Capitol Notebook: Bill requiring police officers to be U.S. citizens advances at Iowa Capitol

DES MOINES — Iowa House Republicans advanced a measure Tuesday, over the objections of Democrats and some of its members, that would require Iowa law enforcement officers be U.S. citizens.

The bill provides that minimum entrance requirements to approved law enforcement training schools include that any law enforcement officer be a citizen of the United States.

Current law requires Iowa law enforcement officers be a U.S. Citizen and a resident of Iowa or intend to become a resident upon being employed. Noncitizens must obtain a waiver to work as an officer.

Iowa state Reps. Jon Dunwell, R-Newton, and Brian Lohse, R-Bondurant, joined Democrats in voting against House Study Bill 534. The bill passed out of the Judiciary Committee on a 12-8 vote, making it eligible for debate in the House.

Dunwell said he spoke with law enforcement personnel in his district about the bill. He said they felt “there are proper checks and balances in place, and feel comfortable with the (existing) law that says you have to be a citizen, unless you go through the waiver process” through the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy Council.

Lohse said only three waivers have been granted.

And in each case, the candidates recommended to the council by Iowa law enforcement departments have been a longtime legal permanent resident seeking citizenship “that the department is saying, ‘This is a person that we believe in, that we trust, that we want on our force,’” Lohse said.

He said the bill sends “a wrong message.”

Rep. Lindsay James, D-Dubuque, who served on a subcommittee that considered the bill, noted the Iowa National Guard and U.S. military allow some noncitizens to join, and provide opportunities for lawful permanent residents to apply for accelerated naturalization and citizenship through service to their country.

Committee chairman and bill sponsor Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, acknowledged there’s been a long history of noncitizens serving in the U.S. military, but noted federal law requires all military officers be U.S. citizens and does not grant security clearances to noncitizens.

“It’s not about the caliber of the individual, it is about whether or not you are OK with noncitizens having police powers over United States citizens,” Holt said. “And I am not.”

Sand: Middle- and lower-income Iowans’ property tax burden higher

Wealthier areas of Iowa are likely to have a lower consolidated property tax levy compared to lower-income areas, according to a report issued by Iowa auditor Rob Sand.

Sand’s report suggests “there is a statistically significant negative relationship between total property tax levies and the median household income of a city or township,” meaning areas of the state with higher income levels are more likely to pay a lower property tax rate.

For the report, Sand’s office related consolidated property tax rates in each of the state’s roughly 4,100 taxing districts to a median household income using U.S. Census data.

The average Iowan in 2024 will pay a regular consolidated levy of $35.10 per $1,000 in valuation, and the median rate is $36.47, according to Sand’s report.

Sand said he produced the report to inform state lawmakers when they discuss state-level changes to property tax laws. He claimed it is the first state report to compare property tax rates to income levels, and to map the data.

Sand said neither he nor his office would make any policy recommendations, that the report is merely informational.

“Property taxes are a topic of conversation every year in the Legislature, all Iowans who own property are paying them, and I think the more information that we can provide to inform people about where that money’s going, who’s paying what, and how the whole system works is us doing our job,” Sand said.

Property Tax and Income_Bri... by The Gazette

Bill would require ‘science of reading’ methods

Iowa elementary school teachers would be required to teach literacy using the techniques commonly known as the “science of reading” under a bill Iowa lawmakers advanced.

The bill — Senate Study Bill 3069 — also would prohibit teaching students to infer meaning based on semantics, syntax and visual cues, often called the “three-cueing” method.

The reading instruction required under the bill would include emphasis on phonics, phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

Teachers, education advocates and parents who spoke during a Senate subcommittee meeting on the bill were largely in favor of emphasizing science of reading instruction, but said they did not want the bill to preclude any specific style of literacy education.

Jillian Carlson, a lobbyist for the state Board of Regents that governs the state’s public universities, said the science of reading concepts are taught to prospective teachers at the three universities.

She said she has concerns about prohibiting the “three-cueing” method of literacy education that may be beneficial for some students, like those learning English as a second language.

Parents of students with reading struggles and dyslexia, though, said the “three-cueing” method of instruction reinforces bad reading habits and teaches kids to mask their reading struggles rather than learn reading fundamentals. They said the state should prioritize methods that are evidence-based and proven to improve comprehension.

Gov. Kim Reynolds said during her condition of the state address this year that the state is providing science of reading training to elementary teachers across the state through a partnership with Massachusetts-based Lexia Learning.

Hotel and construction site inspections

State inspectors no longer would be required to inspect hotels every two years under legislation advanced by a Senate panel.

The legislation also would eliminate a requirement that the state conduct annual inspections that removes asbestos.

Both types of inspections would instead take place once a complaint is filed with the state under the bill.

The proposal would rewrite state law to match how the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing has been operating “for a number of years,” a spokesman for the agency told state lawmakers.

Senate Study Bill 3064 was advanced by the subcommittee, but not without reservations from the lawmakers on the panel.

“I’m not really comfortable with less of anything when it comes to public health and public risk,” said Sen. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines.

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau