Passed the Senate
K-12 School Funding: The Senate passed out $235 million for K-12 schools, a 2% increase in SSA for all K-12 education. This includes public schools, ESA’s, and charter schools and the teacher pay increased passed last year. This brings state aid spending to $7983 per student or a total of $4.2 billion. Including local funding the amount spent on K-12 education is over $6 billion. This is the same amount proposed by the governor. The House has passed a 2.25% increase for K-12 schools. An agreement has yet to be reached.
Bots Purchasing Tickets: Prohibits the use or creation of a bot to:
- purchase more than the posted limit for any internet ticket sale
- use multiple internet protocol addresses, purchaser accounts, or electronic mail addresses to purchase more than the posted limit for any internet ticket sale
- circumvent or disable an electronic queue, waiting period, presale code, or other sales volume limitation system associated with an internet ticket sale
- circumvent or disable a security measure, access control system, or other control or measure that is used to facilitate authorized entry to an event
Passed Committee
Update to Chronic Absenteeism Law-SSB 1077: This bill makes some changes to the chronic absenteeism law passed last year based on constituent input. Additional exceptions to the chronic absenteeism law have been added so students will not be considered as truant if they are absent for the following reasons: military entrance processing, engaging in military service, or attending a wedding or a funeral. Travel time must be considered. Notification that a child is chronically absent can be sent by regular mail, email or in-person. If a child is chronically absent, school officials must consider whether the absenteeism has negatively impacted the child’s academic progress before initiating a further meeting with parents.
Patients’ Right to Save Act-SSB 1029: This bill addresses the rising cost of health care by rewarding patients who shop for more affordable care by requiring cash rate disclosures from all providers, offering deductible credit for lower-cost cash care, and letting patients share in insurance company savings post-deductible.
HPV Vaccine-SF 120: This bill requires parental consent for a minor to receive the HPV vaccine, which is a vaccination against a sexually transmitted disease (STD) or infection (STI). Parental consent is a requirement for all other vaccinations received by a minor.
Hands-Free-SF 22: Prohibits the use of electronic devices, usually cell phones, while driving except in the voice-activated or hands-free mode.
College Student Pregnancy Accommodations-SF 12: A Regents school or community college must provide for reasonable accommodations for students who are pregnant or recently gave birth.
Robotics Teams-SF 61: The state Dept. of Ed. is required to provide support to school robotics teams and competitions.
Dyslexia Endorsement Scholarship Program-SF 72: This bill establishes a scholarship program to provide tuition reimbursement to teachers to offset the cost associated with obtaining an advanced dyslexia specialist endorsement.
Grooming in Schools-SSB 1066: Updates the definition of grooming in an educational setting to mean any pattern of behavior to entice or entrap a student to take advantage of the student for the person’s own benefit, that could lead to a sex act.
Cash for School Events-SF 141: Requires schools to accept cash to enter school events. Some schools have been requiring the use of only an app to get into ballgames and this bill also requires them to accept cash.
PBM Reform – Reverse Auction-SSB 1017: This is the Iowa Competitive Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM) Marketplace Act. It establishes a reverse auction as part of public employee health plans. A series of bidding rounds are conducted and each PBM has a chance to bid to provide the PBM service. This is to help provide the lowest cost service for employee and employer.
Drug Prescribing/Dispensing Authority-SF 117: Health boards are prohibited from restricting the normal and long-held prescribing authority and prescription-filling authority of a doctor or pharmacist. They also cannot subject them to disciplinary action for acting according to their best professional judgment.
Anti-SLAPP Bill-SF 47: This bill is designed to provide early dismissal of meritless lawsuits filed against people for the exercise of their 1st Amendment rights. SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.
Paternity & Child Support-SF 81: This bill establishes that an alleged father can file a complaint to establish paternity or to deny paternity.
Police Dogs-SF 31: Allows emergency care by a veterinary service to diagnose or treat a severely injured police dog.
Fireworks Rules-SSB 1104: Requires cities and counties to allow consumer fireworks, display fireworks, or novelties on July 3rd from 9am to 10 pm, on July 4th from 9 am to 11 pm, and on Dec. 31st from 9 am to 12:30 am on Jan. 1st.
EMS Expenses-SF 42: Clarifies that salaries and wages of EMS care providers can be paid for from tax revenue that has been passed by the voters and then collected after counties have declared EMS an essential service.
Fur Trapping-SSB 1093: Allows a property owner to breach or alter a beaver dam if their property is in danger of being damaged.
Fur Harvester License-SSB 1079: Allows disabled veterans to receive a fur harvester license for a lifetime.
State Horse-SSB 1064: This bill designates the American cream draft horse as the official state horse of Iowa.
County VA Commissions-SF 93: Under current law, only veterans as defined by Iowa law may serve on county VA commissions. This bill allows current or former members of the guard and reserves who have had honorable service but who do not meet the qualification of a veteran under Iowa law to be able to serve on county VA commissions.
