DES MOINES — A bill that would allow trained school staff to carry firearms on school grounds is headed to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to be signed into law.
House lawmakers agreed to a Senate amendment that removed a provision in the bill that would have established a school security personnel grant program that would match up to $50,000 for hiring police or armed private security officers at schools.
The state's largest school districts — those with 8,000 or more students — would be required to employ a school resource officer or private school security in each high school unless the district's school board votes to opt out.
School districts with fewer than 8,000 students would be encouraged to employ armed school resource officers.
School districts would not be required to arm staff. Rather, the bill provides requirements for those districts that choose to do so.
People are also reading…
The measure also provides qualified immunity to school districts and school employees from criminal or civil liability for all “damages incurred pursuant to the application of reasonable force.”
Approved staff would be allowed to carry concealed weapons during school hours. It would be up to districts to decide what firearms staff could carry and whether the district would provide those or allow use of personal firearms.
House File 2586 passed 62-36 with all Republicans in support. Rep. Matthew Rinker, R-Burlington, joined all Democrats in opposition.
The legislation comes in the wake of January’s fatal shooting at Perry High School. Eleven-year-old Ahmir Jolliff and Principal Dan Marburger were killed and six others were injured. The 17-year-old shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Supporters of the bill said the fastest way to respond to a school shooting is to have armed personnel on site, trained and available to respond at a moment's notice.
Opponents contend arming teachers puts the lives of students, teachers and law enforcement in danger, and warned of the potential for firearms at school to be stolen or misused.
Ahead of the vote, a coalition of leading gun violence prevention organizations urged lawmakers to reject the measure, noting most professional education organizations have rejected the call to arm teachers, as have the National Association of School Resource Officers and the American Bar Association.
“It is truly absurd that instead of taking any measures to actually keep our classrooms safe, Iowa lawmakers are instead considering forcing more guns into our schools,” said Chloe Gayer, a gun violence survivor and volunteer leader with Drake University Students Demand Action chapter. “Iowa lawmakers should immediately reconsider their support on HF 2586 and roll back this foolish bill. If they really want to show they care about kids and our safety, they need to stop before their votes result in more tragedy.”
House GOP takes another stab at cutting campus DEI programs
Iowa House Republicans are taking another try at regulating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at public universities, proposing new regulations similar to those the Senate declined to advance earlier this year.
The changes are part of the House’s education budget, which was set to be passed out of subcommittee on Monday. It includes several policy proposals that House lawmakers already passed as individual bills this year but stalled in the Senate — in addition to more than a billion dollars for Iowa’s education system.
The bill would ban universities governed by the Board of Regents from establishing or funding DEI offices for any reason not required by federal or state law or accreditation standards. The rules would apply to Iowa State University, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa.
The bill defines DEI as, in part, “any effort to promote differential treatment of or provide special benefits to individuals on the basis of race, color or ethnicity.”
The universities would not be able to hire or assign an employee to perform DEI duties, and they would be prohibited from requiring DEI statements and giving preferential treatment to a person based on a DEI statement.
The regulations come after the Board of Regents imposed similar rules on the public universities after conducting a DEI study mandated by the Legislature last year.
Any funds that would otherwise be directed to DEI offices at the end of fiscal year 2025 would have to be directed to the Iowa Workforce Grant and Incentive Program, which provides grants to students in high-demand majors.
Other policy proposals in the bill would require school districts address chronic absenteeism and reinstate a deadline for open enrollment.
Rep. Carter Nordman, R-Panora, who leads the subcommittee, said the policy proposals, including on DEI, had been the result of negotiations with the Senate and they have support from the chamber's Republicans.
Iowa police chiefs: New illegal immigration law worrisome
A group of Iowa police chiefs say legislation signed into law last week by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds making illegal immigration a state crime will make the job of Iowa law enforcement more difficult.
Reynolds last week signed into law Senate File 2340. The law, which takes effect July 1, allows state officers to arrest migrants who enter the state after having been previously deported from the United States, denied entry to the country or left the country while facing a deportation order.
The legislation was modeled after a Texas law allowing state-level enforcement of federal immigration laws, which is currently being challenged by the U.S. Justice Department and civil rights organizations in a federal court of appeals on constitutional grounds.
Federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have ruled that immigration laws can only be enforced by the federal government.
"The problems at the southern border cannot be solved from Des Moines, Iowa," Marshalltown Police Chief Michael W. Tupper said in a statement.
Tupper is a member of the Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force, which seeks to build trust with Iowa immigrant communities to report crimes, identify issues and establish mutual respect and communication.
"Playing politics with public safety never helps public safety,“ Tupper continued. ”This law will make the job of law enforcement more difficult. It will diminish public safety because it will cause people to needlessly fear the police. This law has severely harmed community relationships that took decades to build."
Mark Prosser, retired public safety director and former Storm Lake police chief, said Iowa law enforcement has neither the training, staffing nor resources to involve themselves in immigration enforcement.
“This law and others like it will erect a barrier of fear between the diverse populations in our Iowa communities and their local law enforcement,” Prosser said in a statement.
Biomarker testing bill headed to Gov. Reynolds
A bill that would require Iowa insurance plans to cover biomarker testing when used to diagnose, treat, manage or monitor cancer and other diseases is headed to Gov. Reynolds’ desk.
Biomarker testing checks for certain genes or proteins that may be linked to certain diseases. Advocates say it could help doctors diagnose diseases earlier.
House File 2668 would increase access to biomarker testing, ensure Iowans covered by Medicaid and state regulated insurance plans have coverage for testing when medically appropriate.
Supporters say that would enable more patients to access the most effective treatments for their disease, hopefully leading to better health outcomes, improved quality of life and reduced costs.
The bill passed the House 97-1 on Monday, after lawmakers agreed to a Senate amendment to change the definition of when insurance companies have to pay for biomarker testing that has shown to provide meaningful information to guide treatment decisions that can lead to better health outcomes. The definition was changed to reflect language upon between patient advocacy groups and the health insurance industry.