The following is a legislative update from Republican State Rep. Shannon Latham, representing portions of Franklin, Hamilton, Story and Wright counties in Iowa House District 55:
Iowa Legislature Agrees to School Funding
The Iowa House of Representatives, the Iowa Senate and Gov. Reynolds during Week 13 reached an agreement on state supplemental aid for schools (SSA). The Governor and the Senate were holding firm on 2% SSA, although the House had offered 2.25% SSA plus additional funding to support rural schools.
The House agreed to 2% SSA and successfully negotiated an additional:
– $1,554,938 for school Transportation Equity
– $2,889,174 for Student Cost Per Pupil equity, and
– $942,087 in Operational Sharing, increasing position from 21 to 25.
House Floor Action
The following eight bills also passed off the Iowa House during Week 13:
SF 167 – Supplemental State Aid – See Above – In addition to providing 2% SSA, this bill provides$102 million for phase 2 of the teacher salary increase. Last year the Iowa Legislature voted to increase the beginning teacher salary to $50,000 and $62,000 for teachers with 12 years or more experience. Vote 59-36.
HF 782 – Regulation of Personal Electronic Devices in Schools – Effective July 1, 2025, school districts must adopt new policies for student use of personal electronic devices during instructional hours. Vote 92-4.
HF 835 – School Seizure Training – This bill relates to school personnel training, emergency care planning, and provides authorizations for assisting, and limits liability concerning students with epilepsy or a seizure disorder. Vote 94-2.
SF 275 – Purple Heart School Initiative – This bill creates a purple star school initiative, recognizing applicant schools that have demonstrated a commitment to supporting military-connected students and families with the goal of increasing the amount of support that schools give to military-connected students and families of such students. Vote 96-0.
SF 460 – Home Inspections – This bill relates to home inspections, including people authorized to perform home inspections and requirements for independent home inspection reports. It also applies penalties. Vote 96-0.
SF 491 – Regulation of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Over Farm Properties – This bill prohibits flying remotely piloted aircraft over farm property and applies penalties. Vote 88-7.
SF 588 – Public Notice Conformity – This Code cleanup conforms all public notice requirements for local governments. Vote 86-8.
SF 592 – Accessory Dwelling Units – This bill relates to county and city regulation of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) by allowing one accessory dwelling on the same lot as a single-family residence. Vote 89-7.
By making it easier to create ADUs, this bill will increase the supply of affordable housing options and will allow for more efficient use of existing residential properties. An ADU cannot exceed the larger between 1,000 square feet or 50% of the size of the single-family residence. In addition, an ADU can either be attached or detached from the single-family residence.
