Iowa House introduces multiple bills on education, prison infrastructure and tax credits; several referred to committees

Clerks on the House floor introduced a package of bills that lawmakers placed on committee counters or referred to committees for review.

House File 2752, reported by the Committee on Appropriations, would modify eligibility provisions and establish funding allocations for the Teach Iowa Scholar program. House File 2753 (Appropriations) concerns prison infrastructure. House File 2754 (Appropriations) is a broad education measure that, according to the clerks reading, would modify charter-school provisions in the state public-employee retirement system, authorize financing programs administered by the Iowa Finance Authority for charter schools, establish a statewide voluntary preschool program for 4-year-olds, create or amend education savings accounts, and address teacher training, licensing and private instruction, including appropriations and effective-date language. House File 2755 (Ways and Means) would authorize state participation in certain federal tax-credit programs for individual contributions to scholarship-granting organizations.

Senate File 2470 (Ways and Means) was read as a measure related to event-driven contracts traded by dedicated contracts markets and would require a permit to conduct business in the state and make related changes to tax and fee provisions; the clerks reading was technical and brief in the transcript. Senate File 2474 (Appropriations) directs the Department of Education to prepare a report on cardiac emergency response plans and automated external defibrillators and report to the General Assembly.

The presiding officer noted that at least one first-review bill was not ready for commitment or amendment and referred that matter to the Committee on Appropriations. Most of the introduced measures were placed on the appropriations or ways-and-means counters for potential commitment or amendment.