A bill advancing in the Iowa Legislature would require Iowa public and private schools to determine why a fire alarm went off before evacuating children from classrooms.
Senate File 2191 was spurred by a policy developed by the North Scott school district in response to the 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where the shooter pulled a fire alarm.
The bill unanimously passed the Senate last week and advanced out of a House subcommittee Monday.
The bill, introduced by Sen. Chris Cournoyer, R-Le Claire, requires all charter, public and accredited non-public schools to include a policy in their emergency operations plan on how individuals in a school building should respond when a fire alarm is activated outside of a scheduled fire drills to protect the individuals in case the alarm was activated due to an active shooter on school grounds.
“This takes care of, when you pull a fire alarm you don’t create a target-rich environment for a shooter,” said Rep. Steven Bradley, R-Cascade, who served on the House subcommittee.
Margaret Buckton, representing the Urban Education Network of Iowa and the Rural School Advocates of Iowa, said school staff can “very quickly” check the alarm panel to see where the threat is, look at video feeds, check for smoke and conduct firsthand inspections to confirm the threat before issuing a building-wide evacuation.
Both groups are registered in support of the bill.
Iowa lawmakers passed a bill that would require school districts to report to state officials if a licensed employee is disciplined for grooming or abusing a student.
Current law requires that districts must report to the state Board of Educational Examiners — the state’s educator licensing body — if a teacher or other license holder is disciplined for conduct that constitutes “soliciting, encouraging or consummating” a romantic or inappropriate relationship with a student.
House File 2487 would add “grooming behavior” and “abusing a student” to the list of actions that must be reported to the board if an employee is disciplined. Grooming behavior is defined in the bill as “any attempt to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a student, or a person believed to be a student, to participate in a sex act … or engage in any unlawful sexual conduct.”
If the Board of Educational Examiners has evidence that a school staff member committed a crime, the board would need to report it to authorities under an amendment House lawmakers added on Monday. The amendment would also remove the three-year limitation on investigating a complaint if it falls under the “grooming behavior” definition.
The bill passed the House unanimously on Monday. A Senate companion bill has not been passed out of a committee.
Republicans, in a rare move, resurrected a bill that failed to pass the Iowa House last week during floor debate.
The bill, Senate File 455, passed the House Monday following a motion to reconsider. It initially failed to pass the chamber March 6 on a 49-44 vote, with 16 Republicans joining all Democrats in voting against it. Seven House members were absent or did not vote.
The bill passed on its second attempt 53-46, with 10 Republicans joining all Democrats in voting against. Only one member was absent or did not vote.
Senate File 455 would prohibit counties and cities from adopting regulations stricter than what the state permits for topsoil management at construction sites. It also would restrict the regulations local jurisdictions can place on the stormwater infrastructure required for new developments.
During floor debate, proponents said the bill was designed to make housing more affordable for developers and homeowners. Opponents said it would infringe upon local governments’ ability to regulate stormwater.
The bill was amended by the House and now heads back to the Senate to approval.
Republican Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has joined a multistate lawsuit seeking to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from setting tougher air emission standards and tightening limits on particulate matter generated by factories, powers plants and other industrial users.
Republican attorneys general from 24 states filed a joint challenge stating that a new EPA rule would raise costs for manufacturers, utilities and families and could block new manufacturing plants and infrastructure such as roads and bridges. Texas filed a separate suit, as did business groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers.
Environmental and public health groups have hailed the new soot rule, finalized last month, saying it will help improve air quality and benefit children and older adults with asthma and those with heart and lung conditions, as well as people in low-income and minority communities adversely affected by decades of industrial pollution.
Republicans and industry groups say the United States already has some of the strictest air quality standards in the world — more stringent than the European Union and far stricter than major polluters such as India, Indonesia and China.
The GOP attorneys general argue the new EPA rule would block the permitting of new manufacturing facilities and drive good-paying jobs out of Iowa and overseas.
“The Biden administration’s latest green scheme threatens American jobs and businesses,” Bird said in a statement. “With this radical mandate, costs will soar for Iowa families and businesses, driving good-paying jobs out of Iowa and to other countries. I’m suing to protect Iowans’ hard-earned money, keep American businesses at home, and halt the Biden EPA’s illegal mandate.”
Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3 percent in January, slightly higher than a year ago but below the national rate.
The state’s jobless rate was 2.9 percent one year ago. The U.S. unemployment rate remained at 3.7 percent in January.
The number of unemployed Iowans fell by 1,100 in January to 50,900. The total number of working Iowans decreased by 1,200 to 1,653,800.
The state’s labor force participation rate decreased to 67.3 percent from a revised December rate of 67.5 percent.
”January’s report was mixed. On the positive side, it shows the total number of nonfarm jobs remains 12,700 above last year’s total, even after retail businesses pared 2,000 jobs following the holidays,” Beth Townsend, executive director of Iowa Workforce Development, said in a statement. “We also saw 2,300 people leave the workforce voluntarily in January.”
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Senate File 2191 was spurred by a policy developed by the North Scott school district in response to the 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where the shooter pulled a fire alarm.
