HF 856 — A bill for an act prohibiting public entities from engaging in certain activities relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion, creating a private cause of action, and including effective date provisions.

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ertryfteSnte lekfteHuse STATECAPITOL DES MO019 521511FA5575327WWW.GOVERNOR.IOWA.GOV :snua "idIïi1919 I1 ili11! I € w91•?9h6ll,t1,IÂC1199l::I1111 &1.99Yfl1 I111G1"'I1 91lI1'"IY1 11I•'6l [i1iF^L House File 856 AN ACT PROHIBITING PUBLIC ENTITIES FROM ENGAGING IN CERTAIN ACTIVITIES RELATING TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION, CREATING A PRIVATE CAUSE OF ACTION, AND INCLUDING EFFECTIVE DATE PROVISIONS.

DIVISION I STATE ENTITIES ——— DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION ACTIVITIES PROHIBITED Section 11. .

'Diversity,“Diversity, equity, and inclusioninclusion” - includes any of the following:

House File 856, pp. .

"Diversit“Diversity, y, equity, and inclusion officeoffice” - means any division, office, center, or other unit of a state entity that is responsible for creating, developing, designing, implementing, organizing, planning, or promoting policies, programming, training, practices, activities, or procedures related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Diversity,“Diversity, equity, and inclusion office"office” does not include any of the following:

An office staffed exclusively by licensed attorneys and paralegal and secretarial support for the licensed attorneys, and certified by the attorney general as operating with the sole and exclusive mission of ensuring legal compliance with the state entity'sentity’s obligations under Tit.

"Diversit“Diversity, y, equity, and inclusion officer'officer” means an individual who is either employed by a state entity or who is an independent contractor of a state entity and whose duties include coordinating, creating, developing, designing, implementing, organizing, planning, or promoting policies, programming, training, practices, activities, and procedures relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

"Diversity,“Diversity, equity, and inclusion officerofficer” -doesdoes not include any of the following:

Any employee who is a licensed attorney and whose sole job duties related to diversity, equity, and inclusion are to ensure compliance with the state entity'sentity’s obligations under Tit.

§12101 et seq., as amended, the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, 229 9 U.S.C.

LL. .

Any employee while engaged in teaching, research, or the production of creative works, the dissemination of the employee'semployee’s research or creative works, or advising a registered student organization.

"Gender“Gender identityidentity” - means a gender-related identity of a person, regardless of the person'sperson’s assigned sex at birth.

-Sexual“Sexual orientationorientation” - means the same as defined in section 216.2.

State“State entityentity” - means the state, including but not limited to a state agency, department, division, board, commission, institution, or authority;

or any House File 856, pp. .

Subsection 1 shall not be construed to cover or affect a state entity'sentity’s funding of any of the following:

Research or creative works by the state entity'sentity’s students, employees, or other research personnel, and the dissemination of such research or creative works.

IF.f.

19.3 Enforcement ——— venue.

Any person may notify the attorney general of a state entity'sentity’s potential violation of section 19.2.

C.c.

4.

DIVISION II COMMUNITY COLLEGES ——— DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION ACTIVITIES PROHIBITED Sec.

5.

()(1) An With respect to an institution of higher learning governed by the state board of regents, an office staffed exclusively by licensed attorneys and paralegal and secretarial support for the licensed attorneys, and certified by the attorney general as operating with the sole and exclusive mission of ensuring legal compliance with the public institution of higher education'seducation’s obligations under Tit.

6.

Public“Public institution of higher educationeducation” - means an House File 856, pp. .

6 institution of higher learning governed by the state board of regents or a community college.college .

Each public institution of higher education governed by the state board of regents shall, on or before December 1 of each year, submit an annual report to the general assembly and the governor that certifies the public institution of highcrhigher cdueducation’s ation"sinstitution’s institution's compliance with this chapter.

FY 2025-2026 APPROPRIATIONS ——— REALLOCATION.

At the close of the fiscal year beginning July 11, , 2025, all unexpended moneys appropriated by the general assembly for the fiscal year that would have been expended by an institution of higher learning governed by the state board of regents on diversity, equity, and inclusion offices or diversity, equity, and inclusion officers on or after the effective date of this division of this Act are reallocated to the Iowa workforce grant and incentive program fund established pursuant to section 256.230, subsection 88. .

______________________________ ______________________________ PAT GRASSLGRASSLEY AMY SINCLAIR Speaker of the House President of the Senate I hereby certify that this bill originated in the House and is known as House File 856, Ninety-first General Assembly.

______________________________ MEGHAN NELSON Chief Clerk of the House Approved _______________, 2025 ______________________________ KIM REYNOLDS Governor