Legislative Update for 03/04/2022

Friday once again, folks. It was a light week in terms of session work, with mostly incremental progress on many of the bills we are monitoring. I’ll zoom in on bills that saw some form of movement this week - ranging from subcommittee passage to Governor signature.

• HF2080 - relating to school districts that share operational functions, including operational functions in the areas of superintendent management and special education director. Senate Education subcommittee recommended passage.
• HF2081 - relating to teachers, including the assessments administered to practitioner preparation program admission candidates and to practitioner preparation program students prior to students’ completion of a practitioner preparation program, field experiences, and certain specified licenses for teachers created by the board of educational examiners. Passed out of the House by a vote of 94 to 0, sent to the Senate.
• HF2165 - relating to employment, including modifying provisions related to the list of high-demand jobs created by community colleges and students who are eligible to receive a scholarship from the future ready Iowa skilled workforce last-dollar scholarship fund. Passed out of the House by a vote of 99 to 0. Attached to companion bill SF2129.
• HF2398 - relating to renewal requirements associated with licenses issued by the board of educational examiners to practitioners with master’s or doctoral degrees, fees associated with the review of certain specified records, and background checks. Passed out of the House by a vote of 99 to 0, sent to the Senate.
• HF2416 - relating to student eligibility requirements in school district, accredited nonpublic school, regent institution, community college, and certain other institution of higher education athletics based on sex at birth. Passed out of the Senate by a vote of 31 to 17 and was signed by the Governor on March 3.
• HF2493 - relating to paraeducators holding substitute authorizations. Passed out of the House by a vote of 99 to 0, attached to companion bill SF2291. 
• HF2495 - establishing the comprehensive transition and postsecondary program scholarship program. Passed out of the House by a vote of 99 to 0, sent to the Senate.
• SF2128 - relating to education, including the education of students who are not fully English proficient and the standards applicable to the hiring, developing, and evaluation of community college faculty. Passed out of the House by a vote of 99 to 0, sent back to the Senate.
• SF2202 - relating to eligibility for grants under the teach Iowa scholar program, licenses issued by the board of educational examiners, and the use of revenues from the district management levy. Senate Ways and Means subcommittee recommends passage.
• SF2356 - authorizing the boards of directors of school districts to engage certain specified individuals to serve without compensation as substitute teachers. Passed out of the Senate by a vote of 38 to 7, sent to the House.
• SF2369 (successor to SF2349) - establishing a student first scholarship program and a student first enrollment supplement fund, requiring the boards of directors of school districts to publish certain specified information, modifying provisions related to required social studies instruction, open enrollment, teacher librarian endorsements, competent private instruction, and special education. Passed out of the Senate Appropriations committee and placed on the Senate appropriations calendar. 

We have yet to see a significant update on the appropriations bills, aside from the budget targets for the upcoming fiscal year, but I imagine that won’t be the case for much longer.  We’ll also continue to monitor the progress of the Governor’s education bills, which are moving through both the House and Senate - albeit at different paces.

We continue to maintain a legislative tracker on our website which is updated throughout the week. Make sure to keep an eye out each Friday for these updates, but in the meantime feel free to reach out with any questions.

Eric St Clair
Legislative Liaison
Iowa Department of Education
Grimes State Office Building
400 E 14th St
Des Moines, IA 50319-0146
Cell: 515-729-0859
eric.stclair@iowa.gov