Bills › 91st General Assembly
Relating to prohibitions on noncompete covenants involving nurses and including applicability provisions
Sponsored by Sen. Molly Donahue (D)
Topics:Jobs & workers
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedFebruary 19, 2025
- Done: SubcommitteeFebruary 24, 2025
- Stopped: Senate committeeDied when the General Assembly ended
- Next: Passes the Senate
- Next: House committeeFunnel: by March 20, 2026
- Next: Passes the House
- 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 relates to noncompete covenants, as defined in the bill, contained within employment contracts involving nurses and provisions that are prohibited and void. The bill provides that if a person employed as a registered nurse or an advanced registered nurse practitioner makes less than 150 percent of the minimum wage, a noncompete covenant is unenforceable and violates the bill. The bill provides that a noncompete covenant with an employee who exceeds that wage threshold is unenforceable and violates the bill unless the employer can show that the noncompete covenant is necessary due to a clear and inherent risk of unfair competition and the noncompete covenant was narrowly tailored to mitigate the risk.
Read the full explanation
The bill includes exceptions to these provisions. A prevailing employee is entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees, court costs, lost wages, and at the discretion of the court, liquidated damages of up to triple the amount of lost wages for willful violations of the bill. An employer found to be in violation of the bill is subject to a $5,000 penalty per violation payable to the director of the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing for deposit in the general fund. The bill applies to covenants not to compete entered into on or after the effective date of the bill.
From the explanation printed with the bill as introduced, written by the Legislative Services Agency. Amendments adopted later aren’t reflected. Full bill text
Senate subcommittee
Named February 24, 2025. 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
Creates§95.1§95.2§95.3§95.4§95.5
Read from the bill as introduced. Each links to every bill touching that chapter of the Iowa Code. How the Code works
Lobbying
2 for · 0 against · 1 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.
Tried before
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 got through a chamber.
- SF 426 Relating to prohibitions on noncompete covenants involving nurses and including applicabil…90th General Assembly · In committee · nearly identicalCleared committee
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.