Here's what you should focus on in your local advocacy efforts in the coming week:
HF 2128 was introduced on January 24th and requires community colleges to require proof from students that they are either a U.S. citizen or that they are lawfully present in the U.S., i.e., a student Visa or refugee/asylum status. We are working on a response to LSA that is inclusive of all 15 community college's processes that are currently conducted and working to showcase the administrative burden that requiring our college's to comply with this would create.
HSB 633 was introduced on January 30th and requires candidates in community college elections to be nominated by primary elections. We are working with our Joint Legislative Committee on next steps and how we should be registering on this will. This would drastically impact our schools, specifically those in rural areas as finding Trustees to run for our local boards is sometimes hard enough already. We will keep you updated as to whether or not we register on this issue.
SSB 3143 was introduced on February 1st and has quite a few divisions that directly impact us. Division I repeals the regional industry sector partnerships and the statewide work-based learning intermediary network. Division II allows work-based learning to qualify as one of the three sequential units of CTE courses taught in grades 9-12. Division III allows student teaching to be reduced to four weeks in certain limited circumstances. Division IV changes the definition of work-based learning. Division V establishes a workforce opportunity fund. Division VI makes significant changes to the Last Dollar Scholarship Program. As many of you know, we are featuring some of our LDS programs at the capitol for CCDayontheHill in order to showcase the importance of this program and will be the most persuasive in providing the legislature with proof that this program should not change in accordance with the bill.
Finally, SSB 3112 was introduced on January 25th and provides an educational institution the right of first refusal of any real estate of less than 2 acres. This has been determined to prioritize the K-12s in the purpose of the bill, and so we expect limited to no impact from this bill.
For more info, our Bill Tracker is up-and-running and more details will be available here: 2024 Bill Tracker | Community Colleges for Iowa (ccforiowa.org)