Advocacy in Action

This page is your home for all things legislative and advocacy related. We have an update from our lobbyist at the Capitol each week, summaries of important bills, and then steps for you to get involved!

Visit the Advocacy in Action webpage for legislative updates and ways to get involved through advocacy!

Contact Your Legislator
IASB^®'s Public Policy Agenda
Iowa Legislature

2025 Bill Summaries

IASB^® Statement Regarding Commitment to Supporting Public Schools & School Boards—Friday, March 21, 2025

At the Iowa Association of School Boards^®, our commitment to supporting public schools and school boards remains steadfast. We continue to advocate for the resources and support that school boards need to make informed and effective decisions for Iowa students. As changes and decisions unfold at the state and federal levels, our focus remains on ensuring that school boards have the tools and guidance they need to lead with confidence.

Members can continue to visit our Advocacy in Action webpage for the latest information on legislation impacting education.

Under the Golden Dome

The budget process is moving. Discussions on the overall spending number for the fiscal year starting July 1, 2025, are progressing and the two chambers are close to an agreement. The biggest outstanding issue is how to handle the Medicaid shortfall. Once the overall spending level is agreed upon, they will work to allocate the targets for the individual budgets. Legislators per diems run out as of May 2, just one week away. It seems unlikely that the budget and remaining policy bills will be resolved by that date.

Efforts to provide significant property tax relief appear to be stalled. Check out the advocacy action of the week for a link to the full summary of the current bill version (SSB 1227 and HSB 328). There are rumblings that version 3.0 will be released soon which would suggest that version 2.0 is not moving. The reason for multiple versions is that Senator Dawson and Representative Kaufmann cannot resolve how to eliminate the shift to residential property when the rollback is eliminated. The rollback was implemented to promote fairness by ensuring that property taxes do not disproportionately affect homeowners compared to other property types. Most observers at the Capitol believe passing a major property tax reform bill this year is a heavy lift.

The governor has yet to sign the majority of education bills, including those that were her priorities. During the legislative session, the governor has three days to decide whether to sign or veto a bill. Thus, these bills have not yet been sent to her, including SSA. Once session ends, the governor has thirty days to decide on a bill.

Under the Golden Dome Video

No Under the Golden Dome video this week. Check out the written summary above and stay tuned for next week!

Advocacy Action of the Week

It’s easier to focus your advocacy on one section of the property tax bill (SSB 1227/HSB 328) since it is so large. Reach out to your legislators on the impact to your management fund.

While it may seem like districts have a large balance in their management fund, remind legislators what it’s used for and why basing the allowable balance on previous years’ expenditures doesn’t work in this case.

The management fund is used for:

Property/casualty insurance premiums and deductibles, which have both increased in recent years. Districts also can’t predict when they’ll have a claim, such as damage from a natural disaster.

Legal settlements, which are unpredictable.

Workers’ Compensation.

Early Retirement.

It’s important to explain to legislators that districts may not see many expenses from the fund one year, while the next year requires large payments from the fund if they experience property damage.

It’s also important to remind legislators that premium payments are due on July 1, prior to the tax collection in September. Additionally, these limits make it nearly impossible for districts to plan for early retirement programs.

IASB has developed a modeling tool to help you understand how the provisions of this bill may impact your ability to levy in future years. For more information, read the full summary.

Property Tax Modeling

As we reported last week, the chairs of the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees unveiled a revised version of their proposed changes to the property tax bill. While the new bills made some changes, one thing is a constant between version 1.0 and 2.0—limits on the ability to levy taxes for the management fund. Read a full bill summary as well as advocacy on this proposal.

Check out the tools below for IASB’s analysis of the impact of these proposals:

View the video below for a tutorial led by IASB Associate Executive Director of Government Relations & School Finance Mike Guanci on how to use the Management Fund Modeling Tool to review historical Management Fund trends for your district, and how the provisions of HSB 328/SSB 1227 may impact your Management Fund in future years.

Bills on the Move

SF 583—School Safety Assessment Teams: This bill allows school districts to set up a school safety assessment team that would be a collaboration between local law enforcement, mental health providers, social workers, and the school to provide resources and intervene when a student poses a safety risk to the school, employees, or other students.

IASB is registered for the bill. We support the overall intent of the bill and appreciate that it is a local decision to set up the school safety assessment team. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 48-0 and passed the House by a vote of 91-0. The bill will now be sent to Governor Reynolds for her signature.

