(Des Moines, Iowa) – Week 6 of the 90th General Assembly ended early with an incoming snowstorm. House District 21 Republican Representative Thomas Moore, from Griswold, said in his weekly report, the Health and Human Services Committee met Tuesday afternoon. Bills passed through committee include:

The “Child Care Physicals – Strike” bill, strikes the requirement that all personnel in a registered child care provider must have a physical prior to beginning employment. Moore said the Education Committee passed several bills, including one that requires the Department of Education to accept entry level driver training if it meets the requirements for passenger endorsement and the school bus endorsement training curriculum. Another bill would allow school boards to compensate student teachers.

The “Chapter 12 Reform” bill, he said, would:

·     Remove the requirement that schools submit a Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP).

·     Allow up to 5 days to be online instruction (snow days).

·     Allow a district to offer sequential courses in the same classroom taught by the same teacher whether it’s AP courses, regular courses, or community college courses.

·     Allow financial literacy to be taught within other courses.

Moore said House File 8 would prohibit instruction related to gender identity and sexual orientation in school districts and charter schools in kindergarten through grade six. House File224 is a bill that Moore introduced that relates to the renewal requirements associated with licenses issued by the board of educational examiners. Teachers with a masters degree and 10 yrs of experience will no longer be required to meet the 5 year re-licensure requirement. They will be responsible for a background check every 5 years. And, HF  HF123 adds an Information Technology Specialist to the list of eligible positions with a waiting of 5 pupils pertaining to Operational Sharing agreements between schools and AEA’s.

Representative Moore said the Economic Growth & Technology Committee met Wednesday, in Des Moines and passed two bills.

Moore said among the Bills that passed through the House this Week was Senate File 181 – Property Tax Rollback Calculation Fix.

“This is not meant to take away money from local governments,” he said, “because in reality, this is not money they ever should have received.”

(Radio Iowa) – A state law is now effect to limit medical malpractice claims for non-economic or so-called “pain and suffering” damages. Governor Kim Reynolds was surrounded by a large crowd yesterday (Thursday) as she held a bill signing ceremony in her statehouse office. “Because of our efforts and that includes everyone in this room — legislators and health care providers, lots of people pulling together to get this across the finish line — we’re in a much better position to recruit and retain physicians in our communities and really preserve access to care for rural Iowans.”

The law took effect as soon as the governor signed it. There is no limit on coverage for medical expenses or economic losses caused by medical errors, but pain and suffering awards in medical malpractice cases are now capped at two million dollars for hospitals and one million dollars for all other health care providers. Starting in 2028, those caps will increase by an annual inflation factor of just over two percent.

“When mistakes happen, Iowans deserve compensation, but arbitrary multi-million dollar awards do more than that. They act as a tax on all Iowans by raising the cost of care,” Reynolds says, “They drive medical clinics out of business and medical students out of state.” Former Governor Terry Branstad started pushing for medical malpractice caps more than a decade ago. Reynolds made it one of her priority issues for the 2023 Iowa Legislature.

“Iowa finally joins the majority of U.S. states in enacting common sense medical malpractice reform by placing a reasonable cap on non-economic damages,” Reynolds said. Kevin Kincaid, the C-E-O of Knoxville Hospitals and Clinics, says the law has been a priority for hospitals. “To recruit the best and brightest, to keep these providers in Iowa, we need to have a stable practice environment,” Kincaid said. “This bill is a crucial step forward in helping Iowa to be a more attractive place to practice medicine.”

Democrats and 16 Republicans in the legislature voted against the law, arguing it was unfair to place a dollar value on when a person’s life is dramatically changed or ended due to a medical error. House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst  says there’s no evidence the health care workforce issues Iowa faces are any better in states with medical malpractice caps.

“Our frustration that is was a one size fits all approach,” Konfrst says. “…Iowa patients are the true losers here.” Konfrst says the caps benefit the insurance industry, with no guarantee medical malpractice insurance rates for doctors and hospitals will be controlled.

(Waukee, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety report agents with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) were requested to assist the Waukee Police Department in a death investigation. Waukee Police and Fire/Rescue personnel responded at around 7:27-a.m. Thursday (2/16) to a call about a possible suicide in the 200 block of SE Boulder Court.

Upon arrival officers located two deceased persons inside the residence. Authorities say an investigation initially determined the deaths to be a murder-suicide, but the final determination will be made by the State of Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office.

They said also, that there is no threat to the public, and that the incident remains an ongoing investigation.