Fiscal Note
Fiscal Services Division
HF 647 – Youth Employment (LSB1838HV)
Staff Contacts: Evan Johnson (515.281.6301) evan.johnson@legis.iowa.gov
Molly Kilker (515.725.1286) molly.kilker@legis.iowa.gov
Fiscal Note Version – New
Description
House File 647 relates to youth employment and makes the following changes:
• Removes language providing for child labor permits and migrant labor permits.
• Prohibits individuals 13 years of age or younger from working in any work activity.
• Removes language that allows migrant laborers who are 14 or 15 years of age to work
during summer school hours.
• Allows minors to participate in certain work activities that are currently prohibited.
• Modifies the hours that minors may work.
• Allows the Labor Commissioner to issue waivers of youth employment restrictions in certain
circumstances.
• Provides that the Director of the Iowa Department of Workforce Development (IWD) or the
Director of the Department of Education may grant exceptions from any provision of Iowa
Code section 92.6 or 92.7 for individuals 14 to 17 years of age who are participating in
work-based learning or a school- or employer-administered, work-related program if certain
conditions are met.
• Creates exceptions to Iowa Code section 92.8 for students in approved work-based learning
programs, registered apprenticeships, career and technical education programs, or student
learner programs if certain conditions are met.
• Removes certain violations relating to child labor under Iowa Code section 92.19.
• Removes the serious misdemeanor penalty for an individual in charge of any migratory
worker or of any child who engages in a street occupation in violation of Iowa Code chapter
92.
• Grants the Labor Commissioner the right to waive or reduce a civil penalty related to the
violation of child labor laws based on the evidence the Commissioner obtains. The Bill also
requires the Commissioner to provide a 15-day grace period before imposing a civil penalty.
• Modifies employer liability related to secondary students in work-based learning programs.
• Allows individuals 16 or 17 years of age to sell or serve alcoholic beverages for consumption
on the premises where sold if the employer has a written permission from the legal guardian
or custodian of the individual on file.
• Modifies requirements and privileges related to special minor’s driver’s licenses.
Background
Under current law, those between the ages of 10 and 13 may work in street occupations or
migratory labor occupations under Iowa Code section 92.1. Civil penalties assessed by the
Labor Commissioner under Iowa Code chapter 92 may not exceed $10,000. An application for
a special minor’s license must be certified by an authorized school official. A violation of Iowa
Code section 321.194 is punishable by a scheduled fine of $70.
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Assumptions
• The following will not change over the projection period: charge, conviction, and sentencing
patterns and trends; prisoner length of stay (LOS); revocation rates; plea bargaining; and
other criminal justice system policies and practices.
• A lag effect of six months is assumed from the effective date of this Bill to the date of first
entry of affected offenders into the correctional system.
• Marginal costs for county jails cannot be estimated due to a lack of data. For purposes of
this analysis, the marginal cost for county jails is assumed to be $50 per day.
• Fine revenue is distributed pursuant to Iowa Code section 620.8106.
• The requirement for certain holders of a special minor’s license to submit new
documentation to the Department of Transportation (DOT) comes with the following
assumptions:
• The increased volume of applications will be processed with existing staff resources.
• Most individuals 16 years of age will utilize an intermediate license rather than continue
to drive on a special minor’s license. Therefore, individuals 16 years of age are not
included in the estimated fiscal impact.
• Individuals who will seek to use a special minor’s license to drive to work under the Bill
already have a license and will not need a duplicate card to show they are work
authorized.
• The creation of a new programming path to process applications will require 340 hours
at $60.58 per hour, resulting in a one-time cost of approximately $21,000.
Correctional Impact
The correctional impact of HF 647 cannot be estimated due to a lack of data. The Bill modifies
serious misdemeanors related to child labor under Iowa Code chapter 92. The Bill also modifies
a simple misdemeanor related to the serving or sale of alcohol by a minor under Iowa Code
section 123.49(2)(f). In FY 2022, there were no convictions under Iowa Code chapter 92 and no
convictions under Iowa Code section 123.49(2)(f).
A serious misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than one year and a fine of
between $430 and $2,560. A simple misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more
than 30 days and a fine of between $105 and $855.
Table 1 below shows estimates for sentencing to State prison, parole, probation, or
Community-Based Corrections (CBC) residential facilities; LOS under those supervisions; and
supervision marginal costs per day for all convictions of serious misdemeanors. Refer to the
Legislative Services Agency (LSA) memo addressed to the General Assembly, Cost Estimates
Used for Correctional Impact Statements, dated January 20, 2023, for information related to
the correctional system. A conviction of a simple misdemeanor does not result in a prison
sentence, but does carry the possibility of confinement in jail for up to 30 days.
Table 1 — Sentencing Estimates and LOS
FY 22 Avg FY 22 Percent Percent FY 22 FY 22
Percent LOS in Marginal FY 22 Avg FY 22 Avg Sentenced FY 22 Ordered Avg LOS Marginal
Conviction Ordered Prison in Cost Per Percent LOS on Cost Per to CBC Marginal to Marginal on Cost Per
Offense to State Months (All Day Ordered to Probation Day Residential Cost Per County Cost Per Parole in Day
Class Prison Releases) Prison Probation in Months Probation Facility Day CBC Jail Day Jail Months Parole
Serious Misd 1.9% 5.5 $23.42 51.2% 13.7 $7.27 0.9% $20.67 73.3% $50.00 0.5 $7.27
Minority Impact
The minority impact of HF 647 cannot be estimated due to a lack of data. Refer to the LSA
memo addressed to the General Assembly, Minority Impact Statement, dated January 20,
2023, for information related to minorities in the criminal justice system.
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Fiscal Impact
House File 647 would result in a one-time operational cost of $21,000 to the DOT’s Motor
Vehicle Division (MVD) information technology (IT) resources. The Bill would require the
creation of a new programming path for the receipt and recording of applications, an online
submission stream through myMVD, and the creation of an indicator or a restriction viewable to
law enforcement during the driver’s license look-up. Changes to the current motor vehicle laws
would be accomplished by existing staff and resources and would not have a fiscal impact to the
MVD.
The IWD estimates the Bill to have little to no fiscal impact to the IWD.
Revenue generated from the $70 scheduled fine under Iowa Code section 321.194 cannot be
estimated due to a lack of data. Table 2 shows the distribution of fine revenue for one
conviction, including court costs and the Crime Services Surcharge.
Table 2 — Fine Revenue Distribution
State County Victim Criminalistics Drug Abuse
General General Compensation Laboratory Resistance Juvenile Home
Fund Funds Fund Fund Education Fund Detention Fund Total
$ 118.70 $ 6.30 $ 3.36 $ 2.10 $ 0.21 $ 4.83 $ 135.50
Sources
Department of Human Rights, Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning Division
Department of Transportation
Iowa Department of Workforce Development
LSA calculations
/s/ Jennifer Acton
March 28, 2023
Doc ID 1370737
The fiscal note for this Bill was prepared pursuant to Joint Rule 17 and the Iowa Code. Data used in developing this
fiscal note is available from the Fiscal Services Division of the Legislative Services Agency upon request.
www.legis.iowa.gov
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Statutes affected:
Introduced: 92.3, 92.4, 92.5, 92.6, 92.8, 92.17, 92.19, 92.21, 92.22, 92.23, 123.49, 321.194