(Des Moines, Iowa [Iowa Capital Dispatch]) – Election changes, fetal development education requirements and parking meters were among the topics Iowa lawmakers debated Thursday, the last day to move certain bills before the first legislative deadline of the 2024 session. House Republicans introduced several major education bills the previous day and shepherded them through the subcommittee and committee processes Thursday. The quick turnaround was necessary — most legislation must be passed by a committee in at least one chamber this week to remain eligible for consideration. While there are some exceptions to the deadline, lawmakers spent Thursday in committee meetings passing through bills to ensure they remain up for debate in the coming weeks.

Here are some of the bills that survived the “funnel” deadline Thursday:

Education

Area Education Agencies: The House Education Committee approved House Study Bill 713 on a 15-8 vote. Though Democrats voted against the measure, they praised House Republicans for the proposal, the result of weeks of work on Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ proposed overhaul of the Area Education Agencies system. AEAs provide special education services to Iowa students. The governor’s initial proposal would have allowed schools to contract with private companies or other AEAs to meet students’ special education needs, in addition to cutting agencies’ ability to provide general education and media services — though these provisions were pulled back in an amendment. The legislation was met with significant opposition by educators and Iowans whose families receive AEA services. While a House subcommittee voted down the bill, senators advanced the measure with plans for changes. On Wednesday, the Senate Education Committee passed an amended version of the Reynolds’ bill.

In the subcommittee meeting Thursday, advocates, educators and lobbyists said the new bill  addresses many of the concerns they had with the initial legislation. The House bill would continue sending all federal special education funds directly to AEAs, and would require state and local funding for special education to go to school districts, which would be required to continue using AEAs to provide those services. School districts would be able to work with private entities for media and general education services beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, and could still work with AEAs for these services on a contract basis. In the subcommittee meeting, some advocates still brought up concerns with the bill on issues like operational sharing or the future of AEAs’ crisis intervention services, but thanked House lawmakers for the proposal. Melissa Peterson with the Iowa State Education Association said while the organization is still registered in opposition to the legislation, “this is our favorite so far.”

Fetal development education: The House Education Committee advanced House File 2031 along party lines Thursday, a bill that would require schools to show fetal development videos to students. Rep. Molly Buck, D-Ankeny, repeated calls from reproductive rights advocates in the bill’s subcommittee meeting that the material schools would be required to show may not be medically accurate. The bill highlights “Meet Baby Olivia,” a video produced by the anti-abortion group Live Action, as an example of what would be shown in classrooms.

Buck said many of the development facts, as well as the “views expressed” in the video, run contrary to those accepted by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Buck said she believed subjects mandated to be taught in school should be based in accepted practices and information by the scientific community.

College student data reports: The House Education Committee unanimously passed an amended version of House File 2347, which would make college and career transition counselors exempt from supplemental weights for school districts and require data reports from community colleges.  The bill would bar college and career transition counselors from counting toward supplemental weighting caps for school districts with shared operational functions with community colleges or other organizations. The change allows districts to receive additional funding for student support and resources.

The amendment struck requirements that private universities and certain other institutions gather data and compile reports on their graduates, including income and student loan debt. Community colleges would still be required to publish information and statistics about different career paths and debt through the Iowa Student Outcomes website, which Rep. Dan Gehlbach, R-Urbandale, said they already do. Critics of the bill said in a Wednesday subcommittee meeting that the original bill would duplicate data reporting requirements colleges and universities already fulfill and create additional burdens for colleges and schools. It could also lead to reporting inaccurate data, opponents said.

Government

Election law: Ballot drop boxes and ranked-choice voting would be banned under House Study Bill 697, which the House State Government Committee passed Thursday on a 15-7 vote. Its companion, Senate Study Bill 3161, passed through the Senate committee Wednesday. The bill  also requires absentee ballots to be received by county auditors the day before the election and requires absentee voters to list their driver’s license or voter ID numbers when returning their ballots. The bill also includes a provision limiting challenges Iowans can pose to federal candidates’ eligibility to appear on the ballot. Zabner said the legislation is “a favor for one man,” former President Donald Trump, who faces 91 felony charges and is currently involved in a U.S. Supreme Court case weighing whether Colorado has the ability to disqualify him from the state’s presidential primary ballot.

