The following is a legislative update from Republican State Senator Doug Campbell of Mason City, representing portions of Worth, Mitchell, Cerro Gordo and Floyd counties in Iowa Senate District 30:
The sixth week of the legislative session, the initial “funnel” deadline was this week, making advancements crucial. Subcommittees and committees were busy working through large numbers of proposals being considered in each chamber.
The legislature reviewed SSB 3163, which modifies higher education systems between community colleges and state universities. It implements common course numbering and replaces traditional remedial math and English classes with corequisite models by the 2028-2029 school year. It also updates career and technical education (CTE) standards to align with national frameworks in fields such as Agriculture, Information Systems, and Health Sciences.
SSB 3134 was also discussed which requires public buildings to fly the United States and Iowa flags at half-staff when directed by a Governor’s proclamation.
This week we also had STEM Day on the Hill. Our state is committed to education and preparing students for successful futures. Students shared their work on weather stations and monarch butterfly lifecycles, as well as their experiences collaborating with the Department of Natural Resources and participating in local agricultural projects. While others demonstrated their STEM coursework by sharing the technical challenges of balancing and flying drones. These programs illustrate the hands-on learning opportunities now available to Iowa’s students and how important these learning opportunities are.
On Monday, the Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee heard from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Department of Natural Resources regarding their collective work with Iowa State University. Their presentation focused on the state’s ongoing efforts to improve water quality, a huge concern in Iowa.
The departments, in conjunction with Iowa State University and continued state and federal funding, have made incredible strides in conservation over the past few decades. Hundreds of millions of dollars of funding have helped Iowa achieve a number one national ranking in several conservation practices to help improve Iowa’s water quality. These efforts have included traditional soil conservation, like buffers ad cover crops, and traditional water quality practices, like wetlands, and groundwater protection. In 2013 when the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy was started, there were less than 400k acres of cover crops being used. Now, there’s nearly 4 million acres.
