Legislative Update for 04/05/2019

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Legislative Update for 04/05/2019

Shanlyn Seivert

The second funnel has blown through and there are many bills still standing. There are different ways for a bill to remain alive after the second funnel; however, the most common ways are to pass one chamber and be voted out of Committee in the other chamber or be referred to Appropriations, Ways and Means, or Government Oversight. Below are examples of bills that met one or more of the criteria.   

SF 139/HF 420 - Financial Literacy Requirement under the State’s Educational Standards - Requires high school students enrolled in school districts and accredited nonpublic schools to take a one-half unit course in personal finance literacy, as a condition of graduation, commencing with students in the 2022-2023 school year graduating class. SF 139 passed the Senate and was sent to the House. HF 420, which is identical to SF 139, is eligible for debate on the House floor.

SF 316Special Education Study – Requests the Legislative Council to establish an interim study committee to consider and make recommendations regarding special education services. The interim study requires input from various stakeholders to include parents with children who have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) as well as parents whose children do not. The report is due in December 2020. The bill passed the Senate and was sent to the House where it is eligible for debate on the House floor.

SF 394 - Offer and Teach Requirements through Distance Learning Courses - Allows school districts and accredited nonpublic schools to offer distance learning courses to meet the state’s educational program “offer and teach” course requirements at the high school level by utilizing Iowa Learning Online (ILO) through the Department of Education (Department), or by offering a course through an online platform, if the course is developed by the school district or by offering such a course through a private provider that meets standards approved by the Department. The bill passed the Senate and was sent to the House where it is eligible for debate on the House floor.    

SF 437Scholarship Rule - Requires the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union and the Iowa High School Athletic Association to develop an eligibility policy for high school students competing in high school sports/extracurricular activities that does not allow multiple suspensions for a single act. It requires the Department to adopt new rules when the policy is ready. The bill passed the Senate and was sent to the House where it is eligible for debate on the House floor.  

SF 479/HF 690 - Children’s Mental Health System - Establishes a children’s behavioral health system, identifies what qualifies a child or adolescent for services, and establishes required core behavioral health services. The bill codifies a children’s behavioral health system state board with specific state agency and community stakeholder representatives. The goal is for the children’s behavioral health system to work in tandem with the current structure for the Adult Mental Health Regions System. The bill passed the House and was sent to the Senate where it is eligible for debate on the Senate floor.

HF 598 – Classroom Assignments for Siblings – The bill allows parents to request that siblings be placed in the same classroom for kindergarten through grade 5 at the start of the registration period, or within 14 days of the start of attendance for later-enrolled students. It requires the school to defer to the parent, unless the principal determines that the placement is disruptive. It allows a parent to appeal to their local school board if they disagree with the principal’s decision. The bill passed the House and was sent to the Senate where it is eligible for debate on the Senate floor.

The following bills survived the second funnel due to being referred to either Appropriations or Ways and Means.

SF 445English as a Second Language (ESL) Supplemental Weighting – Increases the amount of supplementary weighting from .22 to .295 for five years for limited English proficient students. It would take effect on July 1, 2019. The bill was referred to Appropriations.

SF 547 - Education Savings Accounts (ESA) - Establishes educational savings grants for disabled students in private schools or those in public schools who are paying tuition due to not qualifying for open enrollment. The student must have attended a public school the prior year or attended a private school the prior year and been eligible for a grant. The ESA is equal to the weighting generated by the student’s special education designation. Any unused grant money can be used for college by the student, until age 23. The bill takes effect the 2020-21 school year. The bill was referred to Appropriations.

SF 602/HF 596 - Whole Grade Sharing - Extends certain whole-grade sharing/school district reorganization incentives such as a reduced uniform levy until July 2024. SF 602 passed through Senate Appropriations and is eligible for debate on the Senate floor. HF 596 has been placed on the House unfinished business calendar, which means it is still under consideration for this session.  

SF 603  – Concurrent Enrollment to meet Certain Educational Requirements – Increases the weighting for liberal arts concurrent enrollment courses from .45 to .5.  Allows districts to meet offer and teach math and science requirements through concurrent enrollment or online courses. Allows nonpublic schools to contract for community college courses directly. A full description of the bill was provided in the March 8 Legislative Update under the previous number of SF 488.

HF 592Statewide Preschool Eligibility - Changes the statewide preschool program for four-year-old children to the statewide preschool program for young children and allows both four and five-year-olds to attend. The bill was referred to Appropriations.

HF 673Radon Testing - Requires schools districts to conduct a short-term test for radon at least once by 2024 and at least once every five years thereafter. If multiple tests confirm an unacceptable level of radon, school districts are required to mitigate. It allows PPEL and SAVE funds to be used for both testing and mitigation. School districts are required to retain a person credentialed to perform radon abatement. The bill was referred to Appropriations and is eligible for debate on the House floor.

HSB 250 Statewide Preschool Eligibility - Expands the eligibility and state funding provisions of the statewide preschool program for four-year-old children to also include five-year-old children who reach the age of five on or after March 15 but on or before September 15 of the calendar year during which the school year begins. References to four-year-old children in the program are changed to “young children” or expanded to also refer to eligible five-year-old children. Applies to school budget years beginning on or after July 1, 2020. This bill was referred to Appropriations.