Public safety and judiciary

Hemp regulation:  Legislation expanding state regulatory oversight of hemp products passed the House Public Safety Committee unanimously Thursday, despite some lingering concerns that the legislation might negatively affect children with medical conditions. House Study Bill 665 includes measures allowing the state Department of Health and Human Services to more directly regulate the sale of hemp-derived and cannabis products. The agency could penalize businesses that are not conforming to Iowa law, such as the sale of products that are above Iowa’s THC limit or in a non-accepted form like raw flower products or alcoholic beverages containing THC. Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, s said he expected changes in the bill before it reaches the House floor.

Parking meters:  A bill that would forbid “double dipping” by electronic parking systems, House Study Bill 669, advanced out of the House Public Safety Committee on a vote of 14-9. The bill would require parking meters to allow the use of a parking space by any user for the duration of the time purchased, regardless of whether the person who paid for the parking is occupying the space. It would also require meters, kiosks, or internet applications used to purchase parking to display any remaining time left by a previous user.

Police officer decertification: The House Public Safety Committee, with little discussion, unanimously passed legislation that would require automatic decertification of a police officer after a second conviction for drunken driving. House File 2413 would extend the list of offenses that require decertification by the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy. It applies to an officer who twice pleads guilty to or is convicted of driving a vehicle with a blood-alcohol concentration of .08 percent or more, or with a measurable amount of a controlled substance in their blood or urine.

Agriculture and environment

Grain indemnity fund: A bill that is meant to help modernize the state’s Grain Indemnity Fund received unanimous support from the Senate Agriculture Committee. Senate Study Bill 3174 would roughly double the fund’s operating balance and will expand its coverage to credit-sale contracts. The fund reimburses farmers for their losses when a state-licensed grain dealer buys their corn or soybeans but goes defunct before paying. The fund covers 90% of losses at amounts of up to $300,000 per sale. The bill would increase the minimum fund balance to $8 million and the maximum to $16 million. The current minimum and maximum are $3 million and $8 million. Sen. Jeff Edler, R-State Center, said further changes to the fund’s operation are possible as the bill continues through the legislative process.

(Des Moines, Iowa [Iowa Capital Dispatch]) – A bill that was amended in the Iowa Senate on Thursday would now prohibit the state’s regent universities from researching “manufactured protein products.” The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports Senate Study Bill 3162, which pertains to meat labeling, had previously received early bipartisan support as a way to help consumers distinguish between food that contains meat or meat substitutes, but it was rewritten Thursday by Republicans on the Senate Agriculture Committee.

A copy of the amended bill was not immediately publicly available, but Sen. Dawn Driscoll, R-Williamsburg, said in the committee meeting that the new version “prohibits the Board of Regents from conducting research into the production or use of manufactured protein products.” Meat look-alikes that are derived from cell cultivations, insects or plants also cannot be labeled as beef, chicken, goat, lamb, pork, sheep or turkey, the bill says, and wrongly labeled and “cell-cultivated products” should not be purchased by schools.

“Lab grown products are made in a petri dish and are not the same as the high-quality beef, pork, poultry, goat, lamb raised by hardworking Iowa farm families,” Driscoll said. “The taxpayer dollars should not be used to support these products over the real meat raised on Iowa farms.” Democrats of the committee were incensed by the abrupt changes to a bill they previously supported.

“The clarity of labeling — wanting to make sure people understand when they’re getting a plant-based product versus an actual beef or pork product — those things are important,” said Sen. Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines. “But when we go a step further, and we do it right before a committee meets, and we restrict research, all of a sudden we’re getting way, way, way far away from the original point of this legislation.”

Sen. Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo, said the amended bill improperly favors one type of Iowa agriculture — livestock production — over another type — soybean production, which is a source of protein for meat substitutes. “I don’t understand what the beef industry’s worried about, because I don’t know anybody who wants to grill soy burger when they have people over,” Dotzler said. “Iowans and people across this country love beef. Why are you worried?”