Week Four Legislative Action
The first legislative funnel (when a bill must have passed a committee
to remain alive) is a mere four weeks away. The pace of bills being
introduced continues to be slow. The House Education Committee has
focused primarily on education reform but is starting to turn its
attention to other legislative issues as well. Mandate bills, introduced
in both chambers, are starting to pop up as well. These include such
topics as: increased education requirements for guidance counselors,
radon testing and mitigation, increased training for coaches to
recognize the signs of concussion and the addition of a financial
literacy requirement to education standards.
Education Reform Work Continues
The House subcommittee on
HSB 4,
the governor's education reform proposal, concluded its work this week
and referred the bill to the full committee. The subcommittee made no
changes to the bill and indicated that amendments would be dealt with at
the full committee level. Chairman Ron Jorgensen (R-Sioux City) has set
a goal of committee passage of this bill by Wednesday, February 13.
The Senate subcommittee on
SSB 1058,
the governor's education reform proposal, continues to meet but at a
slower pace than the House. IASB anticipates at least two more
subcommittee meetings in the coming weeks before full committee action
in the Senate.
IASB continues to work closely with legislative leaders and the
governor's office to push for inclusion of our recommendations to
improve student assessment requirements and to provide more flexibility
to districts to adopt a career ladder plan that meets their specific
needs. IASB continues to stress that the "one-size-fits-all" approach
currently contained in the bill will not work in all districts. More
flexibility to reach the goal of improving classroom instruction is
necessary for all districts to be successful in achieving this goal.
Allowable Growth Still Undetermined
Despite Senate action to approve a 4% allowable growth rate for the
upcoming fiscal year, the House has maintained that education reform
needs to be completed before funding decisions are made. IASB continues
to stress that districts need this issue resolved quickly to allow for
proper planning for the upcoming school year.
The Senate is also poised to take action on the FY 2015 allowable
growth rate within the requirements of Iowa. No bills have been
introduced in the House to take a comparable action.
Finally, Governor Branstad unveiled his proposal,
HSB 108,
for delivering allowable growth to school districts in the future. His
proposal would replace the term "allowable growth" with "supplemental
state aid." This would freeze the current property tax and state aid mix
of per-pupil funding at $6,001. Any growth above that per-pupil funding
level would be comprised of all state money. For instance, a 4% growth
rate would increase the per-pupil amount by $240. This amount would be
provided with only state money. IASB is registered as undecided on this
bill as it assesses its long-term impact on school funding.
Bill Tracker
SF 66 - Early Retirement Incentive Funding by Danielson (D)
This bill eliminates the age 65 cap on the early retirement age for
purposes of using the management fund to fund the early retirement
benefits. On February 6, IASB sent a survey to school business managers
asking them to answer a few questions on the cost of their early
retirement programs. This information is to assist IASB in providing
information to the Legislative Services Agency to develop an estimate of
the potential cost to a district's management fund. IASB supports the
bill, which is in the House Education Committee. (If you did not receive
this survey and would like to have your responses included, please
e-mail Marte Brightman,
mbrightman@ia-sb.org for the survey link.)
SF 49 – Radon Testing and Mitigation by McCoy (D)
This bill requires public and accredited nonpublic schools to conduct
radon tests of their attendance centers at least every two years. If the
radon levels are four picocuries per liter (pCi/L) or greater, they
must conduct a second test. If the second test shows the same or higher
results, the schools must then undergo radon mitigation. IASB surveyed
school districts this week regarding the status and costs of radon
testing and mitigation. IASB is currently registered opposed to the bill
because of the potential cost and the strict timeline for
implementation. The bill is in the Senate State Government Committee.
SF 161, SF 162 – FY 14 Allowable Growth by Education
Both of these bills set the allowable growth rate at four percent for
FY 15 for general state aid and the categorical funds. IASB supports
both bills, which are on the Senate debate calendar
HF 157 – Sunset Extended for Class Size Reduction/Early Intervention Funds by Steckman (D), et al.
This bill extends the sunset for the Class Size Reduction/Early
Intervention funds to the end of FY 18. The funds are set to expire on
June 30, 2013. IASB supports the bill, which is in the House Education
Committee. Make sure to contact your legislators and let them know how
crucial it is to extend this funding stream. Without action on this
legislation, the funds will no longer be available.
HF 140 - Supplemental Weighting for Shared Operations by Dolecheck, (R) et al.
HF 96 - Supplemental Weighting for Shared Operations by Ruff (D)
Both of these bills extend the sunset for the supplemental weighting
for shared operations until FY 19. The funds are set to expire at the
end of the current fiscal year. IASB supports both bills,which are in
the House Education Committee.
HSB 84 – Instructional Hours by Education
This bill, based on recommendations of the Instructional Time Task
Force, eliminates the 18- day requirement and replaces it with a
1080-hour requirement. Schools would count all time except for lunch
time. All other exceptions, including for parent-teacher conferences,
would not be counted toward the hour requirement. IASB supports the bill
and the recommendations of the task force, which is in the House
Education Committee.
