Greetings from the Capitol

Session schedule
The Iowa Legislature is scheduled to complete its session on April 19. Before this deadline, the legislature must come to an agreement on the seven components of the state budget. Over the next month our attention will be turning more heavily to discussing the budget so that we can complete our duties on time. One factor that affects this year’s budget is the privatization of Medicaid. As a result of the recent switch in Medicaid to managed care, some state funds that were previously allocated to Medicaid will be available for use in other areas. This should allow us to balance the portions of the budget, excluding the standings budget, in a very similar fashion to last year.
Bill Updates
HF 228
HF 228 addresses occasional coaching shortages in some districts by creating a Transitional Coaching Authorization that allows a district to hire a non-teacher coach for a sports team, providing that the coach is at least 21 and completes the required coursework to become a coach within the first year. This transitional authorization would be valid for not more than a year, cannot be renewed and is valid only in the school or consortium of schools making the offer for the coaching position. A consortium of schools may include a school district, a school district attendance center or an accredited non- public school, or a combination thereof. We passed this bill in the House last year with bipartisan support on a vote of 98-0, but it was not debated in the Senate. This year the Senate debated and passed the bill with an amendment which requires transitional coaches to complete a few more steps including completing a shortened coaching course, receiving the mandatory reporter training, completing concussion training and passing a background check. The amendment also requires the transitional coach to be supervised for two weeks. I think this amendment is acceptable, and we plan to discuss HF 228 next week. This bill will be a big help to school districts that have a difficult time finding and retaining coaches for their various sports teams, especially for smaller schools such as those in the 7th district.
HF 2329
 HF 2329 is an extremely important bill that was debated in the House this week. The purpose of this bill is to make it illegal to sell or donate the body parts of an aborted fetus. It is very important to set the expectation in the state of Iowa that organizations are not to sell aborted baby body parts for profit. Some legislators were opposed to this bill because of its effect on medical research. However, we must remember that stem cell research can still be conducted using various other means such as donated miscarriages, stillbirths and cord blood.  It is important to also realize that research for the betterment of some people does not justify the destroying of innocent human life. Our goal with this legislation is to support and defend the lives of the vulnerable unborn. HF 2329 passed the House by a vote of 56 to 43, and was messaged to the Senate.
HF 2355
HF 2355 creates an office to combat human trafficking within the Department of Public Safety. The office shall serve as a point of contact for human trafficking prevention efforts in the state, consult with other government and nongovernmental agencies that have expertise in the field, develop a strategy to collect and maintain criminal history data on human trafficking crimes, apply for federal grants, conduct research, and take other steps necessary to prevent human trafficking in Iowa. Human trafficking is a serious issue and I am glad we are taking steps to minimize its presence in our state. HF 2355 was debated on Wednesday and passed the House by a vote of 98-0.
Tedd Gassman

Rep. Gassman is on the Environmental Protection, Labor, and Local Government Committees, and serves as the Vice Chair of the Education Committee. He also serves on the Administration and Regulation Appropriations Subcommittee. His district includes Emmet County, Winnebago County, and the northern parts of Kossuth County, including Algona. You can contact him at tedd.gassman@legis.iowa.gov.