This Week at the Statehouse – Week 2

The Legislature was not in session on Monday in remembrance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The remainder of the week was spent in legislative committee and subcommittee meetings.

New bills are being filed daily for consideration. As of today, the Board of Regents are registered on 49 bills for this legislative session.  This link will provide a complete list of bills we are tracking: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/lobbyist/reports/declarations (in the box marked as lobbyist, type in Mary Braun).

On Thursday, the House Education Committee unanimously amended and passed HSB 520. The bill, as amended, eliminates the requirement for students to pass an exit teacher preparation program examination (for UNI it’s the Praxis II test). The bill also requires UNI to let former students who didn't pass the test know they can apply for an initial license from the Board of Educational Examiners if the student completed all other requirements. The bill applies to all 32 teacher preparation programs in Iowa. If the standardized tests were eliminated, UNI would determine what was needed to do to have a valid end of program assessment that would not be constrained by requirements of having a nationally-normed, standardized exam. Removing the tests does not change UNI’s rigorous teacher prep program for students to achieve their bachelor degree to teach. The bill is now eligible for full House floor debate.

Upcoming Dates

January 25 – Randy Pilkington, Executive Director of BCS, and Jerry Thiel, Director of the Metal Casting Center and Foundry 4.0 Center, will present UNI’s budget requests to the House Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee

February 18 – 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 7 – UNI Day at the Capitol

March 18 – 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 19 – 100th Calendar Day (lawmaker per diem expenses end)

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