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SF2237 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to closed captioning in places of public accommodation, and providing for civil penalties.

A bill for an act relating to closed captioning in places of public accommodation, and providing for civil penalties.

Passed Legislature

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

Sponsor
STAED
Last action
2026-02-12
Official status
Subcommittee: Rozenboom, Schultz, and Staed. S.J. 277 .
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 relating to closed captioning in places of public accommodation, and providing for civil penalties.

A bill for an act relating to closed captioning in places of public accommodation, and providing for civil penalties.

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act relating to closed captioning in places of public accommodation, and providing for civil penalties.

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. 2026-02-12 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee: Rozenboom, Schultz, and Staed. S.J. 277 .

  2. 2026-02-09 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, referred to State Government. S.J. 223 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to closed captioning in places of public accommodation, and providing for civil penalties.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
Senate

File

2237

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

2237

BY

STAED

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

closed

captioning

in

places

of

public

1

accommodation,

and

providing

for

civil

penalties.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

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S.F.

2237

Section

1.

NEW

SECTION

.

216.7A

Closed

captioning

required.

1

1.

A

public

accommodation

shall

enable

closed

captioning

2

for

all

television

programming

and

online

broadcasts

that

are

3

provided

for

viewing

by

members

of

the

public

during

hours

4

during

which

the

public

accommodation

is

open

to

the

public

5

unless

a

member

of

the

public

asks

that

closed

captioning

be

6

disabled

on

a

specific

device.

In

the

event

of

such

a

request,

7

closed

captioning

shall

be

enabled

again

once

the

member

of

8

the

public

who

requested

that

closed

captioning

be

disabled

9

discontinues

viewing

or

leaves

the

public

accommodation.

10

2.

A

person

who

violates

this

section

shall

be

subject

to

a

11

civil

penalty

of

up

to

twenty-five

dollars

for

each

violation.

12

A

civil

penalty

collected

under

this

section

shall

be

deposited

13

in

the

general

fund

of

the

state.

14

EXPLANATION

15

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

16

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

17

This

bill

requires

all

public

accommodations

that

provide

18

television

programming

and

online

broadcasts

for

viewing

by

19

members

of

the

public

to

enable

closed

captioning

on

devices

20

viewable

by

the

public

during

business

hours

unless

a

member

21

of

the

public

asks

that

closed

captioning

be

disabled

on

22

a

specific

device,

in

which

case

closed

captioning

shall

23

be

enabled

again

when

the

member

of

the

public

who

made

24

the

request

discontinues

viewing

or

leaves

the

public

25

accommodation.

26

A

person

who

fails

to

comply

with

the

bill

is

subject

to

27

a

civil

penalty

of

$25

for

each

violation.

Civil

penalties

28

collected

under

the

bill

are

deposited

in

the

general

fund

of

29

the

state.

30

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