The legislative session is in full swing and yesterday was a productive day at the Capitol. I had the opportunity to speak at three subcommittee meetings, advocating for policies that support Iowa’s community colleges. Additionally, I attended the House Education Committee meeting to stay informed on discussions impacting education across the state. As the week unfolds, we’ll continue monitoring key legislation and providing updates on how these decisions may affect our colleges and students.
There are ten bills that have either been introduced with impact on the community college space, as well as some that have had some type of movement in the last week. HF 35 deals with COVID-19 vaccine exemptions and has been scheduled for a subcommittee tomorrow at 12pm. HF 39 deals with bond issuances and the subcommittee was held yesterday and passed the bill. HF 88 is an education omnibus bill that includes provisions related to private instruction, world language instruction, dual enrollment, and the tuition and textbook tax credit. HF 91 is a Secretary of State omnibus bill that includes the address confidentiality program and the conduct of elections. HSB 3 and HSB 4 both moved out of their subcommittee and committees yesterday and will now convert into House Files before moving on to the floor; both of these bills deal with the National Guard Service Scholarship program. HSB 6 moved out of its subcommittee yesterday and will likely pass out of its next committee meeting; this bill deals with in-state tuition for veterans and their families. HSB 30 requires students to pass the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Naturalization Civics Test as a condition of high school graduation and high school equivalency diplomas. SF 6 relates to the provision of information relating to immunization exemptions and had its subcommittee meeting today at 12:30pm; it also already has a companion bill, HF 34, which also had its subcommittee meeting today at 12pm. Finally, SSB 1013, the bill that requires primaries for trustee elections has been scheduled for a subcommittee meeting for tomorrow at 12pm.
For more information or to stay up-to-date, on our bill watch, click here!