound dog for pari-mutuel wagering at a racetrack as provided in chapter 99D shall pay a different fee for the issuance or renewal of a state license as provided in rules adopted by the department; -A commercial kennel, $40; -A dealer, $100; -A pet shop, $50; and -A public auction, $40.

-Establishes a $20 fee for the issuance or renewal of a permit for a commercial establishment (Sec. 5). -Requires that money collected from the fees be deposited into the Commercial Establishment Compliance Fund (Sec. 5). -Establishes the Commercial Establishment Compliance Fund in the state treasury consisting of the following (Sec. 6):

-Moneys appropriated to the department; -Fees collected by the department; -Civil penalties collected by the department; and -Other moneys placed in the fund by the department.

-Requires that interest or earnings on money in the fund be credited to the fund, and that money credited to the fund that isn't spent not be appropriated for any other purpose (Sec. 6). -Requires pounds, animal shelters, research facilities, pet shop, boarding or commercial kennel, dealer, commercial breeder, or public auction to only operate pursuant to a certificate of registration issued or renewed by the department (Secs. 7-15). -Authorizes a pound or animal shelter to sell dogs or cats only if authorized by the department (Secs. 7 & 8). -Prohibits research facilities, pet shop, boarding or commercial kennel, dealer, commercial breeder, or public auction from purchasing a dog or cat from a commercial establishment that doesn't have a valid authorization issued or renewed by Iowa or a similar authorization issued or renewed by another state (Sec. 9-15). -Requires a commercial establishment to provide for a standard of care that ensures that an animal in its possession or under its control is not lacking any of the following (Sec. 16):

-Adequate feed; -Adequate water; -Housing facilities; -Sanitary control; -Grooming practices; or -Veterinary care.

-Specifies that committing animal abuse, neglect, or torture is failing to provide a standard of care (Sec. 16). -Authorizes the department to inspect the commercial establishment, including records, of a registrant or state licensee by entering onto its business premises at any time during normal working hours (Sec. 17). -Authorizes the department to obtain a warrant if the owner of a commercial establishment refuses to let inspectors onto the premises for an inspection (Secs. 17 & 18). -Authorizes the department to inspect the commercial establishment of a permittee by entering onto its-Requires the Iowa Telecommunications and Technology Commission to implement a request for proposals process to sell or lease the Iowa Communications Network (Sec. 1). -Prohibits a state agency of the executive branch of state government from employing a lobbyist with public funds (Sec. 2). -Reduces the amount appropriated for expenditures for office supplies, services contracts, and equipment purchases for state departments or agencies by 50 percent (Sec. 3). -Requires passenger vehicles currently assigned to a state department or agency to be returned to the Department of Administrative Services, which will sell them and implement a plan to lease vehicles for use by the state departments or agencies (Sec. 4) -Repeals the Rebuild Iowa Office and assigns all of its duties to the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division of the Department of Public Defense beginning July 1, 2010 (Sec. 5). -Establishes a Department of Natural Resources, which has the following duties (Sec. 6):

-Primary responsibility for state parks and forests; -Protecting the environment; -Managing energy, including duties previously assigned to the Office of Energy Independence; -Managing fish; -Managing wildlife; -Managing land resources; and -Managing water resources.

-Transfers any funds, grants, loans, contracts, licenses, or permits handled by the Office of Energy Independence to the Department of Natural Resources (Sec. 6). -Specifies that implementation plans and funding for those plans for core curriculum in schools is delayed by 1 fiscal year (Sec. 7-8). -Repeals Preschool Foundation Aid funding programs and the establishment of preschools under that program (Sec. 9). -Requires the state Board of Regents to consolidate into one system and administer all of the operational functions of the institutions of higher education the board governs, including, but not limited to, the following (Sec. 10):

-Communication and information technology; -Personnel and fiscal management systems; and -Legal services.

