The 2005 legislative session in Iowa closed with passage of two laws that improve the public's access to government information. While a third law did not pass, open government advocates still thought this was a good year for the public's right to know. One open government victory for Iowa citizens was the passage of Senate File 403 (SF 403), which limits the costs that state and local government agencies can charge people for making copies of requested public records. Excessive copying fees are a common barrier that the public encounters at the national level and in states around the country. Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) signed SF 403 into law May 4. The new law limits duplication fees to the direct costs of making the copies and bars local governments from raising the copying fees to cover increased overhead costs, such as salary, benefits, depreciation, or electricity. SF 403 was introduced by the Iowa Senate Committee on Government Oversight. Another positive open government measure that became law in Iowa was House File 772 (HF 772), which toughens the state's open meetings and open records law toward violators. The new law adds a "two strikes and you're out" provision that would permit the removal of any state or local government officials from office for two convicted violations of the open records law. Previously it took three strikes before officials were fired for such violations and no one had ever been removed under the provision. While advocates view the HF 772 as a step in the right direction, they acknowledge they do not know of any examples of state or local officials that received two strikes. The Iowa House Committee on State Government introduced HF 772 on March 15 and it became law on May 3. The third beneficial open government bill proposed during the 2005 session was House File 372 (HF 372). The bill, which never received a vote, proposed to ban "walking quorums" which are used by public boards to avoid open meeting requirements by splitting up into small groups to hear testimony or debate issues instead of performing these actions as a full board. It would also have expanded the definition of a public meeting to include small groups of board members. Many cities, counties and school boards opposed it and put pressure on state legislators to keep it from even being debated. Overall, Iowa proponents of open government deemed the 2005 legislative year a success. Kathleen Richardson, executive secretary of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, said, "We're considering it a good year at the Legislature for open-government issues."