Iowa Senate lawmakers gave final approval to the governor’s K-12 literacy bill on Wednesday, sending the bill to the Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ desk for her signature.  The bill, House File 2618, would require students at teacher prep programs around the state to take a test similar to the Massachusetts state “foundations of reading assessment” and schools would be required to report scores to the Iowa Department of Education.  The bill would also require schools to notify parents if their child is not proficient in reading in grades kindergarten through sixth grade, and if requested by ..read more

WASHINGTON — Jayna Gilman, a University of Iowa first-year student studying human anatomy and physiology, is just one of millions of students nationwide who are unsure how much they may be expected to pay for college this fall after attempting to fill out the new federal financial aid application. Technical errors and unanswered questions plagued college students like Gilman and high school seniors attempting to navigate the bungled rollout of the updated Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, form for the 2024-25 school year. The form is annually used by colleges and the U.S ..read more

A March survey of students, staff, and faculty at Iowa’s three public universities found that overall attitudes toward the state of free speech on campus improved from a December 2021 survey.  The bi-annual survey results from regent recommendations following concerns over the state of free speech on public university campuses in Iowa in 2021.  The survey was created to gauge the effectiveness of promoting free speech on campuses following a 2021 law that required regent universities and community colleges to develop free speech curricula to educate students about their free speech r ..read more

Iowa lawmakers sent a bill to arm Iowa teachers to the governor’s desk on Monday, with the House approving the bill 62-36, down party lines, after the Senate approved the bill last week. The bill, House File 2586, would allow teachers to carry guns on school grounds, create a permitting process, and give armed school staff qualified immunity, a standard typically reserved for law enforcement. Rep. Matthew Rinker, R-Burlington, joined all Democrats in opposition to the bill, with all other Republicans in support of the bill. The bill also requires all of Iowa’s largest school districts to emplo ..read more

The Iowa Supreme Court heard oral arguments Thursday on whether the state’s six-week abortion ban should go into effect after a Polk County Judge temporarily blocked the law from being enacted. The court heard arguments Thursday on the constitutionality of an abortion ban in the state. State Solicitor General Eric Wessan argued the court should hold the ban to a “rational basis,” meaning the court should find if the state had a legitimate interest in limiting abortions. While Peter Im, the staff attorney for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said the court should find the ban shoul ..read more

WASHINGTON — While the record number of U.S.-Mexico border crossings continues to garner national attention, several of Iowa’s federal delegates have solutions in mind while Republicans and Democrats are in a stalemate. All of the members of the delegation interviewed by The Daily Iowan point to the record-high number of encounters with migrants reported by the U.S. Border Patrol as a failure of the Biden administration.  While Democrats call for reforms to the legal immigration system, Republicans hope to increase border enforcement. Several members of Iowa’s federal delegation told the ..read more

WASHINGTON — Iowa Republican U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst are likely to vote for the bill that could lead to a nationwide TikTok ban and divestment from the app’s current Chinese-based owner if it comes to a vote in the U.S. Senate.  The U.S. House voted on March 13 to pass a bill that could end the usage of the social media app TikTok, which is widely popular among people ages 18-24 years old, and has over 170 million American users. The ban would occur if TikTok’s China-based owner, ByteDance, does not sell its shares in the app to an American buyer.  Grassley said in a ..read more

WASHINGTON — Sitting down with The Daily Iowan Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, spoke about her thoughts and advocacy on the rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, her support for the current version of the TikTok bill, her views on the southern border, and why she decided to make a bid for the No. 3 seat in Senate Republican Leadership.  The Daily Iowan: We wanted to talk a little about your advocacy on the FAFSA form. You were one of dozens of senators to sign on to a letter to ask the GAO to investigate the rollout. How do you feel about the rollout? Joni Ernst: It ..read more

After rejecting federal funds for the Summer EBT program in February, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced $900,000 in competitive grants for summer meal programs for children.  Administered by the Iowa Department of Education in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the funds are intended to provide Iowa children access to healthy food over the summer.  The state-directed Summer Meal Program Expansion Grant will launch additional summer meal sites through the use of two existing federal programs — the Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option — for Iowa child ..read more

WASHINGTON — Founder and Former Chair of the House Conservative Climate Caucus, U.S. Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, passed the baton this month to U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa. Miller-Meeks officially took the position on April 1, becoming the second lawmaker to chair the 85-member organization. She previously served as vice chair since January 2023.  Curtis founded the Conservative Climate Caucus in 2021 and orchestrated the hand-off of power as he plans to leave the House at the end of the year to compete in the Utah GOP primary to take on retiring U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney’s seat ..read more