These New Laws Are in Effect in Iowa As of January 1st, 2024

With a new year comes a new set of laws going into effect. 2024 is no exception, as there are several pieces of legislature that are now effectively laws in the Hawkeye State.

Here's a look at three laws that are now in effect as well as one that was supposed to take effect on January 1st, but instead found itself blocked by the Iowa courts.

HF 655:

A bill known as HF 655 is now in effect, and makes a few changes to the "uniform Limited Liability Company Act." Per the legislature, the "act rewrites almost every section" of the act. It was a bill for an act providing for business organizations, including LLCs, providing penalties, and including effective date provisions, per KCCI.

HF 688:

HF 688 concerns "the state rulemaking process and related matters pertaining to agency functions." The bill was signed into law by Governor Kim Reynolds on May 3rd. Rulemaking procedures and related matters, known as division 1 in the piece of legislation, are in effect as of January 1st.

SF 565:

Then there's the bill SF 565, which makes changes in the administration of tax law by the Department of Revenue. It makes changes specifically to the Iowa Education Savings Plan and the First-Time Home Buyer Savings Account Program.

Effective January 1st, taxpayers are now required to use the same filing status for Iowa individual income tax purposes as the taxpayer used for federal individual income tax purposes for tax years beginning on or after January 1st, 2023, per KCCI.

The Controversial SF 496:

SF 496 has gotten a lot of buzz in recent weeks. The law looks so ban certain books from school libraries as well as forbid teachers from raising LGBTQ+ issues in the classroom.

A federal judge on Friday, December 29th, 2023 temporarily blocked key parts of the education law. His preliminary injunctions stops the law from being enforced, as it was set to take effect on January 1st. The judge blocked both provisions of the bill that would've resulted in the banning of books depicting sex acts from school libraries and teachers from raising gender identity and sexual orientation issues with students through the sixth grade.

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Visit the Iowa legislation website for a full list of Iowa laws now in effect as of 2024.