A bill for an act relating to the office of the consumer advocate.

HF 578 establishes the Office of the Consumer Advocate as a separate division within Iowa's Department of Justice. It specifies that the attorney general appoints the consumer advocate from a list provided by a committee (secretary of agriculture, auditor, and treasurer), sets their salary within defined ranges, and requires regular reports to that same committee. The bill also clarifies that the office's expenses and funding are handled separately from the utilities commission, with costs assessed against utility proceedings. This bill primarily affects the structure, staffing, and administrative operations of the consumer advocate office, not consumer protections themselves.