HF 15 — Workforce and labor finance bill (introduced January 14, 2025)
Status summary
- Introduced: January 14, 2025 (referred to Judiciary).
- Committee activity: Subcommittee hearings Jan 21–22; committee recommended amendment and passage (Jan 30) — vote 21–0; later committee report to adopt as amended and re‑refer to Public Safety Finance and Policy (Mar 3).
- Renumbered: Committee report approved bill renumbered as HF 209 (Feb 6).
- Withdrawn: April 28, 2025.
- Primary sponsor: Representative Lohse.
- Companion bills: SF 637 and SF 17.
Purpose and intent
- Establishes a recruitment‑incentive program to help rural counties and municipalities recruit and retain attorneys by providing multi‑year incentive payments tied to employment obligations and public‑service commitments.
Key provisions (from introduced version)
- Incentive amount and payment schedule
- An eligible attorney who satisfies program requirements is entitled to receive an incentive payment paid in five equal annual installments.
- Each annual installment equals 90% of the University of Iowa College of Law resident tuition and fees as determined on July 1, 2025 (the statute uses that figure as the baseline for calculating each installment).
- Local cost‑share
- Any recruitment assistance agreement must obligate the rural county or municipality served by the attorney to pay 35% of the total incentive amount (paid in five equal annual installments).
- After the county/municipality certifies it has paid its required share for a given year, the state department will pay the remaining balance to the attorney out of funds appropriated for the program.
- A county or municipality may prepay its portion at any time during the five‑year period.
- State payment is conditioned on completion of each annual employment obligation.
- Service and public‑service conditions
- Agreements must require the attorney to become a contract attorney with the Office of the State Public Defender.
- The attorney must also agree to participate in volunteer lawyer projects administered by nonprofit organizations that provide legal assistance to low‑income and vulnerable Iowans.
- Local financing and partnerships
- Eligible counties or municipalities may appropriate funds to carry out the program and may enter agreements with other counties, municipalities, school districts, or nonprofit entities to assist in funding/implementation.
- Administrative process
- A recruitment assistance agreement is not effective until it is filed with and approved by the administering department.
- State payments are to be made only after annual employment obligations are completed and appropriate certifications are received.
Who is affected
- Rural counties and municipalities that choose to participate (they must provide 35% of incentive costs).
- Attorneys recruited under the program (receive multi‑year incentive tied to employment and public‑service).
- Office of the State Public Defender (contracts for attorneys).
- Nonprofit legal aid organizations (requirement for volunteer project participation).
- The state department identified in the bill (payments made from moneys appropriated for the program).
Fiscal and procedural notes
- The state share equals approximately 65% of the incentive total (paid from appropriations provided under the section); exact per‑attorney dollar amounts depend on the University of Iowa law tuition/fee amount as of July 1, 2025.
- The bill was renumbered as HF 209 in committee and ultimately withdrawn on April 28, 2025; it did not become law in this form in the 2025 session.
This summary focuses on the attorney recruitment portion of the introduced HF 15 text. The bill title and classifications indicate it was an omnibus workforce and labor finance measure and may have contained additional provisions in other sections or in subsequent drafts.