HF 546/SF 74 – SAVE – The bills extend the SAVE state penny sales tax for school infrastructure through January 1, 2051. A full description was provided in the March 15 Legislative Update. HF 546 passed the House and was sent to the Senate, where it was referred to Ways and Means and is eligible for a vote in the Ways and Means Committee. SF 74 was also referred to Ways and Means.

SF 481 - Education Tax Credit - Creates a tax credit for community college students pursuing a credential leading to high-demand occupations. The bill was referred to Ways and Means and is eligible for a vote in Committee.

HF 119School Property Tax Levy – Deems that the statewide maximum adjusted property tax rate shall not be less than the lowest such rate among all Iowa school districts. The bill takes effect 2020-21. The bill was referred to Ways and Means.

 SF 197/HF 343 - School Bus Exception – The bills are similar in that they would increase the allowable size of vans used to transport students to 12 passengers, including the driver.  SF 197 would allow the use of pickups of nine passengers or less to also be used as school buses, if the pickup does not carry more passengers than there are safety belts and if the pickup is not operated while any passenger is in the bed of the pickup.  The bills require vans, if over nine passengers, to be 'used' vehicles due to federal regulations that prohibit the purchase and use of new vans of over 10 person capacity for student transportation.  However, those same regulations do not apply to used vans. SF 197 passed the Senate 49-0 and was sent to the House. Both bills have been placed on the House calendar under unfinished business.

The House passed HF 758, Education Appropriations, on a vote of 58-38 and it has been sent to the Senate. While most of the line items in the bill have status quo funding levels, there were several increases. One of those is an increase of $356,000 for Career and Technical Secondary Education, an increase of $500,000 for ILO and an increase of $300,000 for the Statewide Assessment, which brings the total amount for assessment to $3 million. The increase in assessment funding is designated for accredited nonpublic schools who plan to use the new state assessment through Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP).

There is also an increase of $3 million for Children's Mental Health Training. The funding is allocated to the Area Education Agencies to provide mental health awareness training to educators and schools, to identify a range of approaches to best meet the training needs of schools and to strengthen community support for students. A portion of the appropriation ($200,000) is to be used to create a clearinghouse of mental health resources for use by schools and community providers.

SF 159 - Practitioner Preparation Program Testing - Authorizes the Department to set the minimum passing score for completing a teacher preparation program in order to receive the initial license. When establishing a minimum score, the Department will use scores required of similar tests in contiguous states as well as the supply and demand imbalance of content areas or teaching positions currently experienced in Iowa. It also requires the Department to establish a one-year waiver process for students who fail to obtain the minimum assessment score.  The bill passed the Senate on a vote of 48-0 and was sent to the House. The House substituted SF 159 for their companion bill, HF 513. The bill passed the House on a vote of 71-28 and is now on its way to the Governor. 

Below are bills that failed to survive second funnel.

SF 209 - Civics Test Requires school districts and accredited nonpublic schools to offer high school students an opportunity to take the US Citizenship and Immigration Services Naturalization Civics Test. The bill passed the Senate and was sent to the House, where it was scheduled for a vote in the House Education Committee; however, it did not receive a vote.  

SF 115 – Carrying on School Grounds – Allows a peace officer to carry a gun on school grounds, even when not on duty. The bill passed the Judiciary Committee, but did not advance.

SF 116 – Guns and School Transports - Allows individuals with a valid nonprofessional permit to carry a firearm on school grounds if they are on school grounds to transport a person to or from, or delivering an item to the school, and if they remain in a parking area or driveway. The bill passed the Judiciary Committee, but did not advance.

SF 199/HF 6 - Voluntary Diversity Plan - Strikes the use of voluntary diversity plans as a reason to deny open enrollment to a student. SF 199 passed the Education Committee, but did not advance further. HF 6 was eligible for a vote in the House Education Committee, but did not advance.

SF 438 - Omnibus Bill - Makes changes to Iowa Code that pertain to school district responsibilities and authority, including dental, vision, and lead screening data collection and reporting. The details of the bill were outlined in the March 22 legislative update which can be found here. The bill passed the Senate on a vote of 32-17 and was sent to the House. A subcommittee was held and the bill did not advance.

SF 376/HF 504Health Education Requirements - Adds mental health awareness, coping skills, and suicide prevention to the subject matter that must be included in the unit of health education, which school districts and accredited nonpublic schools must offer and teach in grades 7-12. The bill was eligible for debate on the Senate floor, but was deferred. HF 504 passed a subcommittee, but did not advance.

In the coming weeks, legislators will be spending the majority of their time caucusing, working on budget bills and preparing and participating in floor debate. There will be a great deal of bill movement. If you have specific bills that you are interested in and know the number, I’ve included the link to the Bill Disposition page. This page list all the bills that have survived the second funnel and their current status. Until next week…


Shan Seivert
Policy Liaison
Iowa Department of Education
Cell: 515-326-5595
Office: 515-281-3399
shanlyn.seivert@iowa.gov