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Capitol Update - January 29, 2026

Capitol Update Reports
 / 29 January 2026 / 0 Comments / jen@iowaschool…

​   UEN Legislative Update
January 29, 2026

(Download this week's printable UEN Legislative Written Report)

 

This UEN Weekly Report from the 2026 Legislative Session includes:

  • Property Tax Relief Subcommittees in the House
  • SSA Timeline and Next Steps
  • House and Senate Committee Action
  • Other Subcommittees of Interest
  • Bills in Education Committees
  • Advocacy Actions for the Week
  • Advocacy Resources

 

House Holds Property Tax Proposal Subcommittee Meetings

The House held subcommittee meetings on their own property tax bill, HSB 596, and on the Governor’s property tax bill, HSB 563, on Thursday of this week. There was testimony from many of the local government organizations and taxpayer groups. See the Jan. 23 report for a complete description of the House bill, HSB 596, and the Jan. 16 version for complete descriptions of the Senate bill, SSB 3001, and the Governor’s proposal, HSB 563.

ISFIS prepared a comparison chart to compare and contrast the ideas in all three, which is available on the ISFIS website.

For the House Subcommittee on HSB 596, UEN commented in support of Division III, the much improved individual taxpayer statements and shared concern about the second part of Division V: SAVE revenue bonds. This section requires a 60% supermajority of those voting in favor to bond against the sales tax revenue. UEN is registered as undecided on the bill.

For the House Subcommittee on HSB 563 (Governor’s bill), UEN provided comments on two provisions:

  • The Governor proposes a residential exemption for homeowners 60 years and older who have no mortgage. We encourage legislators to get estimates on how this proposal would impact tax rates and taxpayers in their district before committing to the proposal. For school tax rates in particular, a reduction in property value that is taxed shifts the burden to all taxpayers in the district by compelling a higher property rate through the school foundation formula, because schools are budget limited, not rate limited.
  • The Governor's proposal accelerates the SAVE's contribution to the property tax equity and relief fund. In current law, the LSA had estimated that the SAVE would get to the max, 30% of total revenue contributing to lower property taxes, by about 2048. The Governor’s four-year timeline would be a shock to the system. It would remove an estimated $170 million annually from school SAVE revenues by FY 2030. There are over 175 school districts currently bonded against SAVE, and there is no protection in this bill for those bond payments. As SAVE is compressed, school districts are forced to have more property tax bond votes and may have to cut school general fund positions and other expenditures to buy buses and technology funded by SAVE. UEN is registered as undecided.

 

SSA Timeline and Next Steps

The Governor’s Recommendation for SSA for FY 2027 is for 2% increase in the state cost per pupil and categoricals, continuation of the $25 million AEA cut and continuation of the property tax replacement payment with state aid. The Governor is also recommending state funds of $42.2 million to pay for the Budget Guarantee for 191 districts eligible for budget guarantee at a 2% SSA rate.

The Senate could take up their proposal as early as this coming week. See the Jan. 16 weekly report for details of the Governor’s proposal. See advocacy messages below.

 

House and Senate Committee Action This Week

These bills, having cleared a committee in their chamber of origin, have already survived the Feb. 20 funnel deadline as they move to their respective calendars. Typically, bills approved by a committee in their chamber of origin receive a new bill number after committee approval.

House Education Committee Approval:

  • HF 2079 Cash for Sports Events: Requires public schools and athletic organizations to accept cash at the gate. UEN is undecided.
  • HSB 555 Teacher Prep Programs: DE’s bill requires summative tests and remediation (no license or program completion impact for students in the program) and requires Special Education teachers on Conditional Licenses to complete a self-paced course. UEN is undecided. See a complete bill description written with subcommittee action in the January 23 report. UEN is undecided.
  • HSB 558 Civics Seal Program: Directs DE to develop and administer a seal of civics excellence program to recognize high school graduates who have demonstrated proficiency in civics. Requires the DE to develop minimum requirements for students to obtain the seal, to produce the seal (which may include a sticker to affix to the student’s high school transcript or a certificate awarded to the student). Requires the seal be affixed to the diploma and noted on the transcript. Participation in the program is voluntary for school districts and accredited nonpublic schools. Requires the participation to school to notify the DE of names of students qualified for the seal and the number of seals or other authorized endorsement. Allows the DE to charge a nominal fee to cover printed and postage. UEN is registered in support.
  • HSB 594 One Year of Government Instruction: increases from ½ to one unit of US Government as a graduation requirement for public school districts, charter schools and accredited nonpublic schools. It is effective for graduates beginning in the 2028-2029 school year. This bill does not change the requirement that graduates have three units of social studies. UEN is undecided.