-Rescinds state payment from the Department of Public Health to community partnership areas for the youth tobacco use prevention and control initiative (Sec. 11). -Rescinds state payment from the Department of Human Services to shelter care providers contracts for guaranteed shelter beds in order for such payment to be provided only for beds that are actually used during the fiscal year (Sec. 12). -Rescinds payments for the state share under the medical assistance Iowa family planning network waiver by the Department of Human Services (Sec. 13). -Requires every state agency and political subdivision to verify the lawful presence in the United States of any person 18 years of age or older who has applied for federal, state or local public benefits (Sec. 14). -Exempts the following services and benefits from the requirement to verify lawful presence in the United States (Sec. 14):

-For any purpose for which lawful presence in the United States is not restricted by law; -For assistance for health care items and services that are necessary for the treatment of an emergency medical condition, not related to an organ transplant procedure; -For short-term, noncash, in-kind emergency disaster relief; -For public health assistance for immunizations with respect to diseases and for testing and treatment of symptoms of communicable diseases whether or not such symptoms are caused by a communicable disease; -For programs, services, or assistance such as soup kitchens, crisis counseling and intervention, and short-term shelter specified by the United States attorney general, in the sole and unreviewable discretion of the United States attorney general after consultation with appropriate federal agencies and departments, which: -Deliver in-kind services at the community level, including through public or private nonprofit agencies; -Do not condition the provision of assistance, the amount of assistance provided, or the cost of assistance provided on the income or resources of the individual recipient; and -Are necessary for the protection of life or safety; and -For prenatal care. business premises at any time during normal working hours for the limited purpose of determining whether the permittee is providing for a standard of care required for permittees (Sec. 18).

-Requires the department to have reasonable cause to suspect that the permittee is not providing for the standard of care in order to enter onto the business premises of a permittee's commercial establishment. Reasonable cause includes the following (Sec. 18):

-An oral or written complaint received by the department by a person. The complainant must provide the complainant's name and address and telephone number. The department's record of a complaint is confidential, unless any of the following apply: -The results of the monitoring are used in a contested case or in a judicial proceeding; -The record is sought in discovery in any administrative, civil, or criminal case; or -The department's record of a complaint is filed by a person other than an individual; and -A report prepared by a person employed by the United States department of agriculture that requires a permittee to take action necessary to correct a breach of standard of care.

-Authorizes the department to require that an owner, operator, or employee of a commercial establishment subject to disciplinary action to complete a continuing education program administered by the department as a condition for retaining an authorization (Sec. 19). -Establishes that a commercial establishment that operates pursuant to an authorization issued or renewed under this chapter is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $500, regardless of the number of animals possessed or controlled by the commercial establishment, for violations (Sec. 22). -Requires that a departmental official who makes a determination that a standard of care violation exists provide a corrective plan to the commercial establishment describing how the violation will be corrected within a compliance period of not more than fifteen days from the date of approval by the official of the corrective plan (Sec. 22). -Prohibits the department from imposing an additional civil penalty, unless the commercial establishment fails to correct the violation by the end of the compliance period. If the commercial establishment fails to correct the violation by the end of the compliance period, each day that the violation continues shall be deemed a separate offense (Sec. 22). -Establishes that a commercial establishment that doesn't operate pursuant to an authorization issued or renewed under this chapter is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $1000, regardless of the number of animals possessed or controlled by the commercial establishment, for violations (Sec. 22). -Establishes that a person who operates a commercial establishment without an authorization issued or renewed by the department is guilty of a simple misdemeanor and each day of operation is a separate offense (Sec. 23). -Establishes that the failure of a person who owns or operates a commercial establishment to meet the standard of care is a simple misdemeanor, and is also cause for suspension or revocation of their authorization. The animals are subject to seizure and impoundment and may be sold or destroyed by a humane method, including by euthanasia (Sec. 23). -Establishes that it is unlawful for a dealer to knowingly ship a diseased animal. Violations are subject to a fine not exceeding $100, and Each diseased animal shipped is a separate offense (Sec. 23). -Authorized a veterinarian who is presented with an animal for examination or treatment to file a threatened animal report if the veterinarian determines that the animal is a threatened animal(Sec. 25). -Prohibits a veterinarian who in good faith files a threatened animal report with the department from being criminally or civilly liable, including for damages for acts or omissions in preparing or filing the threatened animal report, or cooperating with the department or a local authority (Sec. 25).

Full Bill Text