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HF296 • 2026

A bill for an act providing for public availability of certain financial information of regents institutions and including effective date provisions.(Formerly HSB 59 .)

A bill for an act providing for public availability of certain financial information of regents institutions and including effective date provisions.(Formerly HSB 59 .)

Education
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Last action
2025-04-03
Official status
Referred to Higher Education. H.J. 895 .
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act providing for public availability of certain financial information of regents institutions and including effective date provisions.(Formerly HSB 59 .)

A bill for an act providing for public availability of certain financial information of regents institutions and including effective date provisions.(Formerly HSB 59 .)

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act providing for public availability of certain financial information of regents institutions and including effective date provisions.(Formerly HSB 59 .)

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-04-03 Iowa Legislature

    Referred to Higher Education. H.J. 895 .

  2. 2025-02-25 Iowa Legislature

    Amendment H-1025 filed. H.J. 436 .

  3. 2025-02-10 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, placed on calendar. H.J. 276 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act providing for public availability of certain financial information of regents institutions and including effective date provisions.(Formerly HSB 59 .)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
House

File

296

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

296

BY

COMMITTEE

ON

HIGHER

EDUCATION

(SUCCESSOR

TO

HSB

59)

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

providing

for

public

availability

of

certain

financial

1

information

of

regents

institutions

and

including

effective

2

date

provisions.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

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296

Section

1.

SHORT

TITLE.

This

Act

shall

be

known

and

may

be

1

cited

as

the

“College

Finance

Transparency

Act”.

2

Sec.

2.

NEW

SECTION

.

262.29

Financial

information

of

3

institutions

——

public

availability.

4

1.

As

used

in

this

section,

unless

the

context

otherwise

5

requires:

6

a.

“Administrative

unit”

includes

all

schools,

departments,

7

offices,

programs,

and

other

administrative

subdivisions

of

an

8

institution.

9

b.

“Full-time

faculty

instruction”

means

instruction

10

expenses

for

instructional

faculty

who

teach

at

least

nine

11

semester

credit

hours

each

academic

year.

12

c.

“Institution”

means

an

institution

of

higher

education

13

under

the

control

of

the

state

board

of

regents.

14

d.

“Instruction”

means

the

same

expenses

categorized

15

as

instruction

and

reported

to

the

federal

integrated

16

postsecondary

education

data

system

pursuant

to

the

17

institution’s

program

participation

agreement

with

the

federal

18

department

of

education’s

office

of

postsecondary

education.

19

2.

Each

institution

shall

make

available

to

the

public

on

20

the

institution’s

internet

site

detailed

information

on

all

of

21

the

following:

22

a.

All

budgets

of

the

institution

totaling

fifty

thousand

23

dollars

or

more

in

value.

24

b.

All

expenditures

of

the

institution

of

fifty

thousand

25

dollars

or

more.

26

c.

All

vendors

used

by

the

institution

that

provide

fifty

27

thousand

dollars

or

more

of

goods

or

services.

28

d.

All

written

contracts

entered

into

by

the

institution.

29

3.

The

information

required

by

subsection

2

shall

be

subject

30

to

the

following

requirements:

31

a.

The

information

shall

be

accessible

from

the

32

institution’s

internet

site

home

page

by

use

of

no

more

than

33

three

links.

34

b.

The

information

shall

be

searchable

by

keywords

and

35

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phrases.

1

c.

The

information

shall

be

accessible

to

the

public

without

2

requiring

registration

or

use

of

a

user

name,

password,

or

3

other

user

identification.

4

d.

The

information

shall

be

made

available

no

later

than

the

5

first

day

of

classes

for

the

semester

or

other

academic

term

6

during

which

the

section

of

the

course

is

offered.

7

e.

The

information

shall

be

updated

on

a

regular

basis

to

8

include

information

for

the

current

fiscal

year.

9

f.

The

information

shall

remain

available

on

the

10

institution’s

internet

site

for

at

least

ten

years

after

the

11

date

on

which

the

institution

initially

made

the

information

12

available.

13

4.

The

information

required

to

be

made

available

pursuant

to

14

subsection

2

shall

include

all

of

the

following:

15

a.

An

annual

budget

that

includes

anticipated

revenues

and

16

expenditures

for

each

administrative

unit

of

the

institution.

17

b.

