Call for Legislative Priorities FAQ

Every spring the government relations team asks school districts to submit legislative priorities and for any changes to the legislative platform for the upcoming legislative session. The feedback received helps the government relations team best position the organization on bills during the legislative session.

We hope that you set aside time during your May, June, July, or August board meetings to discuss and then submit your legislative priorities and any changes you would like to see to our legislative platform. As you decide, here are the most frequently asked questions about the process.

Who develops the resolutions?

The Legislative Resolutions Committee (LRC) receives feedback from school district submissions from the call for legislative priorities. The LRC reviews all the proposals and recommends legislative beliefs, resolutions, and the priorities for the upcoming legislative session.

What is the Legislative Resolutions Committee and what does it do?

The LRC is made of up school board members and a board member from the Area Education Agencies (AEA) and the community colleges. Board members on the LRC represent school districts of all sizes from Schleswig to Sioux City.

The LRC meets twice a year during the summer to review and make recommendations on the proposed IASB legislative platform. Once the LRC finalizes its recommendations, it sends those recommendations to the IASB Board of Directors who then reviews and approves the platform. That platform is then sent to delegates to be debated at the IASB Delegate Assembly in November.

What is the Delegate Assembly?

Delegate Assembly occurs the day before the IASB annual convention. That is where delegates, appointed by their school district, AEA, and community college, debate and vote on the IASB legislative platform for the upcoming year.

What is the timeline for the resolutions process?

IASB sends out the “Call for Legislative Priorities” in early May. School boards should set aside time during their summer board meetings to review and discuss what priorities they would like to submit, as well as suggest a new or amend a current resolution to the platform. Once they have reviewed the platform boards should submit their list via the link that was sent to the board secretary in May. The deadline to submit legislative priorities is August 15, 2023.

Can my district submit our own resolution? How?

You bet! The third page on the questionnaire allows a board to suggest a new resolution or amend a resolution we currently have in our platform. These amendments and new resolutions will then be presented at Delegate Assembly and voted on by the delegates. If you need help with wording or content for a new resolution or amendment, our government relations staff is happy to assist. 

I missed the deadline to submit priorities, can I still submit by districts resolutions and priorities?

Absolutely! We put a deadline on submissions so IASB staff have time to collect the information and present it to the LRC during their August meeting. The August meeting is where the LRC reviews district submissions and makes its final recommendations on the legislative platform. Last year we heard from over 85% of school districts. Let’s get that number higher this year. Even if you miss the deadline, please submit your priorities. We want to hear from every IASB member district!

Our board is set to pick our priorities, but we do not have the platform for this year, how do we pick priorities?

Your board should review the current platform as a guide to select, amend or add legislative priorities to the 2023 platform.

Is it really that important to submit our priorities? We are busy with the other things going on in our district.

Yes! By submitting your legislative priorities, it helps our government relations team better advocate on your behalf. When our lobbyists can inform legislators that 90% of districts who submitted priorities made school funding, mental health, and teacher shortage a priority, that makes an impact with legislators.