HF 782—Cell Phone Policies: This bill is the governor’s proposal to require all school districts to implement a policy to restrict cell phone use during instructional time. The bill would require policies to include:

Devices that would be available to use for instructional purposes.
How parents can communicate with students during the school day.
How parents can communicate with students during an emergency.
Protocols the school will follow to securely store a student’s device.
Discipline that will be used if a student uses their device during classroom instruction or an assessment.
A process for a parent to petition for the student to have access to their device during the day if it is for a legitimate reason related to the student’s physical or mental health.
Accommodation for students with an individualized education program (IEP) or 504 plan.

The Department of Education will give guidance on the cell phone policy and how school districts must update their emergency operations plans to incorporate changes because of it. The Department of Education must provide model policies by May 1, 2025.

IASB is registered undecided on the bill. We know many districts have already taken the time to thoughtfully implement cell phone policies that work in their district, and we were hoping new legislation would not require them to make changes to those policies. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 49-0 and passed the House by a vote of 92-4. It will now be sent to Governor Reynolds for her consideration.

HF 706—Open Meetings Fines and Mandatory Training: This bill increases fines for violations of open meetings laws to between $500 and $2,500. If the violation is knowingly committed, the fines increase to between $5,000 and $12,500.

Additionally, it requires training for newly elected public officials, including school board members, on open meetings and open records laws. The training must be 1-2 hours and can be provided by IPIB or another approved provider, like IASB. The bill is written to ensure school board members would be allowed to complete this training at our annual convention, even if they haven’t been officially seated on the board.

IASB is registered undecided on the bill. The increased fines are very steep for unpaid school board members, but we can agree that training on open meetings and open records laws is important, and we already provide this information to our members. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 34-13 and passed the House by a vote of 83-10. It will now be sent to Governor Reynolds for her consideration.

SF 445—Governor's Continuum of Care Proposal: This bill is the governor’s combination of childcare and preschool proposal. The bill creates a “community-based provider” that can participate in the Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program. The funding will go directly to the provider, instead of through the school district like existing community partners. These community-based providers must adhere to all the same standards as a school district preschool, including the requirement to have a licensed teacher.

The bill also creates Child Care Continuum Partnership Grants, which will be grants awarded to partnerships between statewide voluntary preschool program providers and childcare centers. These grants are intended to create a full day of programming and care for children, which removes a barrier to attendance for working parents who can’t leave work to take their child from school to childcare in the middle of the day. A Senate amendment pushed the implementation timeline back to the 2026-27 school year, to allow for more time to set up the partnerships.

IASB is registered in support of the bill. We would still prefer a plan that increases preschool funding through a 1.0 weighting for full-day programming, but this bill is a step in the right direction and offers more access to high-quality preschool. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 33-14.

HF 884—Allowing Chaplains in Schools: This bill would allow school districts to employ a chaplain to provide support and services to students. Districts cannot require the chaplain to have a license or certification issued by the BOEE. They will be required to undergo a background check. Districts cannot require students to utilize the chaplain’s support or services. A chaplain cannot serve in place of a school counselor.

IASB is registered against the bill. We don’t think we should allow anyone in our schools to work with students without proper licensure or certification from the Board of Educational Examiners. The bill passed the House by a vote of 57-39 and passed the Senate Education Committee.

Governor's Recommendations

Governor Reynolds delivered her annual Condition of the State address on Tuesday, Jan. 14. This speech provides an opportunity for the governor to outline her priorities for the upcoming legislative session. While we don’t have any specific bills to work from, the governor did mention several education items:

Funding incentives for preschool programs and childcare providers who work collaboratively to provide a “continuum of care” for young students.
Requiring all districts to have a policy that restricts cell phone use during instructional time. The legislation will serve as a minimum requirement and allow districts to do more if they choose.
An emphasis on math education through early identification, progress monitoring, and evidence-based intervention, as well as professional development for teachers and resources for parents to use at home.
Passage of the U.S. Citizenship test as a graduation requirement to enhance civics education.
Reinstating the Teach Iowa job site within the department of education (and xxx funding).
Changes to the paraeducator apprenticeship program to provide additional flexibilities including elimination of the need to have a paraeducator certificate and a job offer before securing a teacher intern license.

IASB has done analysis on the governor’s initial budget proposal as well. The legislature will have the final say on the budget, but the governor provides her recommendations every year. Read more about Governor Reynolds’ proposal on supplemental state aid (SSA) and the implications for school districts.

IASB will provide a more detailed look at the governor’s legislative priorities once her bills are introduced. We remain optimistic that we can work together to support student achievement for all students.

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