DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate praises the Iowa Legislature for its passage of the Safe at Home Act in both chambers. The bill received unanimous support in both the Iowa House and Iowa Senate. Today, the Senate passed this important piece of legislation 45-0. It was passed by the House last month 100-0.

"I'm very excited for the survivors of domestic violence in Iowa. It's something that we've worked hard for and the fact that it passed unanimously sends a clear message that this program has universal support and is vitally important," Secretary Pate said.

The Safe at Home Act initiates an address confidentiality program for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking and stalking.

"It's key to give these victims the opportunity to put their lives back together," Pate said. "They are truly survivors of very unfortunate chapter in their lives and if we give them some protecting through address confidentiality, I'm very satisfied with that."

Secretary Pate wants to give extra thanks to Rep. Dean Fisher of Garwin for initiating the bill in the Legislature and Senator Jeff Danielson of Waterloo for floor managing the legislation in the Senate. The Safe at Home Act requires one final procedural step in the Iowa House, dealing with a minor amendment added by the Iowa Senate. Once that is dealt with, the Safe at Home Act will head to Governor Branstad's desk for his approval.

"Our staff has already started to roll their sleeves up to start working on the program and prepare to implement it on January 1, 2016," Secretary Pate added.

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