Update From the House for District 80 – February 10th, 2022
Week 5 Update
Hello Friends!
Week 5 in the Iowa House was a short but busy week; the House did not convene on Monday due to the Statewide Midterm Caucuses. This week was extra busy as it was filled with a plethora of subcommittee and committee meetings preparing for funnel week, which is next week. Monday, Feb. 14th, marks the start of the first funnel week.
What is funnel week? It’s a weeding out process where only the bills with the most support get to pass through, therefore keeping the legislative process moving forward. By Friday, all bills must be voted out of their House and Senate committees and sent to the full chamber. Bills that don’t make it out of committee are essentially dead, meaning lawmakers won’t have an opportunity to vote on them.
This week I chaired and set on several subcommittee meetings. Two bills that stood out to me during subcommittees this week were House Study Bill (HSB) 632 and House File (HF) 2139. HSB 632 relates to licenses issued by the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners, making the action of obtaining a license more accessible for teachers who already meet all the requirements. HF 2139 changes the period of time a student must wait to participate in varsity interscholastic athletic contests and competitions from 90 school days to 90 calendar days after the student open enrolls in a new school district.
In regards to the Iowa House as a whole, Iowa House Republicans have continued to advocate and support K-12 education; this week, the Iowa House passed a bill to set the percent growth for Supplemental State Aid for K-12 schools at 2.5%. This equates to $159 million in new money for K-12 public schools. The State Cost Per Pupil amount increases from $7,234 to $7,412, an $186 increase per student. Our plan also includes an additional $5 SCPP increase and a transportation equity piece to help rural schools with their transportation costs. On top of that money, House Republicans also passed a bill appropriating an additional $19.2 million for schools to help pay for para-educators, substitute teachers, bus drivers and support staff, and any other expenses that have increased due to high inflation. Claims that Republicans are underfunding public education are simply false. Republicans are responsible for record-high education investments over the last decade. K-12 education funding has increased by almost a billion new dollars over the last ten years. The last time the education funding was actually cut was while Democrats had the state government “trifecta.”
Thank you for your encouragement and prayers. There is never an off week, and it is your support that keeps me excited every day to come to work. I always enjoy hearing from you! My contact information is below:
Holly Brink
State Representative, Iowa District 80
