Bill Text: IA HF39 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to the process to bind the state to international trade agreements.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-01-18 - Introduced, referred to State Government. H.J. 92. [HF39 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2017-HF39-Introduced.html

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House File 39 - Introduced




                                 HOUSE FILE       
                                 BY  ISENHART

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to the process to bind the state to
  2    international trade agreements.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 15.108, Code 2017, is amended by adding
  1  2 the following new subsection:
  1  3    NEW SUBSECTION.  12.  Trade agreements.  To review, analyze,
  1  4 and report on trade agreements, as required pursuant to section
  1  5 15E.81.
  1  6    Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  15E.81  Trade agreements.
  1  7    1.  If the United States government provides the state with
  1  8 the opportunity to consent to or to reject binding the state
  1  9 to a trade agreement, or a designated provision within a trade
  1 10 agreement, then an official of the state, including but not
  1 11 limited to the governor, shall not give consent to the United
  1 12 States government to bind the state to the trade agreement,
  1 13 except as provided in this section.
  1 14    2.  When a communication from the United States trade
  1 15 representative concerning a trade agreement is received by the
  1 16 state, the governor shall transmit a copy of the communication
  1 17 and the trade agreement, or relevant provisions of the trade
  1 18 agreement, to the director of the authority, the president of
  1 19 the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and
  1 20 the chairpersons and ranking members of the general assembly's
  1 21 standing committees on government oversight.
  1 22    3.  The director of the authority, in consultation with
  1 23 the attorney general and the faculty of the international and
  1 24 comparative law program at the college of law at the university
  1 25 of Iowa, shall, immediately upon receipt, review and analyze a
  1 26 trade agreement and submit a report to the general assembly and
  1 27 the governor on the potential impact on the state of consenting
  1 28 to be bound by the trade agreement.
  1 29    4.  An official of the state, including but not limited to
  1 30 the governor, shall not consent to bind the state to the terms
  1 31 or provisions of a trade agreement unless the general assembly
  1 32 has passed a joint resolution authorizing the governor or
  1 33 other official to give consent to bind the state to the trade
  1 34 agreement or to a provision designated by the United States
  1 35 government within the trade agreement.
  2  1    5.  As used in this section, "trade agreement" means
  2  2 an agreement reached between the United States government
  2  3 and any other country, countries, or other international
  2  4 political entity or entities that proposes to regulate trade,
  2  5 procurement, services, or investment among the parties to the
  2  6 agreement. "Trade agreement" includes but is not limited to any
  2  7 agreements under the auspices of the world trade organization,
  2  8 all regional free trade agreements, and all bilateral trade
  2  9 agreements entered into by the United States, as well as
  2 10 requests for binding agreement received from a United States
  2 11 trade representative.
  2 12                           EXPLANATION
  2 13 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  2 14 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  2 15    This bill relates to the process to bind the state to
  2 16 international trade agreements if the federal government
  2 17 provides the option to states to consent or not consent.
  2 18    The bill provides that an official of the state, including
  2 19 the governor, is not able to give consent to bind the state
  2 20 to the terms or provisions of a trade agreement unless the
  2 21 general assembly has passed a joint resolution authorizing the
  2 22 governor or other official of the state to bind the state to
  2 23 the trade agreement or to a designated provision within the
  2 24 trade agreement.
  2 25    Under the bill, the governor is required to transmit
  2 26 a copy of a trade agreement, or relevant provisions of a
  2 27 trade agreement, to the director of the economic development
  2 28 authority, the president of the senate, the speaker of the
  2 29 house of representatives, and the chairpersons and ranking
  2 30 members of the general assembly's standing committees on
  2 31 government oversight.
  2 32    The bill requires that the director of the economic
  2 33 development authority, in consultation with the attorney
  2 34 general and the faculty of the international and comparative
  2 35 law program at the college of law at the university of Iowa,
  3  1 immediately review, analyze, and submit a report on such a
  3  2 trade agreement. The bill requires the authority to submit the
  3  3 report to the general assembly and the governor.
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