With one week in the books at our beloved State Capitol, The Iowa Standard wanted to highlight some of the “interesting” bills that were filed during Week 1. Among them, Senate File 2047 sponsored by State Sen. Adrian Dickey.
The bill prohibits the expenditure of public moneys for dues or membership fees to high school organizations that do not meet certain requirements concerning school classifications for extracurricular scholastic activities.
It prohibits a school district from spending money to pay dues or membership fees to a high school organization after Jan. 1, 2023 unless the organization classifies nonpublic schools one classification higher than the classification the nonpublic school would have been assigned based on enrollment.
The bill will not apply to nonpublic schools already in the highest class.
Essentially, the Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union would have to classify private schools one class higher than their enrollment dictates — or public schools would not be able to pay their membership dues.
It is an idea that has been kicked around by those within high school athletics for a while. It was referred to the Senate Education Committee.
No lobbyists have declared on the bill yet.
