Hite Capitol Update – February 3rd, 2022

by Dustin Hite

We are wrapping up the fourth week of the 2022 Legislative Session, which has been a busy one. In the first debate of the session, the House passed House File 2182, a bill to increase access to higher-ethanol blends at the pump and supports Iowa’s biofuels. This bill passed with bipartisan support, a win for Iowa’s agricultural industry and consumers.

There has been a plethora of new bills introduced that are moving their way through committees. I ran one of those bills, House Study Bill 555, which passed unanimously in Information Technology. This bill relates to cybersecurity programs and electronic transactions recorded by blockchain technology, creating a framework for the use of affirmative defense in the event of a cybersecurity breach.

Also happening in Information Technology this week, the committee heard from Rob Densen, president of DMACC, on the major cyber-attack against the institution in early June of last year. Densen described how an alert from their threat management software turned into a rollercoaster over the next days and weeks. Fortunately, DMACC was able to respond quickly to the ransomware attack including responding in real time to intrusions.

Ultimately DMACC was able to identify exactly what files were compromised and was able to rebuild their entire network from the ground up through their backup systems. Several things were learned to prevent future cyber breaches that were shared with the committee. These include:

Know your insurance company and their number on speed dial – in an attack, every second counts
Have redundancy and backup systems
Use encryption
Limit user access to the network
Regularly schedule and perform “table top” exercises of a cybersecurity breach
Keep an expert on retainer
Have regular briefings with your internal IT response team
Train people to identify risky security actions – even things as simple as email phishing attempts
Have and test your disaster recovery plan

The Information Technology committee is continuing to look at the issues of cybersecurity and identify ways to help the state defend against cyber-attacks.
Another House Committee I am on, Judiciary, has been busy advancing bills aimed at protecting victims in a variety of ways. The following bills have passed committee with bipartisan support and are now available for floor debate.

HF 2079- Post Arrest Release For Certain Sex Abuse Charges
A person charged with 1st, 2nd or 3rd degree sexual abuse will be required to appear before a magistrate before they are released on bail. Additionally, a person charged with these crimes will have a temporary no-contact order entered before they are released on bail.

HF 2160- Assisted Reproduction Assault
Creates the crime of 4th degree sexual abuse if a health care professional uses their own genetic reproductive material without the consent of the patient. This prevents infertility health care professionals from substituting their own genetic material in place of the agreed upon person. Violation is an aggravated misdemeanor and placement on the sex offender registry.

HSB 529- Discovery of Evidence in Sex Abuse Cases
In criminal cases involving victims of sexual abuse, the rules of evidence governing a victim’s past sexual behavior shall also apply to discovery conducted in a criminal or postconviction proceeding, including discovery. Adding this language to the code protects a victim of sexual abuse from having to testify about past sexual behavior in criminal or postconviction actions.

I also had time to visit with the Sigourney High School Government Class this week during their tour of the Capitol, school nutritionists, and the Pella Christian FFA Chapter.

We will continue to work on issues affecting Iowans in the upcoming weeks. There will be committees and subcommittees and floor debates. I encourage you to visit us at the Capitol when we’re in session. If we can find a free minute, we can even make the trip to the top of the dome. As always, please email me at dustin.hite@legis.iowa.gov with any questions, comments, or concerns.