Six weeks into the legislative session, Iowa lawmakers faced the first legislative deadline of the session on Feb. 20., where bills must pass out of committee to remain active.
Lawmakers discussed hundreds of bills spanning higher education, diversity initiatives, and K-12 policy, with dozens advancing past the first major procedural hurdle and remaining eligible for debate on the chamber floors.
The funnel marks one of the first major deadlines of the session and serves to narrow the field of proposals lawmakers will continue to debate in the coming months. All House bills must have been voted out of House committees and all Senate bills must have been voted out of Senate committees.
Bills that failed to advance by the deadline are considered dead for the session, unless they are attached to budget-related legislation. With the session approaching its midpoint, the measures that survived the first funnel offer an early look at the priorities shaping debate at the state capital.
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Higher education bills
Senate File 2232 would require regent universities to add two mandatory courses focused on American history and civic education.
The bill would direct the creation of courses for the Center of Intellectual Freedom at the University of Iowa.
Supporters said the bill would promote intellectual diversity on campus while critics warned of its costly impact and impractical requirements on Iowa’s public universities.
Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, opposed the bill and said it would be expensive and would require additional resources for students to fulfill these general education requirements.
“The topics are clearly very important. Nobody questions that,” he said. “But if you have 13,200 butts in the seats at 200 students per section, that means you have to populate and schedule 66 sections of these two classes.”
House File 2331 and the adjacent bill, House File 2226, would require at least 80 percent of students admitted to the UI’s College of Law and College of Nursing programs to be in-state students.
House File 2243 would require the Iowa Board of Regents to submit a report establishing a performance-based funding model for regent universities to the general assembly and governor.
The model would take into consideration graduation rates, the number of degrees awarded in areas corresponding to high-demand jobs in the state, post-graduate employment rates, post-graduate income, and the number of graduates who remain in the state after graduation.
House File 2254 would prohibit noncompete clauses for UI Health Care, meaning doctors, nurses, or other health care workers would be free to take jobs at other hospitals or clinics, without facing legal restrictions from their former employer.
Senate File 2227 would freeze tuition for in-state students entering their first year at regent universities.
Quirmbach opposed the bill and said universities would be faced with the need to frontload tuition, meaning costs for first-year students would rise so it does not increase across the remainder of their academic years.
“Front loading those tuition costs is going to make it an even harder road for those who drop out without a degree,” Quirmbach said.
House File 2489 would direct regent institutions to sign the proposed federal Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education and include effective date provisions.
The Trump administration proposed offering preferential federal funding to universities that agree to certain conditions, including prohibiting the consideration of race and sex in admissions decisions, freezing tuition for five years, defining gender based on biological sex, placing limits on international student enrollment, and requiring institutions to maintain “institutional neutrality” on political issues.
Rep. Dave Jacoby, D-Coralville, said he thought the decision to join the compact should lie with the regents, not the legislature.
“I’m worried that, more and more, the federal government is telling us what to do every day in our day-to-day life, and I think that’s what this education compact does, as it dictates the way Iowans should live their day-to-day life with our universities,” he said.
Senate File 2299 would allow school districts to charge students for dual enrollment courses they have failed.
The bill would amend Iowa Code Section 261E.8,, which establishes the dual enrollment program, to allow school districts to pass the cost of the program on to the student if they are at least 18 years old and were to fail the course.
Sen. Jesse Green, R-Boone, said allowing school districts to decide whether to charge a student gives them flexibility to account for extenuating circumstances.
“If a student comes and says, ‘Hey, here’s my situation,’ I highly doubt the school board is going to go against that student if he has a legitimate thing,” he said.
DEI bills
House File 2488 would prohibit private universities that participate in the Iowa tuition grant program from establishing diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI offices.
Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, supported the bill and said the goal of the bill isn’t to completely eliminate DEI from private colleges.
“Private institutions could continue to have DEI offices if they choose,” he said. “They just would not get to receive the Iowa tuition grant taxpayer money.”
House File 2487 is aimed at prohibiting DEI and critical race theory content at regent universities.
K-12 policy, student rights
House File 621 would allow either a driver or passenger on school property to carry a concealed firearm if it remains in the vehicle.
The bill would amend Iowa Code section 708.8, which prohibits any person from carrying or transporting a firearm on school property, a class D felony.
House File 2336 would modify specifications relating to the protection of free speech for students enrolled in nonprivate schools.
Rep. Samantha Fett, R-Carlisle, supported the bill and said it is an important American value to be able to have conversations and to be able to disagree.
“When it comes to the guidance being distributed to our school personnel, whether that’s principals, teachers, superintendent, or school board members,” Fett said. “These are questions that they deal with daily, and they are not prepared to answer them because they don’t know, and so this is an opportunity for people to learn.”
House File 2338 would prohibit all nonprivate schools from providing any curriculum, reading, or programs related to gender theory or sexual orientation.
Rep. Helena Hayes, R-Mahaska, said while the bill needs revisions, its goal is to make sure students are being educated and said topics including gender identity and sexual orientation are not educational.
“I don’t think we all know that statutory law can set standards and we can mandate content,” she said. “We can impose limits. We all know that that is what the legislature can and does do. It’s within our prerogative.”