Teacher Compensation Passed House
Raises the minimum teacher starting salary to $47,500 in year one and $50,000 in year two
Provides $14 million for educational support staff to earn a minimum of $15 per hour.
Provides $22 million for Teacher Salary Supplement (TSS) to help with salary schedules.
Amendment Added
This amendment states that teachers may go back to teaching after receiving one month of retirement benefits. This sunsets in 2027. It also adds that schools have 30 days after the enactment of (State Supplemental Aid) SSA to send necessary tax information to the Department of Management and the county auditor has 35 days after the enactment of SSA to send the statement in the mail. We await Senate action.
Parental Consent for Social Media
House File 2255
In a bipartisan manner (88 ayes, 6 nays), the House passed this bill to help parents and their children navigate the ever-changing world of social media. With more and more time our youth spend on social media we have seen the mental health of children decline. Social media has shown to have negative impacts on children's' self-esteem, resulting from cyberbullying and exposure to inappropriate content often leading to extortion of minors who display inappropriate photos. It is difficult for parents to keep up with and monitor the new, trending social media apps. This bill would require social media apps to get parental permission before anyone under the age of 18 could create an account on their platform. The bill would also make it illegal for social media companies to gather data on children without permission from parents. This puts parents back in charge of the content and impact social media can have on their children, along with protecting their mental and emotional health. We await Senate action.
The Cattlemen at the Capitol
The Iowa Cattlemen's Association come to the Capitol each year and put on a delicious breakfast with beef brisket in the Rotunda. This year Quinn Whaley of Eagle Grove representing the American Junior Chianina Association attended as part of a school project. Quinn attends Webster City High School and is the next generation raising cattle. His father, Bryan Whaley is the CEO of the Iowa Cattlemen's Association. Shea Whaley who was a House Page in the past, joined her brother for a visit in the House.
Grooming
House File 2602
I submitted this bill to the Judiciary Committee. Rep Bobby Kaufman did a masterful job of floor managing it. Grooming is sexual abuse that often leads to human trafficking. A person is guilty of grooming when they knowingly perform an act in person or use technology to seduce, solicit, lure, entice a child, or a person they believe to be a child, to commit any sex act or otherwise engage in unlawful sexual conduct. It makes it a class D felony to groom a person under the age of 18. We await Senate action
It passed unanimously in the House.
Building Families
McKinley Bailey, Executive Director of Building Families visited with Representative Shannon Latham and myself. McKinley is also on the Early Childhood Iowa Area Board for Hamilton, Humboldt and Wright Counties. He is an advocate for children and works to prevent child abuse. It was a pleasure to learn of his latest efforts on behalf of families and how we can act collaboratively.
Increasing Punishment for Fentanyl Death
When several of the legislators and I visited the US Texas border last summer, we were shown a semi truck that had been found to be hiding a massive load of all types of drugs, fentanyl included. We were shown a redacted bill of lading that only showed the destination town. The US Inspectors did not know what state we were from until they showed us the destination town which was in Northwest Iowa and only 30 minutes from one of our homes.
Fentanyl shatters families. It is one of the leading causes of death for those 18 – 44 years of age. In 2021, illicit fentanyl was implicated in 83% of all Iowa’s opioid-related deaths, compared to just 31% five years ago. Criminal drug networks are mass-producing fake pills, falsely marketing them as legitimate prescription pills, and killing unsuspecting Iowans.
HF 2576 makes it a class A felony to provide illegal fentanyl products that result in a death.
This is a severe punishment that should make anyone think twice before selling, distributing, or sharing a drug, especially if they didn’t obtain it legally. The bill passed on a bipartisan vote. We await senate action.
Addressing AI Pornography
House File 2240 and House File 2241
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This week we passed two bills to address the issue of pornography created through artificial intelligence.
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As technology has advanced, these are, unfortunately, updates to code that need to be made to protect Iowans. With these bills, we can ensure that there is no loophole in the law that would allow someone who commits this disgusting offense to avoid proper punishment.
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The first bill, HF 2240, expands the definition of harassment to include using fake or altered images of another in a sexual manner without their consent.
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The second bill, HF 2241, addresses AI-generated porn related to minors. This bill makes it a felony to create or possess an AI-generated pornographic content of a minor. We await senate action.
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Election Integrity
We passed House File 2610 to continue our track record of ensuring safe and secure elections in Iowa.
This bill contains the following policies:
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Creates an affidavit envelope for absentee voters to affix their signature and verification number. This will ensure Voter ID will be required, even if you vote absentee.
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It removes the use of ballot drop boxes, which have become unnecessary with the COVID-19 pandemic behind us.
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It bans ranked choice voting in Iowa.
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It strengthens the Safe at Home program to protect the confidentiality of voters who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, stalking or assault.
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Absentee ballots must be received by close of business the Monday before Election Day.
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If a voter is unsure if their absentee ballot has been received by the Monday before Election Day, they can check with their county auditor, and vote on election day if necessary.
We await senate action.
