Child care assistance, work requirements advance in Iowa Legislature

DES MOINES — More low-income Iowans would become eligible for state assistance to cover child care expenses, but they also would be required to work more hours to remain eligible for the program under legislation being advanced in the Iowa Legislature.

The Iowa Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would increase the eligibility threshold for state assistance for child care costs from 145 percent to 160 percent of the federal poverty level.

The 160 percent threshold equates to a household income of $48,000 for a family of four.

The bill also increases by four hours, to 32, the number of combined hours of work or education that a participant must engage in to be eligible for the program.

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Sen. Mark Costello, R-Imogene, said the bill invests an additional $25 million into child care in the state.

“This does expand child care quite a bit,” Costello said.

Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, criticized the additional work requirements in the bill.

“Iowa really just is not very family-friendly with their child care policy,” Petersen said. “Saying you have to work 32 hours a week to a brand-new mom who just had a baby in order to get a child care subsidy, I just think is wrong.”

Because it has been amended, the bill — House File 707 — must go back for second approval in the Iowa House before being sent to Gov. Kim Reynolds.

State board investigating fake diplomas

The Iowa Board of Nursing said it is investigating the effects of a scheme in which schools in Florida and elsewhere sold fraudulent nursing diplomas without proper instruction.

The board has revoked two licenses and is investigating several other license-holders who may have obtained their degrees fraudulently, it said in a news release. The board said it has received no reports of patient harm related to those under investigation.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, between 2016 and 2021, a group of nursing school administrators offered students degrees for between $10,000 and $17,000. Instead of taking required classes and clinical work, the students were coached on taking license exams in various states.

Two people pleaded guilty to fraud charges related to the scheme last month. About 7,600 people paid for the fake degrees, totaling $114 million.

Iowa’s Board of Nursing said it is using a database from federal investigators to identify people who may hold fraudulent licenses in the state.

Democrats: Reinstate reimbursements to assault survivors

A pair of Democratic state senators have called on Republican Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird to reinstate funding from her office to support medical care for survivors of sexual assault.

Sens. Janet Petersen, of Des Moines, and Todd Taylor, of Cedar Rapids, sent a letter requesting Bird explain her rationale for halting reimbursements from the state’s victim compensation funds to pay for emergency contraception — and, in rare cases, abortions — for victims of sexual assault, while it reviewed the state policy.

The letter also requests an expected timeline for the office’s ongoing audit of victim services and a list of all the services to survivors that have been suspended during that audit.

Bird told reporters last week that she had no updates on her review of the state’s policy, and declined to answer questions about the review during a news conference on a separate topic.

Payment for emergency contraception for nearly 70 sexual assault survivors has yet to be reimbursed by the state, while one claim for an abortion also is on hold, according to Planned Parenthood North Central States, based on Attorney General’s Office records obtained by Iowa Public Radio.

“Depriving victims of essential care while your office continues its monthslong audit is an attack on justice,” Petersen and Taylor wrote in the letter. “Victims, advocates, prosecutors, and law enforcement deserve to know why needed resources are being withheld by your office. We stand united in urging you to reverse course and give survivors of sexual assault the financial ability to care for their bodies and move forward in their healing process.”