Midnight was the deadline for Governor Culver to take action on the bills passed by the 2009 Iowa Legislature. Culver signed into law a so-called “granny tax.” It will require nursing homes to pay a per resident fee.

Officials estimate it will raise about $33 million annually. The money will be placed in a state fund and be used to qualify for $45 million in federal Medicaid dollars. According to an analysis from the Legislative Services Agency, private nursing homes in Iowa would see a net gain with those federal dollars.

Culver also signed a bill into law which makes it illegal to apply manure on frozen cropland. Another bill that’ll go into effect July 1st requires city councils and county boards of supervisors to ensure there’s “gender balance” on the local boards and commissions they, as elected officials, appoint to help manage local government.

On July 1st, the State of Iowa will join the rest of the states in allowing consumers to sue for fraud against individuals or businesses. Iowa’s attorney general had been on the only person in Iowa with authority to file such consumer fraud lawsuits.