Hite Capitol Update – March 10th, 2022
by Dustin Hite
As week nine is coming to a close here at the State House, the next phase of the 2022 legislative session is underway. The first of the Fiscal Year 2023 budget bills were released and subcommittees started taking action on the proposed spending plans.
Leading the way is the Justice Systems Budget subcommittee, which has released its proposals for both the Judicial Branch and the Justice Systems budgets for next fiscal year. For the Judicial Branch, state spending would increase by $7.36 million for fiscal year 2023. The increase in funding will cover the costs of adding four new associate judge positions, and providing judges and magistrates with a 5.9% salary increase. In total, the bill would spend $200.6 million on the state’s judicial branch in Fiscal Year 2023.
The bulk of the increase in funding allocated to the subcommittee will be spent in the Justice Systems budget bill. The Department of Corrections will receive an additional $7.1 million in the next budget year. These funds will be spread out amongst the various state correctional facilities and the eight community-based corrections districts. If enacted into law, funding for the Department of Corrections will have increased by almost 29 million dollars above its FY 2021 levels.
The Department of Public Safety also will receive a sizeable increase for the second year in a row. DPS will get an additional $3.1 million in FY 2023. The majority of that increase will go to the Iowa State Patrol, which will have a budget of $71.5 million for Fiscal Year 2023. The budget also continues the commitment made last year to provide DPS with a separate funding stream for equipment purchases. The Justice Systems budget will again provide $2.5 million for this.
Another budget unit that will see an increase is the State Public Defender’s office in the Department of Inspections and Appeals. Funding for public defenders will go up 650 thousand dollars, and the funding for private attorneys being appointed to provide representation to indigent defendants will rise by $1.6 million.
The Transportation, Infrastructure, and Capitals Appropriations Subcommittee will also take action on the FY 23 Transportation budget bill. That bill mirrors the proposal unveiled by Governor Reynolds to spend $410.7 million on the operations of the Department of Transportation and an additional $14.3 million for capital projects.
The remaining budget bills will begin moving through the subcommittee process over the next week, and consideration by the House Appropriations Committee following closely. These steps have signaled that it is budget time at the Iowa State Capital.
There have been many bills that have passed the House of Representatives and been sent to the Senate for their consideration, including key legislation from the Information Technology committee that passed the House with bipartisan support.
The year 2021 set new records for data breaches. By the end of September 2021, the number of breaches already exceeded the number of breaches in all of 2020. Industries typically targeted include manufacturing, utilities, healthcare, financial services, and government. These breaches impacted millions of people. Some of the major breaches from 2021 included Facebook, LinkedIn, Coinbase, Robinhood, T-Mobile, and Colonial Pipeline among others.
Iowans should be confident that their information is secure and proactive steps are being taken to secure their private information. All session, the Information Technology Committee has been learning and gathering information on cybersecurity risks. The IT Committee heard from cybersecurity experts and even a first-hand account of a major cyber-attack at DMACC.
Some of the proposals to arise from these conversations include the following bills:
HF2302 – Encourages businesses to develop a cybersecurity program framework and keep it updated with the latest recommendations. If the business is not following a nationally recognized framework, the scale and scope of their program must be appropriate with the maximum probable loss calculated for the business. Business who have and keep their cybersecurity frame work updated are eligible to use an affirmative defense if they are subject to a cybersecurity breach.
HF 2461 – Criminalizes the use of ransomware in cyber attacks and sets penalties for those who violate the law.
HF 2288 – Adds costs associated with protecting against a cybersecurity event to the essential county and corporate purpose definitions. This would allow cities and counties, under their current constitutional caps, to use bond revenue to protect against cyber threats.
This week, the Mahaska County Treasurer and Deputy Treasurer, Connie Van Polen and Tracey Gilliland attended the Iowa State Association of Counties day here at the State House. Students from Peoria Christian School and Sully Christian School also paid Representative Maxwell and I a visit at the State Capitol.
Feel free to reach out to dustin.hite@legis.iowa.gov with any questions, comments, or concerns, or to schedule a visit to meet with me at the Capitol.
