~by Senator Jesse Green
January 31, 2025
The third week of session has arrived and we are now in full swing with many visitors and subcommittees. To begin the week, Senate Republicans released our funding proposal for the next school year, proposing a $235 million increase for K-12 students. The increase in state funding is in addition to the budget passed last year meaning that state aid for schools coming from the state budget would now be $4.2 billion. It also funds the teacher pay increase passed in the 2024 session, the largest teacher pay increase in Iowa’s history. Now in the second year of enactment, beginning teachers will start at $50,000 and teachers with more than twelve years of experience will be receiving at least $62,500.
Over the last several years, the legislature has expanded education options available to Iowa families. Those options include open enrollment for all students, educational savings accounts, and the expansion of charter school options so that all students, regardless of income, may have the education that best fits their needs. For public schools in Iowa, this bill will mean an increase of over $123 million for a total of $3.9 billion in total General Fund state aid spending. The education savings account program will receive an increase of $96.6 million, coming to a total of $315 million. Charter schools also receive an increase of $14.5 million.
I ran a subcommittee for SF 8 which has gathered a variety of attention due to its nickname, “The Pronoun Bill.” This bill prohibits a school board from taking disciplinary action against employees or students at a school district for the following reasons: addressing employees or students by their legal name, using a student’s name listed on school registration forms, or failure to disclose or use personal pronouns in greeting or forms of official communication. There have been several cases around the country of teachers being threatened or disciplined by not affirming beliefs that are not based in reality, which makes this legislation necessary.
Another bill I have the opportunity to manage is SSB 1030 which requires that all public and nonpublic school high school students attain a passing score of 60% or higher on a civics assessment to graduate. This assessment will include multiple choice questions pertaining to the most recent version of the civics test developed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Students may retake the test as many times as they need to pass. Studies show that our students basic understanding of civics continues to drop, so this will help turn that unfortunate statistic around.
Lastly, I will highlight SF 92, a pipeline bill that was written by Greene County attorney Thomas Laehn. I just filed this a week ago and I believe it has the best shot of all pipeline bills to gain some attention. The reason I feel this is the best property rights bill on the table and the best one that reflects our district is due to various reasons. One reason is that last summer I signed onto a lawsuit which addressed our district’s concerns for Phase 1 of the carbon pipeline project. This bill clarifies the use of eminent domain for just future projects. This approach should appease the wishes of some legislators that do not want to “change the rules in the middle of the game” with legislation. This bill will prevent the Iowa Utilities Commission from granting eminent domain on agricultural land for just CO2 pipelines in the future. By keeping the bill narrow, this should lessen the amount of opposition from other political groups. I believe most in our district agree that carbon is not the same as other utilities and this bill reflects that belief. I would like to thank Thomas for his work on this.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve and be your voice! Happy trails till we meet again!
