23A.2 - STATE AGENCIES AND POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS NOT TO COMPETE WITH PRIVATE ENTERPRISE.
23A.2 STATE AGENCIES AND POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS NOT
TO COMPETE WITH PRIVATE ENTERPRISE.
1. A state agency or political subdivision shall not, unless
specifically authorized by statute, rule, ordinance, or regulation:
a. Engage in the manufacturing, processing, sale, offering
for sale, rental, leasing, delivery, dispensing, distributing, or
advertising of goods or services to the public which are also offered
by private enterprise unless such goods or services are for use or
consumption exclusively by the state agency or political subdivision.
b. Offer or provide goods or services to the public for or
through another state agency or political subdivision, by
intergovernmental agreement or otherwise, in violation of this
chapter.
2. The state board of regents or a school corporation may, by
rule, provide for exemption from the application of this chapter for
any of the following:
a. Goods and services that are directly and reasonably
related to the educational mission of an institution or school.
b. Goods and services offered only to students, employees, or
guests of the institution or school and which cannot be provided by
private enterprise at the same or lower cost.
c. Use of vehicles owned by the institution or school for
charter trips offered to the public, or to full, part-time, or
temporary students.
d. Durable medical equipment or devices sold or leased for
use off premises of an institution, school, or university of Iowa
hospitals or clinics.
e. Goods or services which are not otherwise available in the
quantity or quality required by the institution or school.
f. Telecommunications other than radio or television
stations.
g. Sponsoring or providing facilities for fitness and
recreation.
h. Food service and sales.
i. Sale of books, records, tapes, software, educational
equipment, and supplies.
3. After July 1, 1988, before a state agency is permitted to
continue to engage in an existing practice specified in subsection 1,
that state agency must prepare for public examination documentation
showing that the state agency can provide the goods or services at a
competitive price. The documentation required by this subsection
shall be in accordance with that required by generally accepted
accounting principles.
4. If a state agency is authorized by statute to compete with
private enterprise, or seeks to gain authorization to compete, the
state agency shall prepare for public inspection documentation of all
actual costs of the project as required by generally accepted
accounting principles.
5. Subsections 1 and 3 do not apply to activities of community
action agencies under community action programs, as both are defined
in section 216A.91.
6. The director of the department of corrections, with the advice
of the state prison industries advisory board, may, by rule, provide
for exemptions from this chapter.
7. However, this chapter shall not be construed to impair
cooperative agreements between Iowa state industries and private
enterprise.
8. The director of the department of corrections, with the advice
of the board of corrections, may by rule, provide for exemption from
this chapter for vocational-educational programs and farm operations
of the department.
9. The state department of transportation may, in accordance with
chapter 17A, provide for exemption from the application of subsection
1 for the activities related to highway maintenance, highway design
and construction, publication and distribution of transportation
maps, state aircraft pool operations, inventory sales to other state
agencies and political subdivisions, equipment management and
disposal, vehicle maintenance and repair services for other state
agencies, and other similar essential operations.
10. This chapter does not apply to any of the following:
a. The operation of a city enterprise, as defined in section
384.24, subsection 2.
b. The performance of an activity that is an essential
corporate purpose of a city, as defined in section 384.24, subsection
3, or which carries out the essential corporate purpose, or which is
a general corporate purpose of a city as defined in section 384.24,
subsection 4, or which carries out the general corporate purposes.
c. The operation of a city utility, as defined by section
390.1, subsection 3.
d. The performance of an activity by a city that is intended
to assist in economic development or tourism.
e. The operation of a county enterprise, as defined in
section 331.461, subsection 1 or 2.
f. The performance of an activity that is an essential county
purpose, as defined in section 331.441, subsection 2, or which
carries out the essential county purpose, or which is a general
county purpose as defined in section 331.441, subsection 2, or which
carries out the general county purpose.
g. The performance of an activity listed as a duty relating
to a county service in section 331.381.
h. The performance of an activity listed in section 331.424,
as a service for which a supplemental levy may be certified.
i. The performance of an activity by a county that is
intended to assist in economic development or tourism.
j. The operation of a public transit system, as defined in
chapter 324A, except that charter services, outside of a public
transit system's normal service area, shall be conducted in Iowa
intrastate commerce under the same conditions, restrictions, and
obligations as those contained in 49 C.F.R. pt. 604. For purposes of
this chapter, the definition and conduct of charter services shall be
the same as those contained in 49 C.F.R. pt. 604.
k. The following on-campus activities of an institution or
school under the control of the state board of regents or a school
corporation:
(1) Residence halls.
