(Des Moines, Iowa) – Iowa District 21 Representative Thomas Moore (R-Griswold) celebrated his 71st birthday, Thursday, in Des Moines. He announced the event to the House Chamber Thursday morning, where he also recognized former Representative Rob Bacon and their birthday tradition of bringing maple bacon chocolate cake. In discussing what’s transpired so far at the Statehouse, Moore noted that “We are already into Week 5 of the General Assembly and Thursday was day 32 of the 110 day session.”

He said the House Education Committee met Tuesday afternoon and passed seven bills through committee. Among them was HF (House File) 16, which creates a comprehensive transition and post-secondary scholarship program for individuals with intellectual, developmental, or learning disabilities who are at least 18 years old and enrolled in a CTP program in Iowa.

• HF4 is the “Alternative Teacher Licensure” bill. It creates two alternate pathways for those hoping to attain a teacher license. Pathway 1: Creates an alternative teacher licensure path for those who have at least a bachelor’s degree and three years of work experience to apply for a teacher intern license while completing additional coursework. Upon meeting requirements, an initial teacher license is granted at the recommendation of the school they are an intern at. Pathway 2: Creates a program that allows an out-of-state alternative teacher licensure if it operates in at least 5 states for at least 10 years. Training will include required pedagogy training and content training.

A number of the bills will have amendments drafted before they go to the floor for debate. Tom Moore said the Health and Human Services Committee met Thursday morning and passed three bills, including the “Psychiatry Fellowship” bill, which revises the state-funded psychiatry residency program that was established last session to include two fellowship positions. The program will annually graduate 9 psychiatry residents and 2 psychiatry fellows.

• HF74 will update the current Intellectual Disability Waiver home and vehicle modification cap from a lifetime maximum of $5,727.37 to an annual maximum cap of $6,872.85. The modifications must be medically necessary and will be subject to prior authorization.

Moore says among the bills that passed through the House this past week, is Senate File (SF) 181, or the “Property Tax Rollback Calculation Fix” bill, fixes an error in the interpretations of past property tax bills.

Moore said “Our priority this session is the property taxpayer, not the government.” In other news, Moore said he welcomed some Clarinda High School’s I-Jag program to the Capital Dome.