This week at the Capitol was dominated by discussions of voting. The House and Senate both passed a bill that makes several changes to voting processes and timelines. We have been monitoring this bill, which does not directly impact the timeline for local Trustee elections. Relatedly, the state’s Temporary Redistricting Advisory Committee met for the first time on Monday. The group is charged with overseeing the process, which the Iowa Constitution requires lawmakers to complete by September 1. This year, this will be complicated by delays in the U.S. Census Bureau’s release of information, which is now expected to come six months late (by September 30), which is after Iowa’s deadline. Community College Trustee districts are among the things determined by this process, so we will be monitoring it closely. Finally, great news from Indian Hills Community College this week on the approval of a grant from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund for the Iowa Faculty Development Collaborative project. More on this exciting project soon! Finally, it looks like another stimulus package is moving in DC. Today, the house is expected to pass a bill that would provide $39.6 billion in higher education spending, including grant allocations for colleges that will yield approximately 70% more than the amounts colleges received under CRRSAA with at least half of all formula grant funds go toward emergency financial aid grants to students. Read more.
Community Colleges for Iowa