(2) Student transportation, except as specifically listed in
subsection 2, paragraph "c".
(3) Overnight accommodations for participants in programs of the
institution or school, visitors to the institution or school,
parents, and alumni.
(4) Sponsoring or providing facilities for cultural and athletic
events.
(5) Items displaying the emblem, mascot, or logo of the
institution or school, or that otherwise promote the identity of the
institution or school and its programs.
(6) Souvenirs and programs relating to events sponsored by or at
the institution or school.
(7) Radio and television stations.
(8) Services to patients and visitors at the university of Iowa
hospitals and clinics, except as specifically listed in subsection 2,
paragraph "d".
(9) Goods, products, or professional services which are produced,
created, or sold incidental to the schools' teaching, research, and
extension missions.
(10) Services to the public at the Iowa state university college
of veterinary medicine.
l. The offering of goods and services to the public as part
of a client training program operated by a state resource center
under the control of the department of human services provided that
all of the following conditions are met:
(1) Any off-campus vocational or employment training program
developed or operated by the department of human services for clients
of a state resource center is a supported vocational training program
or a supported employment program offered by a community-based
provider of services or other employer in the community.
(2) (a) If a resident of a state resource center is to
participate in an employment or training program which pays a wage in
compliance with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the state
resource center shall develop a community placement plan for the
resident. The community placement plan shall identify the services
and supports the resident would need in order to be discharged from
the state resource center and to live and work in the community. The
state resource center shall make reasonable efforts to implement the
community placement plan including referring the resident to
community-based providers of services.
(b) If a community-based provider of services is unable to accept
a resident who is referred by the state resource center, the state
resource center shall request and the provider shall indicate in
writing to the state resource center the provider's reasons for its
inability to accept the resident and describe what is needed to
accept the resident.
(c) A resident who cannot be placed in a community placement plan
with a community-based provider of services may be placed by the
state resource center in an on-campus or off-campus vocational or
employment training program.
(i) However, prior to placing a resident in an on-campus
vocational or employment training program, the state resource center
shall seek an off-campus vocational or employment training program
offered by a community-based provider who serves the county in which
the state resource center is based or the counties contiguous to the
county, provided that the resident will not be required to travel for
more than thirty minutes one way to obtain services.
(ii) If off-campus services cannot be provided by a
community-based provider, the state resource center shall offer the
resident an on-campus vocational or employment training program. The
on-campus program shall be operated in compliance with the federal
Fair Labor Standards Act. At least semiannually, the state resource
center shall seek an off-campus community-based vocational or
employment training option for each resident placed in an on-campus
program.
(iii) The state resource center shall not place a resident in an
off-campus program in which the cost to the state resource center
would be in excess of the provider's actual cost as determined by
purchase of service rules or if the service would not be reimbursed
under the medical assistance program.
(3) The price of any goods and services offered to anyone other
than a state agency or a political subdivision shall be at a minimum
sufficient to cover the cost of any materials and supplies used in
the program and to cover client wages as established in accordance
with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
(4) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to prohibit a
state resource center from providing a service a resident needs for
compliance with accreditation standards for intermediate care
facilities for persons with mental retardation.
m. The repair, calibration, or maintenance of radiological
detection equipment by the homeland security and emergency management
division of the department of public defense.
n. The performance of an activity authorized pursuant to
section 8D.11A.
o. The performance of an activity authorized pursuant to
section 8A.202, subsection 2, paragraph "j". Sectionstory: Recent Form
88 Acts, ch 1230, §2; 90 Acts, ch 1129, §1; 96 Acts, ch 1129, §
113; 99 Acts, ch 86, §1; 2000 Acts, ch 1112, §51; 2001 Acts, ch 22,
§2; 2001 Acts, ch 70, §4; 2002 Acts, ch 1117, §58; 2003 Acts, ch 44,
§16, 17; 2003 Acts, ch 145, §146; 2003 Acts, ch 179, §157; 2004 Acts,
ch 1101, §13; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, §137; 2009 Acts, ch 41, §21
Referred to in § 303.19