The Iowa Legislature held its first floor debates of the 2024 session last week. A few of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ priorities passed in the Senate, including a bill to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage and another proposal that would strengthen limits on foreign ownership of farmland. A proposal to repeal Iowa’s law that requires state and local boards and commissions to have an equal, or nearly equal, number of men and women also passed in the Iowa Senate.
Meanwhile, education funding proposals moved forward in the House. There, GOP lawmakers approved a 3% increase for school funding that would apply both to public schools and to Iowa’s Education Savings Accounts, which are awarded to students going to private schools. The House also held a public hearing on its bill that would change how schools do business with the state’s Area Education Agencies. House Speaker Pat Grassley says he thinks things are moving in a positive direction with that bill, despite its key differences with the plans put forward by the Senate and the governor.
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