This Week at the Statehouse – Week 12

This week, Governor Reynolds signed the fiscal year 2018 (FY 18) mid-year budget cut bill, SF 2117. Additional information can be found in last week’s blog post. We are still awaiting budget targets for next year’s state appropriations, FY 19.

Bills of interest the Governor signed this week:

HF 2235 - Requires the K-12 statewide assessment be developed by the Iowa Testing program within the University of Iowa.

HF 2354 – Restricts third parties who receive K-12 student data from using it for targeted advertising.

SF 2113 – By July 1, 2019, school boards would be required to have one hour of nationally recognized training on suicide prevention and post intervention for all licensed school personnel who have contact with students in grades K-12.

SF 2131 – Allows home-schooled children to take classes from Iowa Learning Online, at their own expense. An Area Education Agency Online Learning Working Group is established where the AEAs, in collaboration with the community colleges and the department of education, identify effective means by which students may access educational instruction and content online and identify partnerships between existing providers of rigorous and high-quality online coursework. They are to report their findings to the General Assembly by October 15, 2018.

The Legislature also debated several bills of interest this week:

HF 2253 – Construction projects and improvements built by a private contractor under a lease or a lease-purchase contract with the Regents and other state and local governmental agencies would be subject to the same competitive bidding requirements currently in law as they relate to contract bidding. The bill has passed both the House and Senate and will be sent to the Governor for consideration.

HF 2390 – American Sign Language would be considered a world language to meet accreditation standards, as part of a foreign language class taught in Iowa high schools. The bill has passed both the House and Senate and will be sent to the Governor for consideration.

SF 475 – The House amended and passed this bill, which is a Department of Education omnibus bill. Contained in the House amendment is a provision that requires a financial literacy course for all high school students before they graduate, starting July 1, 2019. Among other things, the bill also allows all of Iowa’s 333 school districts to have an online program. The Senate must adopt the House amendment before the bill can be sent to the Governor.

SF 2360 – The House amended and passed this bill, which creates a Dyslexia Task Force. Over the next 18 months the task force is to come up with recommendations relating to dyslexia response to be provided to the Governor and Legislature. The recommendations must include student screening, interventions, teacher preparation and professional development, classroom accommodations, and assistive technology. The House passed an amendment that adds an institution of higher education to the task force. UNI is in a great position to provide valuable expertise on this task force as we graduate the most teachers each year. The Senate must adopt the House amendment before the bill can be sent to the Governor.