Final AEA chapter and more Iowa legislative action
April 1 "Capitol Week" is online
A surprise awaited me at the capitol last Monday. I forgot that the Pioneer Lawmakers' Association was scheduled to hold their induction ceremony in the Iowa House chamber. The organization has been around since the 1890s and honors state legislators who were first elected to the state House or Senate twenty years earlier. The class of 2002 was quite large, since redistricting following the 2000 census created some open seats and prompted retirements.
Sitting in the front row here (from left) are former Democratic State Representative Kevin McCarthy and State Senators Daryl Beall and Amanda Ragan. You can watch the whole presentation, featuring a speech by former Republican State Senator John Putney, on YouTube here.
I wasn’t in the Iowa Senate chamber for the memorial service to honor former legislators who have passed away since the last Pioneers event, but that video is also available on YouTube.
On to the program. Dennis Hart and I missed the first half of the Iowa/LSU Elite Eight game in order to recap the week in Iowa politics for KHOI listeners live at 7:00 pm on Monday. KHOI rebroadcasts the show at 6:00 am on Tuesday and noon Wednesday, or you can download the audio in podcast form anytime on your favorite platform (Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, etc.).
I also share the audio file on this newsletter, of course. Please help us spread the word to others who follow Iowa politics and may not be aware of our work.
Remember, KHOI’s website has the full “Capitol Week” archive going back to February 2021.
Topics Dennis and I covered this week:
We spent several minutes walking through the final version of the Area Education Agencies bill, which the Iowa Senate approved last Tuesday and Governor Kim Reynolds signed on Wednesday. House File 2612 will affect schools and families in many ways;
I didn’t name them on the program, but the Republican senators who voted against the AEA bill were Charlie McClintock, Waylon Brown, and Mike Klimesh. Three other Senate Republicans had joined them in opposing an earlier AEA bill, which was closer to Reynolds’ original proposal; Jeff Taylor and Mark Lofgren voted for the final version of House File 2612, and Sandy Salmon was absent for the March 26 debate;
We explained how the new law will affect funding for special education, media services, and education services. I wrote about this in more detail at Bleeding Heartland;
Iowans who contacted legislators about the AEA bill overwhelmingly opposed its passage. That included the majority of public school officials who weighed in. The bill passed only because Reynolds insisted on it; as Republican State Representative Brent Siegrist (a former executive director of the AEA system) told Omaha-based KMTV in early March, “If we didn’t do anything the governor will go off on a rampage and it could get ugly”;
We speculated about how services may change for children, families, schools, and child care providers. One major concern is that AEAs will lose a lot of staff through resignations or layoffs once school districts are able to redirect some of their funds to cover other needs. The resignations have already begun; school psychologist Amy Endle allowed me to republish the message she sent to state lawmakers;
The AEA bill also includes teacher pay provisions, establishing a minimum starting salary of $47,500 next year and $50,000 in year two and beyond. Teachers with at least twelve years of experience will receive $60,000 next year and after that $62,000. I am starting to hear concerns that some school districts won’t receive funding to cover raises for educators in between those markers, so starting teachers and those with six or eight years of experience might be at that same minimum salary level;
House File 2612 also stipulates that supplemental state aid (state funding for public K-12 schools) will increase by 2.5 percent (about $191) per pupil next year. It’s important to understand that this doesn’t mean every school district will get 2.5 percent more money from the state next year. Many school districts have declining enrollment and will therefore get less money, even though the per pupil rate is going up by 2.5 percent (which is way below the pace of rising costs);
Moving on to other legislative news, the Iowa Senate approved sixteen bills on April 1. We touched on two that passed unanimously. House File 2489 would require insurance companies to cover diagnostic breast exams such as MRIs and ultrasounds. Senate File 2165 authorizes remote court proceedings, continuing a practice adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic;
Last week, Senate Republicans approved Senate File 2109 along party lines. The bill would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to drive themselves to and from work;
There was an unusual public hearing in the Iowa Senate last week on the governor’s nomination of McKenzie Snow for director of the Iowa Department of Education. You can read more about it in the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Des Moines Register, and Iowa Starting Line;
Also last week, an Iowa Senate Ways and Means Subcommittee advanced House File 2639, which would create a license plate featuring the Gadsden flag (“Don’t Tread on Me”). But Republican State Senators Chris Cournoyer and Jason Schultz sounded skeptical about directing part of the proceeds to the Iowa Firearms Coalition (the National Rifle Association’s Iowa affiliate). House Republicans approved this bill along party lines last month. If it moves forward in the Senate, I expect an amendment;
Speaking of party-line votes, the Iowa House approved a state constitutional amendment on taxes last week. House Joint Resolution 2006 would require a two-thirds vote in the Iowa House or Senate to increase individual or corporate income taxes. I forgot to mention during the show that this supermajority requirement would not apply to sales tax or property tax increases, so it would lock in more regressive tax policy in the event of a downturn;
The House took another stab at changing state law on eminent domain last Thursday. House File 2664 passed by 86 votes to 7, with all of the no votes coming from Republicans. At Bleeding Heartland, I highlighted an angle Dennis and I didn’t discuss on the show: what I see as political malpractice by Democrats, who have not been “loud and proud” in their opposition to CO2 pipelines;
Also on Thursday, the House approved another effort to undermine a property tax exemption for forested areas. Nine Republicans and all Democrats voted against House File 2672, which barely passed with 51 yes votes;
A House Ways and Means subcommittee advanced House Study Bill 737, which would shield pesticide manufacturers from liability. State Representative Phil Thompson indicated that Republicans plan to amend this bill to conform to Senate language. This proposal is a good example of how policy bills that didn’t get through the funnel can come back to life;
The House Government Oversight Committee held a rare meeting last week to discuss possible violations of open meetings and open records laws by the city of Davenport. Randy Evans testified before the committee and wrote about the controversy in his latest column;
In February, the House approved a bill inspired by the Davenport shenanigans. House File 2539 is now languishing on the Senate’s “unfinished business” calendar. GOP State Representative Gary Mohr, who introduced the bill and is also the House Appropriations Committee chair, told reporters last Thursday he’s pushing senators to bring that bill forward;
House and Senate Republicans released their state budget targets last week. The Senate wants to spend the least in the coming fiscal year ($8.872 billion); the House Republicans want to spend about $8.955 billion, which is $35 million more than the governor’s budget and $82 million more than the Senate plan;
State Auditor Rob Sand blasted Attorney General Brenna Bird last week for claiming that an incomplete “audit” is holding up reimbursements for emergency contraception for sexual assault victims. Sand noted that no audit is ongoing. At most, the Attorney General’s office is conducting an internal review, which it is leaving open so Bird can avoid accountability for her own policy decision;
The governor’s office provided more details last week on the next deployments of state troopers and Iowa National Guard members to Texas, to help fight the supposed “invasion” of undocumented immigrants.
Thanks for reading or listening! Dennis and I will be back next Monday.
Laura, I thought today, as I often do, how grateful I am for your work. I imagine how difficult it must be to witness the atrocious bills being debated and passed. I find myself holding my breath as I read. It is just one damaging and painful thing after another for Iowa citizens and families. You give me what I need to talk to people in an informed way and give me hope that we can turn the tide in Iowa. Your work is so important and appreciated. Thank you.