Workplace safety and economic development bills signed into law

May 11, 2017

Gov. Terry Branstad has 30 days to review the bills that were approved by the Legislature in the final days of the 2017 session. The governor must take action on all bills by April 22. Although the budget bills have yet to be signed into law, Gov. Branstad did sign several pieces of legislation this week, including a few that ABI supported.

SF32: This bill allows employers to use hair for pre-employment drug testing. There was bipartisan support for this bill in the Legislature and this gives employers another tool when it comes to keeping the workplace safe. ABI has advocated to allow employers this option for several years and hope companies who use hair testing in other states for prospective employees will be able to take advantage of this in Iowa now as well. The bill will go into effect July 1, 2017.

HF607: This is the alcohol omnibus bill. It levels the playing field and allows distillers to sell their product by the glass on site. Breweries and wineries were already allowed to do this. The bill also allows more bottles to be sold to customers and increases the production cap. ABI has supported different versions of this bill for the last few years and are pleased to see its passage which will help keep jobs in Iowa and also encourage tourism in small to mid-sized communities around the state. This legislation will also go into effect July 1, 2017.

Read more: Craft distilleries toast new Iowa law (Quad Cities Times)