Ten Iowa middle- and high-school girls — two of them transgender — spoke Thursday at a legislative hearing on legislation that would ban transgender girls from competing in girls athletics in Iowa. Also, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed her first bill of the session: a $3.6 billion K-12 public education package.
Proposed income tax cuts are on the move, and work on the next state budget has started earlier than normal.
Lawmakers are seeking a way to maintain Iowa’s four-decade-old Iowa bottle bill and address retailers’ safety and health concerns about handling dirty beverage containers in their stores.
Advocates for the bill say it gives Iowa parents more school choice, but opponents say vouchers could have a devastating impact on public schools.
Subpoenas are expected to be issued early next week as part of the investigation into conduct that led Gov. Kim Reynolds to reject two nominees for an open judgeship. The committee is seeking documents and testimony from people involved the judicial nominating process.
A proposal to enable parents to start legal proceedings against schools or educators who distribute books or materials the parents deem obscene advanced Wednesday at the Iowa Capitol. Also advancing was a bill that would require Iowa, ISU and UNI sports teams to schedule games against each other.
The bill, one of three GOP tax relief plans under consideration, would phase in a four-year gradual reduction in Iowa’s personal income tax rate from the current top rate of 8.53 percent for the highest wage earners to 4 percent for all taxpayers.
Iowa elections’ recount procedures would be streamlined, funding from private groups to help elections operations would be prohibited, and an additional signature requirement for votes cast by mail would be added under a new proposal being considered by state lawmakers.
The goal, the bill’s sponsor said, is to make sure that “Iowans have access to their memories.” However, critics said the Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union and others have indicated they may end their relationships with Iowa PBS if the station cannot protect its content.
Majority Republicans in the Iowa Senate are proposing a state budget of just more than $8.2 billion. Also, a ban on the use of eminent domain — the practice of the government claiming private land for private business projects — passed the first step of the legislative process, but only with hesitant support.
Gov. Kim Reynolds on Tuesday indicated she would likely sign into law a ban on transgender girls from competing in girls athletics in Iowa, should state lawmakers send such a bill to her.
There’s a lot of money at stake, a lobbyist told lawmakers. An estimated 2 billion cans and bottles covered by the bottle bill are sold in Iowa each year. That represents $10 million in deposits or 200 million nickels.
If enacted, applicants would have to complete an authentication process to confirm their identity. In addition, HSB 698 would require the Department of Human Services to cross-check information about Iowans enrolled in a food assistance program or Medicaid using federal databases.
The three proposed bills by the Iowa County Attorneys Association will close “loopholes” in existing laws and provide more protection for adult and child sex abuse victims, Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks said.
HF 2309 would require any Iowa schools that get public funding to designate sports programs as one of the following: open to biological females, open to biological males or coeducational.
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