Which Iowa bills are alive? AEA overhaul, defining 'man' and 'woman' survive 'funnel' week
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Gov. Kim Reynolds’ priorities on education, health care and gender identity are among the high-profile bills that have survived a key legislative deadline — while other bills to let cities override local library boards and remove gender identity protections from the civil rights act will not advance.
Friday's first legislative “funnel” deadline helps winnow the hundreds of proposed bills each year that haven't passed out of committee. Lawmakers will move into the next phase of the legislative session with a narrower — but still expansive — list of priorities to complete.
One of the thorniest issues this year is Reynolds’ controversial proposal to overhaul Iowa’s Area Education Agencies. House and Senate Republicans have each proposed their own extensive rewrites of Reynolds’ bill reimagining special education services, while Democrats oppose wholesale changes to the AEAs.
Reynolds issued a statement saying her priorities would move Iowa forward.
“As the legislative process continues, so will conversations on how we deliver results for Iowans,” Reynolds said. “Iowa has cemented itself as a national leader, and these priorities take us another step further.”
Democrats criticized Republicans for not acting on their agenda to protect abortion rights and provide affordable housing and child care aid.
“We are pretty frustrated, as you can imagine, with the focus on politics this legislative session so far. Frustrated but not surprised,” said House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights. “We know Iowans want us to act, we know Iowans want us to do things that the majority of Iowans want. Republicans continue to play politics, and Iowans are going to notice.”
Not every bill is subject to the funnel deadline. Tax and spending-related legislation is exempt, so discussion of Republicans’ competing income tax cut proposals can wait until later in the session.
Legislative leaders also have ways to revive supposedly “dead” bills, including by attaching them to other bills as amendments.
Here’s where major pieces of Iowa legislation stand after the first funnel.
EDUCATION
Bills still alive
Area Education Agency overhaul
House and Senate Republicans have each proposed their own rewrite of Reynolds’ controversial bill to overhaul the state’s Area Education Agencies and change the way students receive special education services. Both bills would establish a Division of Special Education within the Iowa Department of Education to oversee services.
House Study Bill 713 would leave the AEAs as the sole provider of K12 special education services, while allowing school districts to contract with other providers for media services in 2025 and general education services in 2026. The plan would continue sending federal special education money directly to the AEAs, while state aid and property tax dollars that currently go to AEAs would be sent to school districts.
Senate Study Bill 3073 would send 90% of funding dedicated to special education to individual school districts, while 10% would remain with the AEAs. Districts would receive 60% of the money AEAs currently receive for media and general education services, while AEAs would get the other 40%. School districts would not have to continue using AEAs for special education services, media services or general education services and could decide to contract with another provider.
Arming school staff and requiring school resource officers
School districts with 8,000 or more students would be required to have at least one security officer or school resource officer in schools where ninth through 12th-grade students regularly attend classes, unless that district’s school board votes against it. Private schools and public schools with fewer than 8,000 students would be encouraged to contract with or employ a security guard or school resource officer.
The bill also allows school districts, private schools and colleges and universities to arm staff. House Study Bill 675.
Eliminating DEI positions at state universities
Iowa’s three public universities would be required to eliminate all staff positions focused on diversity, equity and inclusion that are not necessary for the schools' accreditation or to comply with state or federal law under a House bill that advanced.
The bill would codify directives adopted by the Iowa Board of Regents last fall. It would also require two Iowa lawmakers to serve as nonvoting members of the Board of Regents. House File 2558.
Increasing teacher pay
House Republicans have proposed their own bill to raise starting teacher pay to $50,000 per year, as Reynolds has proposed. The House bill would first raise minimum teacher pay to $47,500 for the coming school year, then to $50,000 the next year.
The House proposal also includes $14 million for schools to raise non-salaried school staff pay to $15 per hour. It does not include a provision in Reynolds’ bill that would provide teachers with at least 12 years of experience with a minimum salary of $62,000. House Study Bill 714.
Revamping social studies curriculum
Social studies curriculum would be required to include such topics as the "history and meaning of the United States flag and national anthem," the "culture heritage of western civilization, the United States and the state of Iowa," and "the study of and devotion to the United States' exceptional and praiseworthy history."
A separate bill that would have required students to sing the national anthem in class every day did not advance. House File 2544.
Reviewing education standards and eliminating ‘social emotional learning’
This House bill would commission a full review of Iowa’s K-12 curriculum, graduation requirements and academic standards, and require eliminating “critical race theory” and “social emotional learning.” House File 2545.
Teaching literacy
Parents whose students are not proficient in reading at the end of third grade would be given the option to have their student repeat the grade under a bill proposed by Reynolds. The measure would also require teachers to be trained in “evidence-based instruction” on the science of reading and would provide personalized lesson plans to students in third through sixth grade who are not proficient in reading.
House lawmakers advanced the bill but described it as “a major work in progress.” A separate Senate bill would implement a reading curriculum more focused on phonics, or sounding out letters as a way to teach reading. House Study Bill 650/Senate File 2195.
Bills that are dead
Chaplains in schools
A proposal that would have allowed school districts to hire unlicensed, religious chaplains advanced out of subcommittee but was not passed by committee.
Religious groups favoring the bill called it a new resource to address mental health needs, while faith and school groups criticized it as vaguely written and an ill-fitting solution. House File 2073/Senate Study Bill 3092.
Classroom spending accounts for teachers
This Senate bill would have provided each new teacher a $500 spending account to be used to buy classroom supplies, while other teachers would each receive a fund of $200 to use on classroom supplies.
It did not receive a committee hearing. Senate File 2009.
Partisan school board, city elections
Iowa lawmakers did not advance a bill that would have changed the state’s nonpartisan school board and city elections into partisan contests with Democratic and Republican primaries. House Study Bill 633.
HEALTH CARE
Bills still alive
Ban on closing places of worship
The governor could not close or place mandates or requirements on any place of worship for any reason, including for a public health emergency, under this House bill. House File 2532.
Birth control expansion
Iowans 18 and older could get birth control, including pills, birth control patches and vaginal rings, from a pharmacist without first seeing a doctor, under a bill from Reynolds that would expand access to contraceptives.
The bill, which Reynolds proposed last year without success, would allow pharmacists to dispense an initial three-month supply of birth control, and a 12-month supply after that. Patients would have to see a doctor within 27 months after a pharmacist dispensed the birth control. House Study Bill 642.
Death of an ‘unborn person’
A House bill would increase the penalties for terminating a pregnancy without of the consent of the pregnant person. The bill also changes the language in the law from someone who “terminates a human pregnancy” to someone who “causes the death of an unborn person.”
The bill defines “unborn person” as “an individual organism of the species homo sapiens from fertilization to live birth.” It does not apply to abortions performed with the consent of the pregnant person. Another bill would allow Iowans to bring lawsuits over the “wrongful death of an unborn child.” House Study Bill 621/House File 2518.
MOMS program changes
The state of Iowa would not have to hire a third-party administrator to oversee the More Options for Maternal Support, or MOMS, program, under bills that advanced in the House and Senate.
Instead, the Department of Health and Human Services could directly oversee the program, which was established to provide state dollars to pregnancy resource centers that counsel women against abortion and offer items like cribs and baby clothes to pregnant women and new moms. House File 2267/Senate File 2252.
Nursing home staff training
Iowa nursing home staff would have to train twice a year with the Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing to go over at least three of the 10 most frequent complaints from the preceding calendar year, under a bill in the Iowa House. House Study Bill 691.
Overhauling mental health and substance use services
Reynolds’ bill would reshape mental health and substance use treatment services in Iowa by merging the state’s 13 Mental Health and Disability Service regions and 19 Integrated Provider Networks that manage substance use and problem gambling services into seven behavioral health districts.
The Department of Health and Human Services would take over management of disability services. House File 2509/Senate File 2354.
Postpartum Medicaid coverage
A bill from Reynolds would make low-income mothers eligible for a full year of Medicaid coverage after giving birth, up from 60 days under current law. Coverage would only be available to those whose family income is up to 215% of the federal poverty level ($64,500 annually for a family of four).
That’s down from a maximum family income of 375% of the federal poverty level (about $117,000 for a family of four) under current law. House Study Bill 643/Senate File 2251.
Pregnancy videos in health class
Iowa’s human growth and development classes would be required to show students a computer-generated video detailing the stages of pregnancy, similar to a video developed by an anti-abortion group, under bills in the Iowa House and Senate.
The video would be shown from seventh grade through high school. House File 2031/Senate File 2150.
Paid parental leave for state employees
State employees who give birth would receive up to four weeks of paid leave under a bill proposed by Reynolds. A state employee who did not give birth would get one week of paid parental leave.
State employees who adopt would get four weeks of paid leave. House File 2557.
Revoking minors’ ability to consent to HPV vaccine
Iowans under age 18 would no longer be able to receive a vaccine for HPV or other sexually transmitted diseases and infections without their parent's consent. Senate File 2064.
‘Right of conscience’ for health care institutions and workers
Health care providers and workers would be allowed to opt out services that violate their personal or religious beliefs. The bill would also protect them from legal action or termination due to their refusal. Senate File 2286.
