During the past couple of weeks, several bills that protect Iowa citizens were passed in the House. Two bills passed by the Iowa House of Representatives last week will make personal information about Iowans more secure and provide better notice if a breach should occur.

Senate File 2277 will allow Iowans to limit access to their credit information by requesting a security freeze. This will prevent the national consumer credit reporting companies from releasing information about the consumer.

This security freeze will prevent thieves from using your personal information to obtain new credit cards or bank accounts and will prevent them from making major purchases. Personal information includes your social security, driver’s license, and financial account numbers. You will then be able to lift the freeze when you need your personal information released, such as when you are purchasing a new car, buying a home, opening a new credit card account, or making other financial transactions.

The second bill, Senate File 2308, requires businesses and governments to notify you expeditiously if a security breach occurs and your personal information has been accessed. You will receive a letter, email or a notice through a website or the media. SF 2308 also makes it a class D felony for a public official or employee to intentionally disclose personal information for compensation. A class D felony is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine ranging from $750-$7,500.

Identity theft has become much too commonplace. In 2007 alone, 127 million credit card holders were affected by security breaches. A victim of identity theft spends on average 175 hours and $808 to correct the situation. And in the case of friends of ours, it ruined their credit for about 3 years and caused them great distress as well as a lot of money, more than the current average.

Two other bills that passed this session and are now headed to Governor Culver will make elderly Iowans and their families more secure about their well being if they are under the care of others. House File 2591 clarifies what adult abuse is and who is covered as a caretaker under the law. Dependent adult abuse is defined as a physical injury, a sexual offense, exploitation or willful misconduct or gross negligence by a caretaker.

The second bill, HF 2609, will allow the finding of fact after an investigation of an elder group home, assisted living facility or adult day service, to be made public. This already applies to nursing facilities.

We have accomplished a lot this session, and we are still working on many issues, including a comprehensive health care reform measure that I’ve been working on for nearly a year. We expect to expand health care insurance coverage to thousands of uninsured children over the next three years.

Other issues that are being considered before the end of the session include property tax relief; the local option school infrastructure sales tax; compulsory school attendance until age 18; establishing a statewide model core curriculum for all accredited K-12 schools in the state; immigration reform; funding roads and bridges; updating Iowa’s open records and public meetings law; and enacting some form of a smoking ban.

While addressing all of these issues we are required to balance the state budget and maintain our commitments to fund education, economic development, health and human services and other programs that are helpful to all Iowans.

You can write me at the State Capitol, Des Moines, IA 50319; call me at 515/281-7328 or e-mail me at  ro.foege@legis.state.ia.us.

Ro

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