A

report

comparing

each

budget

with

actual

expenditures

18

that

shows

the

budget,

actual

revenue

and

expense

transactions,

19

revenue

and

expense

commitments,

and

budget

balance

information

20

for

each

administrative

unit.

21

c.

A

budgeted

salary

report

that

shows

the

name,

title,

22

classifications,

full-time

equivalent

percentage,

annual

23

salary,

funding

sources,

and

percentage

of

salary

for

each

24

budget

for

full-time

and

part-time

positions.

25

d.

A

statement

indicating

whether

an

individual

expenditure

26

has

contributed

to

diversity,

equity,

and

inclusion;

social

27

justice;

sustainability;

or

any

similar

commitment.

28

e.

Discrete

sections

that

collate

all

individual

29

expenditures

for

each

of

the

categories

of

diversity,

equity,

30

and

inclusion;

social

justice;

sustainability;

or

any

similar

31

commitment,

and

that

include

the

aggregate

expenditures

of

the

32

institution

as

a

whole,

and

the

aggregate

expenditures

of

each

33

administrative

unit

for

the

institution,

for

each

of

these

34

categories.

35

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f.

Month-end

financial

statements

that

show

the

current

1

status

of

project

budgets,

expenditures,

commitments,

and

2

balances.

3

g.

A

calculation

of

the

proportion

of

the

institution’s

4

total

expenditures

devoted

to

full-time

faculty

instruction,

5

excluding

expenditures

and

instruction

at

the

university

of

6

Iowa

hospitals

and

clinics.

7

h.

(1)

A

transaction

register

that

contains

a

complete

8

record

of

all

funds

expended,

from

any

source

and

for

any

9

purpose.

The

register

shall

include

all

of

the

following

for

10

each

expenditure:

11

(a)

The

transaction

amount.

12

(b)

The

name

of

the

individual

or

entity

receiving

payment.

13

(c)

The

identification

number

of

the

transaction,

if

14

applicable.

15

(d)

A

description

of

the

expenditure,

including

the

source

16

of

funds,

a

category

title,

and

an

object

title

for

the

17

expenditure.

18

(2)

The

register

shall

include

all

reimbursements

for

19

expenses.

20

(3)

The

register

shall

include

an

entry

for

salary,

wages,

21

or

other

compensation

paid

to

individual

employees

involved

in

22

the

expenditure.

23

(4)

The

register

shall

be

accompanied

by

a

complete

24

explanation

of

any

codes

or

acronyms

used

to

identify

an

25

expenditure

or

an

individual

or

entity

receiving

payment.

26

(5)

The

register

shall

not

include

an

individual’s

social

27

security

number.

28

5.

Any

information

that

is

expressly

prohibited

from

public

29

disclosure

by

federal

or

state

law,

regulation,

or

rule

shall

30

be

redacted

from

any

information

made

available

to

the

public

31

pursuant

to

subsection

2.

32

Sec.

3.

EFFECTIVE

DATE.

This

Act

takes

effect

December

1,

33

2025.

34

EXPLANATION

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The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

1

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

2

This

bill

requires

each

institution

of

higher

education

3

under

the

control

of

the

state

board

of

regents

to

make

4

available

to

the

public

on

the

institution’s

internet

site

5

detailed

information

on

budgets

of

the

institution

totaling

6

$50,000

or

more

in

value,

expenditures

of

the

institution

7

of

$50,000

or

more,

vendors

used

by

the

institution

that

8

provide

$50,000

or

more

of

goods

or

services,

and

written

9

contracts

entered

into

by

the

institution.

The

bill

provides

10

accessibility

requirements

and

timelines

for

making

such

11

information

available.

12

The

bill

specifies

matters

that

must

be

included

in

the

13

information.

Among

such

matters

are

an

annual

budget

for

each

14

administrative

unit

of

the

institution;

a

budgeted

salary

15

report;

information

on

expenditures

for

diversity,

equity,

and

16

inclusion,

and

similar

commitments;

and

a

transaction

register

17

that

contains

a

complete

record

of

all

funds

expended.

18

Any

information

that

is

expressly

prohibited

from

public

19

disclosure

by

federal

or

state

law,

regulation,

or

rule

shall

20

be

redacted

from

any

information

made

available

to

the

public

21

pursuant

to

the

bill.

22

The

bill

takes

effect

December

1,

2025.

23

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