Bills › 91st General Assembly
Relating to the use of personal flotation devices on personal watercraft
Sponsored by the Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee, Sen. Adrian Dickey (R)
Topics:Environment & natural resources
Same legislation: SF 108
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedJanuary 22, 2025
- Done: SubcommitteeJanuary 28, 2025
- Done: Senate committeeMarch 6, 2025
- Done: Passes the SenateMarch 9, 202629–17
- Done: House committeeMarch 18, 2026
- Stopped: Passes the HouseDied when the General Assembly ended
- 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 the use of personal flotation devices on personal watercraft. The bill requires all persons on board a personal watercraft to wear a personal flotation device. The bill provides an exception to the personal flotation device requirement when the person is at least years of age and the personal watercraft is traveling at miles per hour or less or is in a no-wake zone. Under current administrative rules, all operators and passengers of personal watercraft must wear a specified personal flotation device.
Read the full explanation
A “personal watercraft” means a vessel, less than feet in length, which is propelled by a water jet pump or similar machinery as its primary source of motor propulsion and is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on the vessel, rather than being operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling inside the vessel. A person in violation of the personal flotation device requirement is guilty of a simple misdemeanor punishable by a scheduled fine of $30.
From the explanation printed with the bill as introduced, written by the Legislative Services Agency. Amendments adopted later aren’t reflected. Full bill text
House subcommittee
Named March 16, 2026. On March 18, 2026 it recommended passage.
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
Amends§462A.9
Read from the bill as introduced. Each links to every bill touching that chapter of the Iowa Code. How the Code works
Lobbying
0 for · 0 against · 6 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
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