The Rozenboom Report by Senator Ken Rozenboom For January 22nd, 2021

We have completed the second week of the 2021 legislative session. While this week was shortened because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, the schedule was full of subcommittee meetings as we start going through the legislative process.

Subcommittees are the first step in the legislative process and are one of the ways Iowans can be involved in the lawmaking process. Subcommittees have been different than usual this year because of health precautions. All Senate subcommittee meetings are virtual for the legislative session due to the pandemic. Instead of large groups of people gathering in rooms throughout the Capitol, subcommittees are meeting on-line via Zoom. Generally, the Republican members of the subcommittee will be in one room while the Democrat member is in another, or is off-site. The Senate pages who are usually busy with work around the chamber, bringing in notes from visitors or phone messages from the Senate switchboard, now are helping us manage and run our meetings online. While this is not how we usually meet, it does have some advantages; now Iowans who normally don’t have the time to drive to Des Moines to voice their opinion on a bill can now do so from the comfort of their home.

If you are interested in a bill, please visit the legislative website, www.legis.iowa.gov, to find information on how to join these subcommittees. This is a great way to utilize technology during this time, maintain public transparency, and still move forward with this legislative session in a responsible manner.

Iowa has a proud tradition of strong and effective K-12 education. Last year Iowa was number one in average ACT scores for states that use the ACT as their primary college entrance exam, number one in dual enrollment, and number one in high school graduation rate. In order to continue that strong performance, Iowa students must be given the option of attending school 100% of the time in person.

Some students perform well with on-line learning. But academic performance for many other students suffers when they do not receive in-person instruction. According to local news reports, 37% of students in Iowa City schools had at least one failing grade this fall. That number is nearly double the number of students with at least one failing grade in previous years. If students fall too far behind academically, they will struggle to regain the skills and knowledge they lost, and their future education and career opportunities may suffer.

Senate Study Bill 1064 addresses this problem by requiring K-12 schools to offer a 100% in-person option. The bill does continue the waiver process if significant spikes of COVID-19 occur in the community or the school district is unable to adequately staff their classrooms.

A new Center for Disease Control (CDC) study indicates that schools do not transmit the virus more rapidly than the larger population, and transmission rates were significantly lower among elementary age students. This study is consistent with other studies conducted both in the United States and in other countries since the pandemic began in early 2020. This report states that “the CDC recommends that K-12 schools be the last settings to close after all other mitigation measures have been employed and the first to reopen when they can do so safely.”

For most students, the classroom is the place they learn best. With the language of SSB 1064, parents and families with health concerns will still have the option for their children to learn remotely. But all Iowa schools should be open for in-person instruction so parents have the option to have their children learning in the classroom, recovering their lost time, and restoring their future opportunities.

I always look forward to our public forums such as Eggs & Issues during the legislative session, but those opportunities are still limited because of COVID-19. However, technology provides another way to interact with our constituents. On Saturday, January 23, from 8:30 to 9:30, Representatives Brink and Hite will join me at the OskyNews studio to answer submitted questions. This event will be live-streamed on OskyNews and Mahaska Chamber Facebook pages, and televised on MCG Channel 7.