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Teacher pay raise, THC and traffic camera limits: New Iowa laws take effect July 1
Expanded driving privileges for teens also start Monday
Changes to Iowa’s special education system, regulations on consumable hemp and new procedures for traffic cameras are set to take effect Monday, among the dozens of new laws passed during this year’s legislative session.
July 1 is the beginning of the fiscal year and the date new laws take effect, unless otherwise stated. Iowa’s majority-Republican General Assembly this year passed more than 180 laws dealing with health care, education, crime and agriculture.
One law that was set to take effect — which would create a state crime for “illegal reentry” of immigrants — is currently blocked in federal court.
Here is a look at some of the major laws taking effect Monday.
Special education overhaul
Parts of a wide-ranging law intended to overhaul the funding and structure of the state’s special education network will take effect Monday, but other provisions will not go into effect for another year or two.
The law, which drew the most controversy during this year’s session and was Gov. Kim Reynolds’ top legislative goal, will bring much of the operations of the state’s area education agencies under a new Special Education Division in the Department of Education.
Schools eventually will receive most of their special education dollars directly but will need to spend them with the AEAs.
The piece of the law creating the Special Education Division takes effect July 1. The division will assume oversight and administrative duties over the AEAs and will hire up to 53 new employees — 13 in Des Moines and up to 40 in the state’s AEA districts.
The creation of a task force to study the delivery of special education in Iowa takes effect Monday, with the task force required to submit its report by Dec. 31.
Special education dollars will remain with the AEAs during the coming school year, but schools will receive 40 percent of the funds for media services and education services that now go to the AEAs. They can use that money with the AEAs or with an outside party, and it can be spent on any general fund purpose.
Iowa teachers will see an increase in their minimum salary starting this fall under another major piece of the law.
For the upcoming school year, the minimum teacher salary will be bumped up to $47,500. Teachers who have been working at least 12 years will be paid a minimum of $60,000. Those salaries will increase to $50,000 and $62,000, respectively, for the 2025-26 school year.
State lawmakers also included $14 million in the law to increase funding of school support staff like paraeducators.
New crimes take effect
Lawmakers this year also passed legislation creating several new crimes, including those aimed at cracking down on child exploitation and the use of digitally altered images.
The new laws criminalize the nonconsensual use of someone’s likeness in pornographic images and videos that have been digitally altered. The laws add the distribution of such “deepfake” pornography using artificial intelligence to the state’s harassment laws.
One law specifies anyone using the likeness of a child to create an altered pornographic image can be charged with sexual exploitation of a minor.
State lawmakers also increased penalties for falsely reporting a crime to draw police response, known as “swatting,” and created the crimes of “grooming,” “looting” and “organized retail theft.”
The former makes it a crime to "seduce, solicit, lure, or entice" a child, or a person believed to be a child, to engage in an unlawful sex act, either in person or through written communication or electronic means. The offense is a Class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.
Lawmakers also made “looting” — defined as two or more people entering a home, business or vehicle and stealing or damaging property — a crime. The law allows a person or business whose property is damaged to bring a civil action against any person involved in the looting.
The new crime of “organized retail theft” targets groups of people who coordinate “smash and grab” robberies of retail stores. Penalties range from an aggravated misdemeanor to a Class C felony, depending on the value of stolen property.
New limits on traffic cameras
A new law regulating traffic cameras in the state will make it harder for cities to install the cameras and issue tickets.
Local governments will need to seek approval from the state Department of Transportation and prove that a camera is necessary to improve safety, before installing and using a traffic camera to issue tickets for speeding or running red lights.
It will be a while before drivers notice any changes, though. Cities with existing cameras can keep using them until Oct. 1 while the DOT considers their applications. Any city, if approved, will be able to issue fines from a fixed traffic system, but only cities with populations over 20,000 will be able to issue fines from a mobile system.
Cities will need to spend revenue from the cameras on transportation infrastructure or police and fire departments. Fines can be issued only if a vehicle is driving a minimum of 10 miles over the speed limit. The maximum fines range from $75 to $500, based on the speed. Fines can higher for speeding in a work zone.
Armed security officers in schools
The state's 11 largest school districts — those with 8,000 or more students — will be required to employ a school resource officer or private school security in each building where students in grades 9-12 regularly attend classes, unless the district's school board votes to opt out.
