Bills › 91st General Assembly
Relating to interpretation of law in administrative and judicial proceedings under the Iowa administrative procedure Act
Sponsored by the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Bill Gustoff (R)
Topics:Courts & civil law
Same legislation: HF 36
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedJanuary 14, 2025
- Done: SubcommitteeJanuary 16, 2025
- Done: House committeeJanuary 30, 2025
- Done: Passes the HouseMarch 17, 202676–19
- Stopped: Senate committeeDied when the General Assembly ended
- Next: Passes the Senate
- Next: To the Governor
- Next: Signed into law
Died when the session ended The General Assembly adjourned on October 2, 2026. Bills that didn’t pass both chambers died. What’s a funnel?
What’s in it
This bill concerns the interpretation of law in administrative and judicial proceedings under Code chapter 17A, the Iowa administrative procedure Act. Under current law, a court must reverse, modify, or grant other appropriate relief from agency action in specified circumstances if it determines that substantial rights of the person seeking relief have been prejudiced. Such circumstances include agency action based upon an irrational, illogical, or wholly unjustifiable interpretation of a provision of law whose interpretation has clearly been vested by a provision of law in the discretion of the agency.
Read the full explanation
If interpretation of the provision of law has not been clearly vested in the discretion of the agency, the standard of review is instead whether the agency’s interpretation is erroneous. Current law also provides standards for a court regarding the determination of the degree of deference to be given to the view of an agency, based on whether a provision of law has vested the agency with discretion over the matter in question. The bill strikes these provisions and instead provides that a court must reverse, modify, or grant other appropriate relief from agency action based upon an erroneous interpretation of a provision of law. The bill additionally prohibits a court, or a presiding officer in a contested case or other administrative action subject to Code chapter 17A, when interpreting a state statute or a rule or other agency document subject to Code chapter 17A, from deferring to an agency’s interpretation of the statute, rule, or document; the bill instead requires the court or officer to interpret its meaning and effect de novo. The bill requires the court or officer, in an action brought by or against an agency, after applying all customary tools of interpretation, to exercise any remaining doubt in favor of a reasonable interpretation that limits agency authority.
From the explanation printed with the bill as introduced, written by the Legislative Services Agency. Changed since by amendment H-8223; see Amendments. Full bill text
Senate subcommittee
Named March 19, 2026. It hasn’t reported yet.
Three legislators hear a bill first and recommend what the committee should do; it’s the best time to weigh in. How to take part
Iowa Code it changes
Read from the bill as introduced. Each links to every bill touching that chapter of the Iowa Code. How the Code works
Lobbying
9 for · 1 against · 24 undecided · Who →
Family tree
Where this legislation came from and where it went: earlier tries, the versions it moved through this Assembly, and later bills built on it.
91st General Assembly
Earlier and later bills are matched by wording or an identical title; check the text to be sure it’s the same idea.
Tried before
This idea has been filed in an earlier General Assembly. None became law, though one got through a chamber.
- HF 415 Relating to interpretation of law in administrative and judicial proceedings under the Iow…90th General Assembly · Renumbered as HF 645 · same titleCleared committee
- HF 645 Relating to interpretation of law in administrative and judicial proceedings under the Iow…90th General Assembly · Passed House · nearly identicalPassed a chamber
Matched by the wording of each bill’s explanation, or an identical title. Companion bills and renumbered versions of this bill aren’t listed; they’re the same bill.