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SF89 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to the statewide interoperable communications system, and including effective date provisions.

A bill for an act relating to the statewide interoperable communications system, and including effective date provisions.

Passed Legislature

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

Sponsor
BOUSSELOT
Last action
2025-02-12
Official status
Subcommittee recommends amendment and passage.
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 the statewide interoperable communications system, and including effective date provisions.

A bill for an act relating to the statewide interoperable communications system, and including effective date provisions.

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act relating to the statewide interoperable communications system, and including effective date provisions.

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. 2025-02-12 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee recommends amendment and passage.

  2. 2025-02-10 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee Meeting: 02/11/2025 4:00PM Room 217 Conference Room.

  3. 2025-02-04 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee: Rozenboom, Schultz, and Staed. S.J. 193 .

  4. 2025-01-22 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, referred to State Government. S.J. 121 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to the statewide interoperable communications system, and including effective date provisions.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Senate

File

89

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

89

BY

BOUSSELOT

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

the

statewide

interoperable

communications

1

system,

and

including

effective

date

provisions.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

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Section

1.

Section

80.29,

subsections

2

and

3,

Code

2025,

1

are

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

2.

Review

and

monitor

communications

interoperability

3

performance

and

service

levels

on

behalf

of

agencies

users

.

4

3.

Establish,

monitor,

and

maintain

appropriate

policies

5

and

protocols

to

ensure

that

interoperable

communications

6

systems

function

properly.

Neither

the

board

nor

any

7

subcommittee

of

the

board

shall

make

any

standard,

rule,

8

or

policy

that

conflicts

with

this

chapter

or

published

9

administrative

rules.

10

Sec.

2.

Section

80.29,

Code

2025,

is

amended

by

adding

the

11

following

new

subsection:

12

NEW

SUBSECTION

.

15.

Process

all

applications

for

access

to

13

the

statewide

interoperable

communications

system.

The

board

14

shall

not

delegate

this

responsibility

to

any

other

committee,

15

subcommittee,

or

third

party.

The

approval

of

an

application

16

shall

not

be

delayed

by

any

other

committee,

subcommittee,

17

or

third

party.

An

application

for

access

to

the

statewide

18

interoperable

communications

system

shall

not

be

delayed

or

19

prevented

from

being

forwarded

to

the

board

for

approval

by

the

20

board

at

the

board’s

next

meeting

following

the

submission

of

21

an

application.

22

Sec.

3.

NEW

SECTION

.

80.29A

Eligibility

for

access

to

23

statewide

interoperable

communications

system.

24

1.

For

purposes

of

this

section,

unless

the

context

25

otherwise

requires:

26

a.

“Board”

means

the

statewide

interoperable

communications

27

system

board

established

in

section

80.28.

28

b.

“Public

entity”

means

the

state,

political

subdivisions

29

of

the

state,

public

school

corporations,

and

all

public

30

officers,

boards,

commissions,

departments,

agencies,

and

31

authorities

empowered

by

law

to

enter

into

public

contracts

for

32

the

expenditure

of

public

funds,

including

the

state

board

of

33

regents

and

institutions

under

the

control

of

the

state

board

34

of

regents.

35

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c.

“Public

service

organization”

means

a

nongovernmental

1

entity

including

but

not

limited

to:

2

(1)

Railway

special

agents.

3

(2)

Private

security

agencies

that

are

licensed

under

4

chapter

80A.

5

(3)

Nuclear

power

facility

responders.

6

(4)

Hazardous

materials

teams.

7

(5)

Rescue,

search

and

rescue,

and

search

and

recovery

8

teams.

9

(6)

Towing

services.

10

(7)

Entities

that

provide

electric,

gas,

or

other

11

utilities.

12

(8)

Airports

and

aviation

services.

13

(9)

Any

nonprofit

or

humanitarian

organization

that

helps

14

people

prepare

for,

and

respond

to,

emergencies

or

disasters.

15

(10)

Emergency

medical

services,

including

but

not

limited

16

to

first

responders,

emergency

medical

technicians,

paramedics,

17

or

ambulance

services,

whether

paid

or

volunteer.

18

(11)

Private

safety

entities

that

provide

emergency

19

fire,

ambulance,

or

medical

services

whether

by

full-time

or

20

part-time

employees

or

on

a

volunteer

basis.

21

(12)

Any

other

public

service

organization

reasonably

22

determined

to

require

direct

access

to

the

statewide

23

interoperable

communications

system.

24

d.

“Sponsored

system

access”

means

access

to

the

statewide

25

interoperable

communications

system

by

any

public

service

26

organization

that

is

not

a

qualified

public

entity

or

public

27

service

organization

generally

entitled

to

direct

access

to

28

the

statewide

interoperable

communications

system,

but

the

29

organization

is

sponsored

by

the

head

of

any

public

entity.

