Branstad thinks anti-bullying bill will be approved

DES MOINES — Gov. Terry Branstad said he remains confident the Iowa Legislature will approve and send to his desk legislation expanding the state's anti-bullying approach in schools.

Branstad in January introduced to lawmakers his proposal, an update of a similar effort that fell just short of passage a year ago.

State legislators have been considering the latest proposal that would:

l Give schools authority to address off-grounds and online incidents.

l Require parental notification of incidents but allows for exceptions if the victim may be further threatened.

l Create training programs for school officials and a statewide task force to provide ongoing analysis of bullying issues.

Last year, the House and Senate passed anti-bullying proposals, but they had differences that the two sides did not resolve.

This year, each chamber once again has its own legislation, both of which have been approved by committees and now require full House and Senate approval.

Branstad said Monday he remains convinced anti-bullying legislation will make it to his desk for his signature.

'We're pretty optimistic on bullying (legislation), and we're very hopeful that we're going to see it approved with bipartisan support,' Branstad said during his weekly news conference. 'Last year, we didn't get the proposal to the Legislature until later in the session. This year, they've had it from the very beginning, they've been working on it through the session ...

'I'm very optimistic that the Legislature will approve it.'

The Senate on Monday afternoon began debating its anti-bullying bill, although it didn't last long before a legislator's concern led to a delay in the debate. The Senate likely will resume debate on the bill Tuesday.

But before that happened, Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, gave a whole-hearted endorsement of the legislation.

'I think there have been some very delicate trade-offs that needed to be addressed (since last year's proposal),' Quirmbach said. '… I just think it's a great piece of legislation. I hope everybody can support it.'

Nate Monson, executive director of the nonprofit Iowa Safe Schools, also approves of this year's anti-bullying legislation, calling it 'a good step forward.' He was particularly supportive of the task force, saying it will help the state engage in an ongoing conversation about bullying issues.

'It's easy to fall into doing an assembly (at school) and thinking you're done, or buying T-shirts,' Monson said. 'What you need is something systematic.'