Good morning, everyone. We have concluded week three of the 2024 Legislative Session. There still has not been any floor action, but we had some good bills introduced in the Iowa House I wanted to highlight in this week’s newsletter.
House File 2103: Expanding Child Support
HF 2103 requires child support to apply while the child is still in the womb. This would mean a father’s obligation to pay child support would begin as soon as the mother is pregnant, not when the child is born.
Our caucus has shown that we are strongly pro-life. We have passed strong laws to protect unborn children from abortion. We must also pass policies to ensure all children, especially those born into difficult situations, have the support they need.
There are a lot of costs that occur during the pregnancy. From doctor’s appointments to the supplies new parents must have ready for when the child is born. Right now, child support laws imply only the mother must bear the responsibility for those costs. This bill ensures that fathers are held accountable as well. This bill is scheduled for a subcommittee next week. What are your thoughts?
House File 2128 and House File 2112 – Disincentivizing Illegal Immigration
This week, the House introduced two pieces of legislation to ensure the State of Iowa does not have policies that incentivize or reward illegal immigration. House File 2128 requires proof that you are in the country legally before you can receive in-state tuition at Iowa’s regent institutions. House File 2112 ensures that no one who is in the country illegally qualifies for public assistance programs.
Hardworking Iowa taxpayers should not be footing the bill for individuals who are not in the country legally through any public assistance program or tuition benefits. Additionally, we cannot allow our state’s policies to essentially incentivize people to come to our country illegally. That would be unsustainable and unfair to those who do follow the proper process to immigrate legally.