Veterans Trust Fund-SF 252: The new target balance for the Veteran Trust Fund under this bill will be $75 million. Currently it is $50 million and Iowa is on track to meet that goal in 2029, but since veteran needs have increased along with inflation, it is felt that the state needs to set a higher target amount for the Veteran Trust Fund in order to be able to continue to provide service to our veterans in need.
Moving in Subcommittee
Governor’s Energy Bill-SSB 1112: Deals with a host of issues: development of nuclear power for electricity generation, ratemaking, resource plans, utility rates, right of first refusal, the Energy Infrastructure Revolving Loan program, and anaerobic digester systems; we are currently diving into the details.
Medical Freedom-SF 180: A person may not be discriminated against by a health care provider, employer, or a business for refusing to take a medical treatment that is under EUA (emergency use authorization) status by the FDA.
Conscience Protections for Medical Providers-SF 220: This bill recognizes the freedom of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and hospitals to decline to participate in medical treatments that violate their religious beliefs or moral convictions and therefore they may not be discriminated against.
Constitutional Amendment-SSB 1057: Proposes an amendment to the Constitution to protect children and adults with disabilities from confrontation by the accused in court. The right of the accused to confront such witnesses may be limited by law.
Age Verification for Porn Sites-SF 207: This bill updates our current laws regarding a minor’s access to pornography to reflect current technology. It requires a company on the internet that distributes pornography to use an age verification system (18 and older) in order to access the pornography. The company is required not to retain any identifying information of the individual.
Bible Literacy Elective-SF 138: This bill allows schools to offer an elective social studies course on the Bible in grades 9-12 and sets the guidelines in which to do that. The bill requires the Bible be taught in a “neutral” manner, specifying that the course is not to favor or disfavor any religious faith. It also requires that all religious views of students in the course be respected throughout the course. Such a course is optional for schools to offer and, if offered, optional for students to take. This helps schools be confident that there are no legal or constitutional issues with offering this course.
Bills I Have Introduced this Week
Conscience Protections for Prospective and Adoptive Foster Parents-SF 236: This law recognizes the freedom of foster parents and adoptive parents to decline to support or refrain from embracing any government policy regarding sexual orientation or gender identity that conflicts with the parents’ religious beliefs or moral convictions. The state cannot use a person’s sincerely held religious beliefs regarding sexual orientation or gender identity, including how they intend to guide, instruct, or raise a child, as justification to deny eligibility to foster or adopt. To be clear, this speaks merely to eligibility to foster or adopt at all, not a right to have any particular child placed with a family. The state is still required to make every individual placement consistent with the best interest of the child.
Hazardous Liquid Pipelines Insurance Requirements-SF 239: A hazardous liquid pipeline (HLP) company wanting a permit for eminent domain must have an insurance policy that will cover all damages from any losses or injury, to include increased insurance costs or the inability to get insurance from the construction or operation, to include a rupture, of the pipeline. The HLP company must either purchase insurance on behalf of affected landowners or reimburse any person who experiences increased insurance premiums or cover the landowner if they are unable to obtain insurance due to the construction or presence of the pipeline. Some landowners or farmers are not able to get liability insurance because the pipeline will be coming through their land.
CO2 Pipeline Victims’ Liens-SF 249: If a CO2 pipeline ruptures, any person residing, traveling through the kill zone, visiting, owning or leasing property or equipment or livestock, would have a claim for damages against the owners or operators of a CO2 pipeline and against the owners or operators of facilities supplying the CO2. A victim has one year to file a UCC-1 statement from the time of the CO2 rupture to have priority over any other lienholders of the company.
Foster Care Advocate-SF 251: This bill establishes a foster care advocate in the ombudsman’s office to investigate complaints by foster parents and to support them in their work as foster parents and in their relationship with HHS.
Athletic Conference Bill-SF 265: The athletic associations have to establish a conference realignment committee that will direct reasonable conference affiliation between school districts if schools request it. A number of other rules apply. Waverly-Shell Rock and Decorah Schools have been denied membership in a requested conference more than once in the current mediation process established by the Dept. of Ed. They have not been directed to an appropriate satisfactory alternative conference because it is unclear the state has the authority to do that. W-SR and Decorah have therefore been forced into an independent status for a couple years now which reduces the competitive opportunities available to their students for extracurricular learning and awards.
CO2 Pipeline Disaster Fund-SF 299: This bill establishes a dedicated fund for disaster relief; safe, efficient disaster response; long-term and full compensation to victims; rebuilding of property and communities; and environmental restoration to incidents involving CO2 pipelines, transportation, and storage systems.
This fund would be financed by an excise tax levied on the owners and operators of the suppliers of the CO2, the pipeline, and the storage system. The tax would be based on the total volume of CO2 that could potentially be transported through the pipeline annually and the actual amount of CO2 transported through Iowa annually.
A minimum of $10 billion must be maintained in the Fund as a requirement for any carrier CO2 pipeline to operate within the state.
