Capitol Notebook: Lawmakers to move on public school funding

Iowa lawmakers are moving forward with setting the state’s funding rate for K-12 public schools after passing a bill devoting millions to private school education assistance.

A bill in the Republican-led Senate, Senate Study Bill 1081, would set the increase in state aid to public K-12 schools to 2 percent, which is lower than Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds’ proposed 2.5 percent increase. House Republicans have not released a bill for school funding.

In a statement on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Grimes, said Senate Republicans have not met to consider school funding for the next year, and the bill is a procedural step to begin the process of setting funding. Lawmakers are required to set school funding within the first month of the legislative session.

“We will meet next week on school funding and determine the position of the caucus at that time,” Whitver said. “Our proposed increase in school funding will be sustainable, reliable, and timely, just as it has been for the last six years.”

The Senate Education Committee is expected to take up the bill on Monday.

Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley of New Hartford said House Republicans have not settled on a funding rate they will propose, but he said “at no point in time” have House Republicans considered a 2 percent increase.

“Hopefully next week we’d be in a position where we could be able to introduce something, but at this point we really haven’t landed on a specific number yet,” he said.

Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law on Tuesday that would create taxpayer-funded education savings accounts that parents can use to pay for private school and related expenses. Reynolds’ office estimated they would be valued at $7,598, the state’s full per-pupil allocation, assuming the Legislature bumps up funding by 2.5 percent this year.

Since 2011, when Republicans gained control of at least one legislative chamber, state aid to schools has increased by an average of 1.9 percent annually.

Democratic leaders told reporters on Thursday the proposed 2 percent from the Senate was not enough.

“We’ve seen that Republicans are putting private schools and the big corporations that are going to be operating many of them first, and our public schools second,” Senate Democratic leader Zach Wahls of Coralville said.

Medical malpractice bill advances

A measure that would cap cash awards at $1 million for pain, suffering and other non-economic complications from medical malpractice suits continues to advance in the Iowa Legislature.

A three-member subcommittee moved Thursday to advance House File 102 and recommend passage by the House Health and Human Services Committee. Rep. Heather Matson, D-Ankeny, declined to sign off on the bill.

Matson said she needed more information about how Iowa ranks relative to other states for medical malpractice rates, whether Iowa’s medical malpractice industry is sitting on a large surplus as some have claimed, and a 10-year trend line of medical malpractice jury awards in Iowa.

“I worry about one-size-fits-all solutions,” Matson told the Gazette, echoing concerns from opponents the bill places an arbitrary limit on financial rewards to Iowans who are severely injured during medical procedures and erodes patients’ rights to just compensation.

Speakers representing the medical community said the legislation is needed because without the cap, physicians are hesitant to work in Iowa and it becomes difficult for hospitals and clinics to recruit and retain doctors. And they said without a cap, the cost of insurance can rise high enough to drive hospitals or clinics to close, especially smaller ones in rural areas.

Iowa is one of 22 states that does not have a cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice states. Wisconsin, South Dakota, Nebraska and Missouri all have caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases.

Representatives of the medical community pointed in particular to a more than $97 million judgment from 2022 award to a family whose newborn suffered permanent brain damage when its head was crushed due to health care providers using improper procedures during delivery.

“As a rural legislator with rural hospitals, I am acutely aware of the difficulties it is to bring physicians, physician assistants, nurses … in the rural areas,” said subcommittee member Rep. Joel Fry, R-Osceola, who voted to move the bill along with Rep. Ann Meyer, R-Fort Dodge.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday recommended passage of a companion bill by the full Senate.

House passes 'movie prop money' bill

Iowa House lawmakers on Thursday passed a bill 94-1 that would make it a felony to use fake “movie prop money” to buy goods and services in Iowa.

The measure now heads to the Iowa Senate.

The bills look authentic, but read “For motion picture use only” on the front and say “copy” on the front and back. Because of that disclaimer, the Iowa Court of Appeals in 2018 vacated the sentence of a Black Hawk County man convicted of forgery for purchasing a cellphone using a fake $100 bill that was used as a prop in a movie.

Despite the disclaimer, bill floor manager Rep. Jon Dunwell, R-Newton, said Iowa businesses are being purposely defrauded with little legal recourse as individuals pass off as real money the prop currency used on stage and screen that can easily be purchased online at places like Amazon.

Rep. Ken Croken, D-Davenport, recounted receiving a $20 “prop” bill and trying to use it to purchase groceries, unaware it was fake.

“It’s totally convincing and caused an embarrassing moment for me,” Croken said on the House floor.

Under the House-passed bill, someone who uses “movie prop money” to buy goods or services could be charged with a simple misdemeanor up to a Class C felony, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine, depending on the value of property or services fraudulently obtained.

House lawmakers Thursday also unanimously passed a measure prohibiting non-compete agreements between an employer and a licensed mental health professional.

Such agreements limit the ability of mental health professionals to practice in the state at a time when Iowa is grappling with a mental health crisis and shortage of providers.

Black bear hunting

A bill that would make black bears a protected species in Iowa advanced in the Iowa House on Thursday.

The bill, House File 89, would make it illegal to shoot, trap or hunt a black bear except when the law allows for it. There are no protections currently in Iowa law for black bears, and it is not a crime to hunt them.

The bill is an attempt to protect the potential resurgence of the species in Iowa, said Rep. Dave Jacoby, D-Coralville, who introduced the bill. The bill would allow the Legislature or Iowa Department of Natural Resources to set hunting seasons and regulations for black bears.

Black bears are originally native to Iowa, but there has not been a sustained population for more than a century, according to the Iowa DNR.

They occasionally wander into northeast Iowa from Wisconsin or Minnesota. There have been more than 40 black bear sightings in Iowa since 2002, and the DNR expects their population may increase in the near future, according to a 2021 news release.

The bill unanimously passed out of a three-member subcommittee on Thursday.

Child safety seats and driver’s tests

The Senate committee on transportation advanced a pair of bills proposed by state agencies.

The transportation committee approved Senate Study Bill 1026, which was proposed by the state public safety department and would require children to ride in a rear-facing car seat up to 2 years old, and up to the age of 8 in a safety seat.

The committee also approved Senate Study Bill 1028, which was proposed by the state transportation department, and would allow behind-the-wheel instructors who are not licensed driver’s education classroom instructors to give a final driving examination for driver’s license tests.

Both bills passed unanimously and are now eligible for floor debate in the Senate.