House Higher Education Committee Approval

  • HSB 533 4-year Degrees in Community Colleges: Committee members amended the bill to creates a pilot project for community colleges to offer 4-year-degree programs for high-demand jobs in their region. Limits tuition charges to no more than 150% of regular community college tuition. UEN is registered in support.

Senate Education Committee Approval

  • SF 274 School Sport Entry Fees: Requires public schools and registered athletic organizations to accept cash at the gate. The Committee members amended the bill to exempt private facilities that operate only on an electronic basis. UEN is undecided.
  • SF 2005 Shared Teacher Functions: Makes Career and Technical Education teachers an eligible operational sharing position, at the 3-pupil count level, which actually generates 2 pupils’ worth of funding, approximately $16,000 for each district that shares at least 20% of the teachers’ FTE. Does not change the 25-student cap. UEN is undecided.
  • SF 2006 K-5 Physical Activity: Institutes a 30-minute requirement for physical activity for K-5 students. Excludes time spent in physical education class from the 30 minutes. Does not require the 30 minutes to be consecutive. Prohibits denial of recess as a disciplinary tool. UEN is undecided.
  • SF 2007 School Resource Officers: Increases the operational shared weighting for SROs from two to four students’ worth of per pupil cost. UEN is undecided.
  • SF 2043 Flexibility Account Process and Spending: Adds the ability to transfer teacher salary supplement ending balances to the Flexibility Account and removes requirements for public notice and a public hearing for the school board to direct expenditures of the Flexibility Account. Expenditures from the Flexibility Account are required by current law to be part of the school district’s budget and approved by school board resolution. Those two provisions are unchanged by the bill. UEN is registered in support.

 

DE Prefiled Bills Subcommittee Action:

SSB 3042 Talented and Gifted Local Program and Advanced Pathways:

  • Changes state ITEDs science assessment to 11th grade
  • TAG Local Policies (goes into IC §257.42 TAG Programs and Funding):
    • Requires systematic and uniform procedures for screening, referring, identifying and providing services to students in Talented and Gifted Programs K-12.
    • Requires the board to consider a body of evidence from multiple data sources, objective and subjective, including at a minimum, local comparisons with the district and individual attendance centers, and may include but are not limited to any of the following (preserves local control in determining the criteria):
      • Standardized assessments
      • Student achievement
      • Cognitive ability
      • Creative ability
      • Qualitative and quantitative data
      • Teacher and parent input
      • Observation of gifted characteristics and behaviors.
      • Prohibits that any one criterion would disallow a student from participating in the TAG program.
    • Requires the board to make all reasonable efforts to identify students with disabilities (having an IEP) and non-English-speaking students served in the EL program for TAG services.
    • Encourages universal screening within identification procedures (does not mandate, but later in the bill, requires districts to identify gaps in instruction due to grade advancement, which cannot be easily determined with ISASP or FAST screeners).
    • Requires districts to provide TAG services based on the areas in which the child is talented and gifted, and ensure provision of TAG instructional adaptations and education services are beyond the regular school program.
    • Requires the School Board to review TAG student progress at least annually to ensure services and programs meet the academic needs of each TAG child.
    • Requires every reasonable effort to provide educational services to each TAG child that promote the academic growth in their area of academic strength.
  • Advanced Mathematics Pathway: The goal is to increase the number of students completing higher-level math in 9-12.
    • Requires automatic enrollment of a student in an advanced math pathway if they have a state assessment score in the advanced performance level in grade 5, 6, or 7 OR demonstrated proficiency in math in their coursework or other local measure in grades 5, 6, and 7.
    • Defines advanced math pathway as a sequence of courses and curricula that accelerates or combines math instruction that is typically provided to students enrolled in grades six through either.
  • Acceleration and Automatic Enrollment in advanced courses. Requires the board to do the following:
    • Establish and implement procedures for subject acceleration and whole-grade acceleration:
      • