Hite Capitol Update – January 29th, 2021
by Rep. Dustin Hite
This week at the Capitol was a busy one in the House Education Committee. As Chairman of the Committee, I along with my colleagues advanced a number of important bills out of committee, including legislation addressing Governor Reynold’s priority of providing parents the choice of having their students in a 100% in-person learning environment, House File 103, which was passed out of the committee and signed into law by the Governor this morning after being passed in the House and Senate this week. In addition to House File 103, the Education Committee will be considering legislation further addressing parental choice in education, as well as child care, which is a big priority for House Republicans this session. I look forward to continuing moving this legislation through committee.
House Republicans in the Education Committee worked hard to pass House File 103 out of subcommittee and committee this week. This bill rightfully puts the decision making regarding their children’s education back in the parents’ hands and removes the often politically motivated decisions of some school board members. Parents have said from the beginning, and continue to say, there needs to be an option for in-person, full-time instruction. The majority of schools have provided in-person, full-time instruction, as the legislature intended. However, there continues to be school districts who are not listening to all the parentswhen making decisions. This bill remedies that immediately. To be clear, House File 103 does not eliminate online or hybrid options for parents, it simply states schools must provide in-person as an option to the families who prefer it.
Earlier this week, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a report which lays out the data finding very little evidence schools have contributed to the spread of COVID-19. The CDC also published a report citing three different domestic studies, as well as two studies from abroad, providing the same information. It states, “the type of rapid spread that was frequently observed in congregate living facilities or high-density worksites has not been reported in education settings in schools.” A study in 11 North Carolina districts where there are more than 90,000 students and staff found virus transmissions were “very rare.” Only 32 infections occurred in school with no cases of student-to-staff transmissions. Another report from Europe found schools were not increasing community spread either. Schools in Las Vegas, one of the largest school districts in the nation, are going back to in-person learning due to their suicide rates increasing. The amount of suicides doubled between March and December from the previous year.
Concerns from teacher’s unions appear to be based in fear and on old data. The science is clear, convincing and continues to support safe in-person classrooms.
Cases among school-age children in Iowa have remained low. Since March, children up to age 10 account for 4% of all cases, 3% of cases are among kids 11-14, and 6% among those 15-18 years old. These rates remained consistent even after school began. Transmission among students in Iowa schools is rare, and infection most often occurs between family members in households.
National studies show that keeping kids out of the classroom has resulted in significant learning loss, and students of color are most impacted. Literacy screening scores have decreased 21% among Iowa first graders this school year. In December, Des Moines Public Schools reported nearly 17,000 students, more than half the district, were failing or near failing courses. It is time to get children back in school.
House Republican’s priority bill House File 1 passed the House Ways and Means Committee unanimously this week. This bill increases the maximum Iowa net income threshold for the Iowa child and dependent care credit and the early childhood development tax credit. The current income limitation has not been changed in more than 15 years—leaving out many hard-working Iowa families from this benefit. House File 1 allows more Iowa parents than ever to claim this important credit.
Currently, the federal tax code provides for a Child and Dependent Care Credit equal to 20 percent to 35 percent of money paid to care providers for a child under the age of 13 and for certain other dependents of the taxpayer. The credit is limited to $3,000 per year for one qualified dependent or $6,000 for two or more qualified dependents. The federal tax credit does not have an upper income limit—so all taxpayers qualify.
Iowa provides its own tax credit based on the amount of the federal credit received. The Iowa tax credit is allowed on a sliding scale, based on the taxpayer’s net income. The Iowa tax credit amount ranges from 75 percent of the federal credit for net income of less than $10,000, to 30 percent for taxpayers with net income of $40,000 to $44,999. Currently Iowa parents get no credit if their net income is $45,000 or higher. Iowans agree with House Republicans that a family with a net income of $45,000 is not rich and child care is likely a huge part of their family expenses.
House File 1 doubles the Iowa income limit and make the credits available to all taxpayers with net incomes of less than $90,000 starting with tax year 2021. The bill is now eligible for consideration by the full House. House Republicans have supported this increase in the child care tax credit for several years and are committed to getting this child care help to the Iowa families who need it.
We’re only three weeks into the new legislative session this year, and we have already accomplished great successes in moving forward the House Republican’s education priorities, but there is still more work to be done. I look forward to continuing work on getting students back into the classroom and giving parent’s with more choice in their child’s education, providing more relief to Iowa’s taxpayers, and addressing the broadband issues facing our state. As always, I encourage you to visit the Capitol while we are in session year. Please feel free to reach out to me at dustin.hite!legis.iowa.gov if you would like to schedule a visit, or if you have and questions, comments, or concerns.
