The 2025 legislative session officially kicked off on Monday, bringing renewed focus to key policy issues impacting Iowans. Tuesday night, Governor Reynolds delivered the annual State of the State Address, outlining their vision and priorities for the year ahead. Stay tuned as we track developments and their implications for Iowa's community colleges throughout the session.
Several bills have already dropped with impacts on community colleges. HF 18 establishes a diminished salary offset for unemployment benefits whereby an individual who accepts employment with a gross weekly salary less than the individual's weekly unemployment benefit amount may receive an amount equal to the difference between the individual's gross weekly salary and the individual's weekly benefit amount if the individual accepts such employment prior to exhausting the individual's benefits for the individual's benefit year. HF 31 creates the new graduate tax credit, which is available against the individual income tax. SF 6 relates to the provision of information relating to immunization exemptions and already has a companion bill, HF 34. SF 12 relates to students who are pregnant or who recently gave birth who attend community colleges. SSB 1013 relates to nominations of candidates for elections to merged area offices. HF 35 relates to postsecondary schools and COVID-19 vaccine exemptions for certain clinical students. HSB 6 requires in-state residency for purposes of undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees at community colleges for certain military personnel and family members. As you'll note, many of these bills have come up in the last several years, and we look forward to working with the legislature on these issues.
Additionally, two pre-filed bills, 1396XD and 1397XD have been picked up by legislators and turned into HSB 3 and HSB 4.
For more information or to stay up-to-date, on our bill watch, click here!