The bill unanimously passed the Senate last week and advanced out of a House subcommittee Monday.
The bill, introduced by Sen. Chris Cournoyer, R-Le Claire, requires all charter, public and accredited non-public schools to include a policy in their emergency operations plan on how individuals in a school building should respond when a fire alarm is activated outside of a scheduled fire drills to protect the individuals in case the alarm was activated due to an active shooter on school grounds.
“This takes care of, when you pull a fire alarm you don’t create a target-rich environment for a shooter,” said Rep. Steven Bradley, R-Cascade, who served on the House subcommittee.
Margaret Buckton, representing the Urban Education Network of Iowa and the Rural School Advocates of Iowa, said school staff can “very quickly” check the alarm panel to see where the threat is, look at video feeds, check for smoke and conduct firsthand inspections to confirm the threat before issuing a building-wide evacuation.
Both groups are registered in support of the bill.
Penalties for grooming by teachers
Iowa lawmakers passed a bill that would require school districts to report to state officials if a licensed employee is disciplined for grooming or abusing a student.
Current law requires that districts must report to the state Board of Educational Examiners — the state’s educator licensing body — if a teacher or other license holder is disciplined for conduct that constitutes “soliciting, encouraging or consummating” a romantic or inappropriate relationship with a student.
House File 2487 would add “grooming behavior” and “abusing a student” to the list of actions that must be reported to the board if an employee is disciplined. Grooming behavior is defined in the bill as “any attempt to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a student, or a person believed to be a student, to participate in a sex act … or engage in any unlawful sexual conduct.”
If the Board of Educational Examiners has evidence that a school staff member committed a crime, the board would need to report it to authorities under an amendment House lawmakers added on Monday. The amendment would also remove the three-year limitation on investigating a complaint if it falls under the “grooming behavior” definition.
The bill passed the House unanimously on Monday. A Senate companion bill has not been passed out of a committee.
Topsoil bill resurrected, heads to back to Senate
Republicans, in a rare move, resurrected a bill that failed to pass the Iowa House last week during floor debate.
The bill, Senate File 455, passed the House Monday following a motion to reconsider. It initially failed to pass the chamber March 6 on a 49-44 vote, with 16 Republicans joining all Democrats in voting against it. Seven House members were absent or did not vote.
The bill passed on its second attempt 53-46, with 10 Republicans joining all Democrats in voting against. Only one member was absent or did not vote.
Senate File 455 would prohibit counties and cities from adopting regulations stricter than what the state permits for topsoil management at construction sites. It also would restrict the regulations local jurisdictions can place on the stormwater infrastructure required for new developments.
During floor debate, proponents said the bill was designed to make housing more affordable for developers and homeowners. Opponents said it would infringe upon local governments’ ability to regulate stormwater.
The bill was amended by the House and now heads back to the Senate to approval.
Iowa AG joins GOP lawsuit challenging new EPA rule
Republican Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has joined a multistate lawsuit seeking to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from setting tougher air emission standards and tightening limits on particulate matter generated by factories, powers plants and other industrial users.
Republican attorneys general from 24 states filed a joint challenge stating that a new EPA rule would raise costs for manufacturers, utilities and families and could block new manufacturing plants and infrastructure such as roads and bridges. Texas filed a separate suit, as did business groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers.
Environmental and public health groups have hailed the new soot rule, finalized last month, saying it will help improve air quality and benefit children and older adults with asthma and those with heart and lung conditions, as well as people in low-income and minority communities adversely affected by decades of industrial pollution.
Republicans and industry groups say the United States already has some of the strictest air quality standards in the world — more stringent than the European Union and far stricter than major polluters such as India, Indonesia and China.
The GOP attorneys general argue the new EPA rule would block the permitting of new manufacturing facilities and drive good-paying jobs out of Iowa and overseas.
“The Biden administration’s latest green scheme threatens American jobs and businesses,” Bird said in a statement. “With this radical mandate, costs will soar for Iowa families and businesses, driving good-paying jobs out of Iowa and to other countries. I’m suing to protect Iowans’ hard-earned money, keep American businesses at home, and halt the Biden EPA’s illegal mandate.”
Iowa’s unemployment rate unchanged
Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3 percent in January, slightly higher than a year ago but below the national rate.
The state’s jobless rate was 2.9 percent one year ago. The U.S. unemployment rate remained at 3.7 percent in January.
The number of unemployed Iowans fell by 1,100 in January to 50,900. The total number of working Iowans decreased by 1,200 to 1,653,800.
The state’s labor force participation rate decreased to 67.3 percent from a revised December rate of 67.5 percent.
”January’s report was mixed. On the positive side, it shows the total number of nonfarm jobs remains 12,700 above last year’s total, even after retail businesses pared 2,000 jobs following the holidays,” Beth Townsend, executive director of Iowa Workforce Development, said in a statement. “We also saw 2,300 people leave the workforce voluntarily in January.”
Iowa bill would change how schools respond to fire alarms in wake of shootings
Also, House passes penalties for ‘grooming’ by teachers
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