This Week at the Statehouse – Week 7

This week included a lot of subcommittee and committee meetings. The Legislature is working on getting policy bills out of committee so they meet their first funnel day, which is next Friday, March 3. Bills need to get out of a committee to remain alive this legislative session. New bills for consideration continue to be filed daily. This link will provide a complete list of bills the Board of Regents are tracking (in the box marked as lobbyist, type in Mary Braun).

A few bills we’re tracking that had action this week:

HF 6 IOWA WORKFORCE GRANT PROGRAM FOR REGENTS’ STUDENTS. The House Appropriations Committee moved the bill to the full House for consideration. As amended by the committee, the bill establishes the Iowa workforce grant and incentive program within the college student aid commission, subject to a state appropriation. Students attending one of the three Board of Regents public universities would be eligible for grants in high-wage and high-demand jobs and corresponding academic majors, as determined by Iowa Workforce Development and the Board of Regents. There is no Senate companion bill.

HF 90 PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS LICENSURE COMPACT. The House State Government Committee moved the bill to the full House for consideration. The bill establishes this compact that would provide access to counseling and would benefit our students. The bill also establishes a commission to administer the compact. The Senate companion bill is SF 127, which is before the full Senate for consideration.

HF 221 OUT-OF-STATE TEACHER LICENSING. The House Education Subcommittee unanimously amended and passed the bill out of subcommittee. Current law authorizes the Board of Educational Examiners to issue a license to an applicant from another state or country if the applicant files evidence of the possession of the required or equivalent requirements with the BOEE. The bill provides that such required or equivalent requirements must include a full license from another state or country, verification from an institution located in another state that the applicant has completed all program and licensure requirements except for state-required assessments, and transcripts indicating the applicant completed an educator preparation program located in another country. The bill is now eligible for full House Education Committee. There is no Senate companion bill.

HF 252 (formerly HF 16) COMPREHENSIVE TRANSITION SCHOLARSHIPS – UI REACH. The bill passed the House and is now in the Senate Education Committee for consideration. If moneys are appropriated, requires College Student Aid to develop a scholarship program for individuals over 18 who have intellectual, development or learning disabilities and who are enrolled in a comprehensive transition program postsecondary program.

HF 256 (formerly HF 100) TEACHING LICENSURE AGE. The bill passed the House and is now in the Senate Education Committee for consideration. The bill strikes the requirement that an applicant for a teaching license must be 21.

HF 323 (formerly HSB 111) PAYING STUDENT TEACHERS. The bill passed the House and is now in the Senate Education Committee for consideration. The bill says school districts "may" pay a student teacher; it is left up to each school district. We applaud the legislature to talk about paying student teachers, especially as more and more states are beginning to do it. However, our concern is about creating a scenario where some districts will offer these incentives and others will not and how this may affect universities placing students. If the university cannot place student teachers, they cannot complete their program of study to become a teacher.

HF 333 OPEN RECORD/MEETING COMPLAINTS. The House passed the bill and it is now in the Senate State Government Committee for consideration. The bill gives a person 90 days, not the current 60 days, to file a complaint with the Iowa Public Information Board after an alleged violation of Code chapter 21 (open meetings) or Code chapter 22 (open records) occurred or the complainant could have become aware of the alleged violation.

SF 98 PUBLIC INVESTMENT IN CHINA. The Senate State Government Committee moved the bill to the full Senate for consideration. As amended, the bill prohibits public funds from investing in companies restricted by the federal government. A similar bill in the House is HF 181 (formerly HSB 41), which prohibits the Board of Regents from investing public moneys in companies that are owned or controlled by Chinese military or government services. HF 181 is before the full House for consideration.

SF 391 (formerly SSB 1076) GOVERNOR EDUCATION BILL – TEACHER LIBRARIANS AND WORLD LANGUAGE. The Senate Education Committee moved the bill to the full Senate for consideration. The two provisions we’re following include removing the requirement that teacher librarians have a master’s degree and allows someone who is a public librarian to work in the school without additional training. The second provision changes the state requirement that all K-12 districts are required to offer four years of a world language (e.g. Spanish 1, 2, 3, 4), to two sequential units (e.g. Spanish 1, 2 only). The House companion bill is HF 327 (formerly HSB 119), which is before the full House for consideration.

SF 392 (formerly SSB 1049) TEACHING PROGRAMS & INCENTIVES. The Senate Education Committee moved the bill to the full Senate for consideration. The bill puts in the Iowa Code the alternative pathway to licensure (RAPIL program) that is currently in Iowa Department of Education rules. It also amends who is eligible for the Teach Iowa Scholar grants, and allows the use of school districts management levy for teacher recruitment incentives. There is no House companion bill.

SF 402 (formerly SSB 1160) CYBERSECURITY CENTER at ISU. The Senate Technology Committee moved the bill to the full Senate for consideration. The bill appropriates $2.5 million to establish a cybersecurity simulation training center at Iowa State University to help governments and business deal with cybersecurity attacks. The House has a similar bill, HF 139, which is before the full House for consideration.

SSB 1123 STATE GOVERNMENT REORGANIZATION. The Senate State Government Committee moved the bill to the full Senate for consideration. The bill reorganizes all of state government and merges certain state departments. For UNI, this affects our Governor’s STEM Advisory Committee employees; the bill recommends they be moved under the Department of Education organization. The bill is almost 1600 pages so there are a lot of moving parts. The House companion bill is HSB 126.

Upcoming Dates

March 3 – First Funnel – Bills not reported out of their originating committee by this date are no longer eligible for consideration (does not apply to budget, tax or oversight bills)

March 31 – Second Funnel – House bills not passed out of Senate committees and Senate bills not passed out of House committees are no longer eligible for consideration (does not apply to budget, tax or oversight bills)

April 28 – 110th Calendar Day (lawmaker per diem expenses end)

If you have any questions, please email me at mary.braun@uni.edu.