School districts with fewer than 8,000 students are encouraged, but not required, to employ armed school resource officers.
The new law will affect Ankeny, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Iowa City, Sioux City, Waterloo, Waukee and West Des Moines school districts, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency.
Des Moines and Iowa City public schools have no plans to bring back school resource officers and will continue to use campus monitors and other security measures.
Another section of the bill that allows teachers and other school employees to obtain a professional permit to carry guns on school grounds took effect immediately when Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the law in April.
THC limits for drinks, edibles
Iowa health and wellness stores and beverage makers face new regulations and limits on the potency of THC-infused drinks and consumable hemp products.
Two Iowa beverage manufacturers that sell cannabis-infused seltzer drinks are suing to block the law. The companies say the new regulations will wipe out 80 percent of their inventory.
The law caps the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — the psychoactive substance in cannabis that causes a high — in consumable hemp products sold in Iowa at 4 milligrams per serving and 10 milligrams per package or container.
Starting Monday, Iowa retailers will have to send back or destroy existing beverages, edibles and other products that do not meet new regulations.
The law also bans the sale and consumption of any hemp products to people under age 21, requires hemp products to have a warning label and bans the sale of synthetic THC.
Rules for foreign farm owners
Foreign owners of Iowa farmland will need to report more information to the state and will face stiff penalties for non-compliance, under a new law supporters heralded as a win for Iowa farmers.
The bipartisan law, which came amid rising concerns of Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland, requires foreign owners of farmland to report their names, mailing addresses and other agricultural holdings in the U.S.
Iowa already has strict restrictions that prevent foreign entities from purchasing more than 320 acres of farmland.
The Iowa attorney general will have broader subpoena power to investigate foreign farmland owners. An annual report on foreign farmland ownership in Iowa will be made available to state officials but will not be made public.
Insurance coverage for cancer screening
Tests to screen for cancer and other diseases will have to be covered by insurance under a pair of laws taking effect Monday.
One law requires health insurance providers to pay for biomarker testing, which can identify signs of cancer and other diseases in blood or tissue. Another directs insurance to cover tests that can detect tumors in dense breast tissues which may be missed by a standard mammogram.
Iowa is one of only a few states where the incidence of cancer is rising: The state’s cancer rate is second in the nation, behind only Kentucky.
Teen driving privileges expanded
As of Monday, teens as young as 14-and-a-half years old can apply for a special permit to drive unsupervised as far as 25 miles to and from any job, not just farming.
The new law replaces the current school and farm work permit system with a new special minor’s restricted license.
The new law allows those between the ages of 14.5 and 16 to apply for the new restricted license. They must have their instructional permit, have completed a driver’s education course or been granted a waiver due to hardship and be enrolled in school. Written permission from a parent or guardian must be filed with the Iowa Department of Transportation.
The new license allows qualifying teens to drive to and from school, extracurricular activities, a job and gas stations. Lawmakers created the new license following a law passed last year that allows younger teens to work more jobs, longer hours and later in the day.
The new law reduces the distance a teen can drive from 50 to 25 miles. Driving cannot be part of their job, unless it is farm-related.
It also changes the hours when teens are allowed to drive. Instead of allowing them to drive from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., they are now limited to driving up to one hour before and after their shift or when school activities begin and end.
Teens who violate license restrictions, cause a crash or break the rules of the road face stronger penalties.
Meat labeling rules
Food processing plants will be barred from labeling plant-based protein products as “meat” without qualifying terms under a new law that also seeks to restrict certain animal product alternatives from federal food assistance programs.
Supporters said the law will add transparency and certainty for consumers when purchasing meat products and will promote Iowa’s agriculture industry.
The law also directs state officials to request a federal waiver to block recipients of food assistance programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, from using those funds to buy lab-grown meat products and egg substitute products. Currently, lab-grown meat is not approved for SNAP purchases, but egg substitutes are.
The law further discourages the purchase of lab-grown meat by directing state agencies, like the Department of Education and the Iowa Board of Regents, from purchasing it for meal programs. Lab-grown meat is not generally available to consumers, but it has been offered at certain high-end restaurants.
Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com
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