(Radio Iowa) – House Speaker Pat Grassley says Republicans are having productive conversations and he’s predicting the governor’s school choice bill has the votes to pass the Iowa House.  “I don’t think I’d be moving the bill along throughout the process if we didn’t have that expectation,” Grassley says. Governor Kim Reynolds has proposed less expansive plans in the past two years, but each failed to secure enough support among House Republicans to pass.

Her new plan would let low income parents get state funds to cover expenses if they enroll a child in a private school and starting in 2025 — any private school parent could apply. Grassley says the goal now is to take a vote on the governor’s bill next week.  “I think we’ve come up with a really good bill here,” Grassley said. “I think the governor has proposed a really strong bill that addressed a lot of any of concerns that may have existed over the last two years in the debate that we’ve had.”

Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced the bill yesterday (Thursday), so it’s eligible for debate next week in the Senate, too. Democrats say legislators should at least wait for the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency to complete its analysis of the bill’s fiscal impact. Senator Claire Celsi, a Democrat from Des Moines, says she doubts the governor’s estimate the plan will cost about 900 million dollars over the next four years.

“We have no clue what it’s really going to cost,” Celsi says. “If you look at what it costs in other states that have gone this route, the estimates are way low.” Other Democrats say the bill doesn’t have enough oversight of the private company that will be hired to distribute the state money to private school parents.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says state funding for small public schools in rural areas will remain stable or could increase if the legislature approves her plan to set up state-funded accounts for parents who send their kids to private schools. Reynolds discussed details of her school choice bill during an interview with Radio Iowa.

“I would say that we’re putting a significant amount of money into our kids and into education, both public and private as well with the new ESA language that we’re proposing,” Reynolds said. Reynolds estimates about 107 million dollars of state funds would be deposited in Education Savings Accounts for low income parents enrolling children in a private school this fall. She’s also recommending that legislators provide 190 million dollars more to public K-through-12 schools in the next academic year.

Reynolds said she’s under no illusion she’ll change opponents’ minds about her plans. “I want somebody to tell me what is the magic number. What is the magic number that all of a sudden will make all of education wonderful? Is it 75% of the budget? Is it 65% of the budget? You know 57% of the state budget is going to education. Come on,” Reynolds said. “There are examples of states out there that are spending way less on education and getting better results.” Current state law guarantees small public schools with declining enrollment don’t see their state funding decline.

The governor has proposed public schools get 12-hundred dollars for every district resident who’s enrolled in a private K-through-12 school. The governor says that could benefit some small rural schools.  “Their funding will stay the same or increase with the proposal that we put forward,” Reynolds said. This is the third and most expansive “school choice” plan Reynolds has presented to legislators. Last year, Reynolds met with rural school superintendents and principals as she tried to round up support — and votes in the House — for the concept.

“I just said: ‘Hey, I want to look you in the face and I just want you to know that it is critical that we have a strong public school system. It’s the foundation of our educational system. It’s the foundation of our economy and our society. I don’t have any illusion that I’m going to sit across from you and change your mind,'” Reynolds said. “‘But I do believe that parents also, regardless of whether make enough money or not, if their child is not thriving in the system that there is and we can provide some choices, we should do that.”

By 2025, all private school parents in Iowa, regardless of income, could get state money to cover private school expenses under the governor’s plan — an estimated 341 million dollars in total. A private company would oversee those payments.  “It will be a separate platform that we will be able to manage the system through,” she said. Reynolds indicates the chosen company would then ensure the money is spent on private school tuition or other allowed expenses, like private tutoring, textbooks or school-related fees.

The money is not to be spent on food, clothing, transportation or disposable school supplies, like pencils and paper.  “It will be automated. I think that’s the important thing to understand,” Reynolds said. “It’s not going to through the Department of Education. This will be a separate entity that will handle that, much like we do the 529.” The state authorized so-called five-29 College Savings Iowa Plans provide some tax advantages to parents saving for college expenses and the accounts are managed by Vanguard, an investment company.

Earlier today (Thursday), Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the governor’s school choice bill. The legislation is now eligible for debate next week in the House and Senate.

(Radio Iowa) – Whenever a person’s life is lost, there’s an opportunity for lives to be saved — if that person was a registered organ and tissue donor. Heather Butterfield, spokeswoman for the Iowa Donor Network, says their final figures are in for 2022, during which she says many hundreds of lives were transformed by generous gifts from donors. “In 2022, we had 115 deceased organ donors in the state of Iowa that generously gave 347 organs for transplant,” Butterfield says. “Additionally, we have 979 tissue donors and every single tissue donor has the opportunity to heal and enhance the lives of 50 to 300 people.”

Since 2018, she says the state’s donor network has experienced a 62-percent increase in the number of organ donors as well as a 40-percent rise in the number of organs transplanted.  “There are more Iowans registering as organ and tissue donors,” Butterfield says. “We’re also seeing more opportunities with advancements in medicine and healthcare and in the organ donation field. There’s just a greater opportunity for people to donate.” She says the Iowa Donor Network coordinates with hospitals, transplant centers, E-M-S providers, medical examiners, and other healthcare partners to maximize donation opportunities.

“Anyone of any age can register to be a donor here in the state of Iowa,” Butterfield says. “Of course, the most common way is at the DMV, but if you check your license and you don’t have the word DONOR on the front, you can visit our website, IowaDonorNetwork.org. It takes less than three minutes and you can register to save lives.” Still, the transplant wait list is long. She says there are more than 105-thousand people nationwide in need of a life-saving organ transplant, including 625 Iowans.