STATE GOVERNMENT
Bills still alive
Banning guaranteed income programs like UpLift
Programs that provide guaranteed income payments, like the pilot program UpLift operating in Polk County, would be banned. Existing programs, which in Iowa includes just UpLift, could remain in effect until 2025.
The attorney general would be granted the power to sue cities or counties and halt any new program. House File 2319.
Boards and commissions consolidation
House and Senate Republicans are taking two different approaches to Reynolds’ goal of reducing the number of boards and commissions in Iowa. The Senate is advancing Reynolds’ bill, which would cut 111 boards and commissions.
The House is moving a narrower bill that would cut 49 boards and commissions, largely those that one lawmaker described as “defunct or duplicative.” House Study Bill 710/Senate Study Bill 3172.
Defining ‘man’ and ‘woman’
Reynolds’ bill, which passed the House Education Committee, would add new definitions of “man,” “woman” and “sex” in state law, as well as require new birth certificates for transgender Iowans that reflect their sex assigned at birth as well as their current identity.
Lawmakers removed a provision from an earlier draft that would have required transgender Iowans to have additional markings on their driver’s licenses. House File 2389.
Letting state agencies outsource audits
State agencies would be allowed to seek out their own certified CPA to perform its annual audit, rather than the state auditor’s office.
Auditor Rob Sand’s office has called the proposal a political ploy to undermine Iowa’s only statewide elected Democrat. Senate File 2311.
Limiting ballot challenges, banning drop boxes
It would become more difficult for Iowans to challenge Donald Trump’s place on the 2024 general election ballot under a bill that passed through committees in the Iowa House and Senate.
The measure would also allow federal candidates convicted of felonies to appear on Iowa’s ballot, ban ballot drop boxes, ban ranked choice voting and require absentee ballots to be returned the day before Election Day to be counted. House Study Bill 697/Senate File 2380.
‘Religious freedom restoration act’
The government could not “substantially burden” someone’s exercise of religion except in furtherance of a compelling government interest under bills in the Iowa House and Senate.
A person whose exercise of religion has been burdened would have the power to go to court to seek damages or other means of redressing the harm against them. House File 2454/Senate File 2095.
Repealing gender balance for boards and commissions
Iowa would no longer mandate a balance of men and women serving on state and local boards and commissions, under House and Senate bills that would eliminate a decades-old requirement. The push comes as part of Reynolds’ effort to shrink state government by eliminating more than 100 boards and commissions. House File 2540/Senate File 2096.
Union recertification
Public employers would be required to provide the state with a list of employees in a public union within 10 days of receiving notice that the union is seeking to hold a recertification election.
If the employer fails to provide the list, the Public Employee Relations Board would issue a written notification of the failure. If the employer does not provide the list within another five days, PERB must immediately decertify the union. Senate File 2374.
Bills that are dead
Overriding library boards’ spending and hiring authority
Lawmakers filed multiple proposals to strip away local library boards’ control of spending decisions and hiring of a director, placing authority instead with city councils and removing the current referendum process required to make any changes to library boards (used in Pella last year).
Bills in the House and Senate were approved by subcommittees but did not see action in full committees. House Study Bill 678, Senate Study Bill 3168.
Removing gender identity protections
Lawmakers did not act to remove gender identity protections from the Iowa Civil Rights Act. A House bill would have removed protections against discrimination for transgender Iowans in housing, employment, wages, public accommodations and education from the civil rights law.
The bill would have added gender dysphoria as a disability requiring protection under the law. House lawmakers did not advance the measure. House File 2082.
BUSINESS
Bills still alive
Banning bots for online ticket purchases
Creating a bot, or automated software program, to purchase excessive online tickets would be banned under this Senate bill, allowing the attorney general to sue to block further violations or seek up to $10,000 in penalties. Senate File 2322.
Electric transmission lines 'right of first refusal'
This bill would replace a 2020 law that relates to competitive bidding requirements for electric transmission lines, giving the "right of first refusal" for new projects to companies with existing infrastructure.
The 2020 law is tied up in court and Republicans see the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling as overreaching into legislative branch business. House File 2551/Senate File 2372.
Foreign farmland ownership
This proposal from Reynolds would grant Iowa's attorney general more power when investigating foreign owners of Iowa farmland. The attorney general would have subpoena power for financial information, purchase agreements and other documents.
The bill would also raise penalties for foreign companies or individuals that fail to register their purchases or holdings and require the secretary of state to compile an annual report of foreign land ownership. House File 2483/Senate File 2204.
