This Week at the Statehouse – Week 4

New bills continue to be filed daily for consideration. This link will provide a complete list of bills the Board of Regents are tracking: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/lobbyist/reports/declarations (in the box marked as lobbyist, type in Mary Braun).

This week was again filled with subcommittee and committee work on policy bills. The bill adjusting the Regents Alternative Pathway to Iowa Licensure (RAPIL) program for students who already hold a bachelors degree or higher has passed out of the Senate Education Committee. SF 2202 puts the teacher intern license for grades 6-12 from the Department of Education and Board of Educational Examiners rules into the Iowa Code. Currently, our program is within the DE and BOEE administrative rules. The main difference between the bill and current rules is the bill requires at least 15 additional hours of coursework while the current RAPIL program requires 28 credits. The bill requires the student to already have a bachelors degree or higher, at least three years work experience, complete the required pedagogy training, have a copy of an offer of employment from a school and work under the supervision of a teacher leader, including during co-teaching and planning time. After completion of the program, the school and the teacher preparation program recommend an initial teaching license for the student. The House will start work on their teacher intern license bill, HSB 632, next week.

The House had a subcommittee on HF 2158 relating to substitute authorizations for student teachers. At the subcommittee meeting we informed committee members that this bill is already contained in BOEE rules IAC 282.22.2. Anyone 21 and older who has received a minimum of an associate’s degree or 60 semester hours of college coursework and meets the other requirements under the BOEE rules, including passing a background check, can get their substitute authorization. We also reminded them that student teachers who substitute, those days do not count towards the law saying they need a full-time experience for a minimum of 14 weeks in duration during the teacher candidate’s final year of the teacher preparation program. We do not believe the bill will have any further consideration.

The Legislature’s first funnel date, when Senate policy bills need to come out of a Senate committee and House policy bills need to come out of a House committee to remain eligible for debate this legislative session, is coming up on February 18. This date does not apply to tax, spending and government oversight bills.

Upcoming Dates

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.