30

e.

“User

level”

means

the

type

of

statewide

interoperable

31

communications

system

access

provided

to

any

statewide

32

interoperable

communications

system

user.

33

2.

Voice

and

data

access

shall

be

provided

by

the

board

34

to

any

public

entity

or

public

service

organization

that

is

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qualified

to

be

a

statewide

interoperable

communications

system

1

user,

or

any

public

service

organization

that

is

sponsored

by

2

the

head

of

a

public

entity.

3

3.

No

public

service

organization,

regardless

of

whether

4

it

has

direct

or

sponsored

system

access,

shall

be

required

5

to

have

a

contract

or

agreement

with

a

public

entity

or

other

6

governmental

organization

in

order

to

qualify

for

statewide

7

interoperable

communications

system

access.

No

organization

8

that

is

sponsored

by

the

head

of

any

public

entity

shall

be

9

denied

access

to

the

statewide

interoperable

communications

10

system.

11

4.

There

are

four

user

levels

allowing

various

degrees

of

12

access

to

the

statewide

interoperable

communications

system

13

platform.

A

public

service

organization

shall

specify

the

14

user

level

required

when

submitting

the

initial

application

15

for

statewide

interoperable

communications

system

access.

16

The

level

of

access

required

is

based

upon

the

needs

and

17

capabilities

of

the

public

service

organization.

A

public

18

service

organization

may

submit

a

request

to

change

its

19

user

level

at

any

time

after

being

approved

as

a

statewide

20

interoperable

communications

system

user.

The

statewide

21

interoperable

communications

system

board

shall

approve

the

22

user

level

submitted

by

a

public

service

organization.

23

5.

All

equipment

and

programming

costs

associated

with

24

communications

on

the

statewide

interoperable

communications

25

system,

including

encryption

equipment,

shall

be

the

sole

26

responsibility

of

the

public

service

organization

to

purchase,

27

program,

and

maintain.

The

state

will

provide

the

system

28

access

setup,

training,

support,

and

electronic

codes

or

keys

29

to

public

service

organizations

at

no

cost.

30

6.

A

decision

by

the

board

to

deny

access

to,

or

to

remove

31

current

access

to,

the

statewide

interoperable

communications

32

system

may

be

appealed

by

the

public

service

organization

to

an

33

administrative

law

judge

of

the

department.

34

Sec.

4.

EFFECTIVE

DATE.

This

Act,

being

deemed

of

immediate

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importance,

takes

effect

upon

enactment.

1

EXPLANATION

2

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

3

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

4

This

bill

requires

the

statewide

interoperable

5

communications

system

(SICS)

board

to

process

all

applications

6

for

access

to

the

SICS.

The

board

shall

not

delegate

this

7

responsibility

to

any

other

committee,

subcommittee,

or

third

8

party.

The

approval

of

an

application

shall

not

be

delayed

9

by

any

other

committee,

subcommittee,

or

third

party.

An

10

application

for

access

to

the

SICS

shall

not

be

delayed

or

11

prevented

from

being

forwarded

to

the

board

for

approval

by

the

12

board

at

the

board’s

next

meeting

following

the

submission

of

13

an

application.

14

The

bill

requires

the

board

to

provide

voice

and

data

15

access

to

any

public

entity

or

public

service

organization

16

that

is

qualified

to

be

an

SICS

user,

or

any

public

service

17

organization

that

is

sponsored

by

the

head

of

a

public

entity.

18

No

public

service

organization,

regardless

of

whether

it

19

has

direct

or

sponsored

system

access,

shall

be

required

to

20

have

a

contract

or

agreement

with

a

public

entity

or

other

21

governmental

organization

in

order

to

qualify

for

SICS

access.

22

A

public

service

organization

shall

specify

the

user

level

23

required

when

submitting

the

initial

application

for

SICS

24

access

based

upon

the

needs

and

capabilities

of

the

public

25

service

organization.

A

request

to

change

user

level

may

be

26

made

at

any

time

after

approval.

The

SICS

board

shall

approve

27

the

user

level

submitted

by

a

public

service

organization.

28

The

bill

provides

that

all

equipment

and

programming

29

costs

associated

with

communications

on

the

SICS,

including

30

encryption

equipment,

shall

be

the

sole

responsibility

of

the

31

public

service

organization

to

purchase,

program,

and

maintain.

32

The

state

will

provide

the

system

access

setup,

training,

33

support,

and

electronic

codes

or

keys

to

public

service

34

organizations

at

no

cost.

35

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A

decision

by

the

board

to

deny

access

to,

or

to

remove

1

current

access

to,

the

SICS

may

be

appealed

by

the

public

2

service

organization

to

an

administrative

law

judge

of

the

3

department

of

public

safety.

4

The

bill

provides

definitions.

5

The

bill

takes

effect

upon

enactment.

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