Parental permission for social media
Minors could not create social media accounts unless their parent provides the social media company with permission, under this House bill. The Iowa attorney general could sue companies to enforce the law. House File 2523.
Pornographic site age verification
Pornographic websites would have to verify the ages of their users to ensure children aren’t accessing pornography under this House bill.
The measure would also require schools to teach students about healthy social media habits and the negative effects of social media on mental health and privacy in sixth through 12th grades. House File 2546.
Soil health
Iowa's watershed management authorities would add soil health to their missions under this House bill, which would also make changes to some water quality and flood control programs. House Study Bill 674.
LAW ENFORCEMENT & COURTS
Bills still alive
Banning nonconsensual AI-generated pornography
Two bills would criminalize pornography using someone’s likeness that is created or altered using artificial intelligence.
House File 2240 would criminalize the distribution of pornographic images of adults that are created or altered using artificial intelligence or other means.
House File 2241 would make clear that using the likeness of an identifiable minor to create an altered pornographic image is covered by Iowa's current law prohibiting the sexual exploitation of a minor, including the possession or purchase of pornographic images of children.
Banning traffic cameras, handheld devices while driving
Traffic enforcement cameras would be banned, and Iowans would be barred from using electronic devices while driving, except to answer the phone, under a bill combining two long-standing issues in the Legislature. House Study Bill 707/Senate File 2337.
Faster eminent domain hearings
Landowners who would be subjected to eminent domain and companies seeking to exercise eminent domain powers would be able to go to court more quickly to seek review of whether eminent domain is proper under a bill in the Iowa House.
The House Judiciary Committee advanced the measure but removed a provision that would have allowed one-fifth of House or Senate members to halt eminent domain proceedings on a project. House File 2522.
Increased penalties for ‘swatting’
Filing false reports to law enforcement, known as swatting, would be subject to increased penalties under a bill that advanced through House and Senate committees.
Lawmakers are considering the new penalties after an increase in swatting calls at school buildings, prompting lockdowns, cancelled classes and large law enforcement responses. House File 2165/Senate File 2161.
Bills that are dead
Death penalty
Iowa lawmakers will not bring back the death penalty in the state this year.
A Senate bill would have reinstated capital punishment for people convicted of first-degree murder of police or correctional officers. It advanced out of a subcommittee but did not receive a committee hearing. Senate Study Bill 3085.
Making homeless camping on public land illegal
The bill would prohibit "unauthorized sleeping, camping or long-term shelter" on public property. Anyone found camping under the bill would be warned and directed to a shelter for services; if they refuse to comply, they will be charged with a misdemeanor. It failed to get a vote in committee. Senate Study Bill 3175.
Penalizing exposure of minor at drag performance
Knowingly exposing anyone under 18 to an "obscene performance" would be a serious misdemeanor, as well as knowingly selling a ticket or admitting a minor to a venue where such a performance is held.
The bill defines "obscene performance" as invoking sexual acts or "appeals to the prurient interest and is patently offensive." It advanced through subcommittee but did not receive a full committee hearing. Senate File 2176.
IMMIGRATION
Bills still alive
Criminalizing re-entry into Iowa by undocumented immigrants
Any person who has been previously deported or denied entry to the U.S. would be barred from entering, attempting to enter or being in Iowa under this House bill. The felony charge would be increased if the person’s deportation came after a conviction for a past felony.
House Republicans have acknowledged their version of the bill may not move forward, citing likely constitutional issues with implementing it. House Study Bill 703/Senate File 2340.
E-Verify requirement for businesses
A bill would prohibit employers from knowingly contracting with or employing undocumented immigrants, allowing county attorneys or members of the public to seek court orders to terminate the person’s employment and, on second violation, have licenses permanently revoked.
Businesses would use the federal E-Verify program to screen candidates. Senate File 108.
No in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants
Iowa's regents universities and community colleges would have to adopt rules specifying that students must be either U.S. citizens or lawfully present in the country to receive in-state tuition, under a bill that passed the House Judiciary Committee. House File 2320.
‘Smuggling’ of undocumented immigrants
Under this House bill, a person could be found guilty of smuggling if they transport a person to conceal them from a police officer or flee an officer who is trying to make an arrest. They could also be found guilty if they were to knowingly encourage or induce a person to enter or remain in the U.S. unlawfully by concealing, harboring, or shielding that person from detection.
The bill would also state that undocumented immigrants cannot access public assistance programs. Federal law already prohibits undocumented immigrants from receiving most public assistance. House File 2112.
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.
Galen Bacharier covers politics for the Register. Reach him at gbacharier@registermedia.com or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Legislature: Which bills are alive and dead after 'funnel week'?
