Capitol Notebook: Ban on DEI positions in local government passed by Senate GOP

DES MOINES — Local governments would be prohibited from having diversity, equity and inclusion offices under legislation passed by Senate Republicans.

The legislation is an extension of Statehouse Republicans’ effort in recent years to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which they believe could prohibit government agencies from hiring the most qualified people.

“There should be no lawful race discrimination in our local governments,” Iowa Sen. Cherielynn Westrich, R-Ottumwa, said during debate in the Senate. “Iowa taxpayers deserve us to hire the best people; that’s what we should do.”

Democrats have criticized Republicans for targeting the programs that are designed to help institutions better connect with all types of individuals by race, nationality, gender and ability.

Iowa Sen. Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, said on the Senate floor that some DEI programs may have gone “a little overboard,” but that most were not created with “nefarious intention” that he feels Republicans believe.

“I think the reality is that most of them, even if they were not executed perfectly, were well-intended to try and make a lot of Iowans who might not feel respected or valued in the workplace actually feel that way,” Wahls said.

Senate File 507 passed on a party-line, 34-15 vote, with only Republicans supporting and all Democrats opposing.

House Republicans passed their own version of a ban on DEI positions in local government. That bill, House File 856, was amended to also expand the DEI ban to include community colleges and make the lack of a DEI office a prerequisite for Iowa private colleges’ eligibility for the Iowa Tuition Grant program.

That bill passed the House, 61-37, with only Republicans supporting and four Republicans joining all Democrats in voting against it.

Majority Republicans in the two chambers must come to an agreement on one proposal — or a negotiated version of the two — before it can be sent to Gov. Kim Reynolds for her consideration.

Medicaid work requirements advance

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services would request a federal waiver to allow work requirements for Iowans on the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan, which is the state’s version of Medicaid expansion, created in 2013.

Senate Republicans passed the bill, which also would direct Iowa HHS to discontinue the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan, subject to federal approval, if ever the federal government changes its policy and no longer allows work requirements for Medicaid recipients.

There are roughly 181,000 Iowans enrolled in the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan, according to the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency.

Senate File 615 passed the Senate on a 33-15 vote, with only Republicans supporting and all Democrats opposing. A companion bill, House File 948, is on the calendar for possible debate in the Iowa House on Wednesday.

The bill would require Iowans in the expanded Medicaid population to work at least 80 hours per month, with some exceptions. An estimated 32,000 Iowans would lose coverage as a result of the work requirements, LSA calculated.

LSA’s fiscal analysis of the proposal is incomplete because, the state agency said, Iowa HHS has not responded to LSA’s multiple requests for information.

Prep sports conference realignment fix

The governing bodies of Iowa high school athletics would create a committee to oversee conference realignment and ensure all schools that wish are included in a conference under a bill that earned final legislative passage.

House File 783 is en route to Gov. Kim Reynolds after passing the Senate on a 47-1 vote. It previously passed the House, 95-0.

Under the bill, the Iowa High School Athletic Association and the Iowa Girls High School Athletics Union would create conference realignment committees to ensure all the state’s public and private high schools are members of conferences for athletic competition for all sports except football, which competes in assigned districts.

At least a half-dozen school districts in recent years have been left out of conferences altogether because of conference realignment and an inability to gain acceptance into a new conference. School officials said playing independent athletic schedules creates additional travel and other difficulties for student-athletes.

The proposed legislation is modeled after the process for conference realignment used by Wisconsin’s high school athletics governing body.

Record expungement for victims of human trafficking

Iowa House lawmakers unanimously advanced legislation Tuesday that would allow victims of human trafficking to petition the court to expunge their criminal records for offenses committed while they were victims.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Mark Thompson of Clarion, said House File 926 intends to protect human trafficking victims, but would not allow them to clear serious crimes or crimes committed outside their trafficking experience from their records.

“In the process of being a human trafficking victim, they are victims of themselves,” Thompson said. “Those laws were broken because of the intimidation given to them, portrayed upon them by their trafficker.”

The legislation would also waive the court filing fee for human trafficking victims attempting to expunge their records.

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau

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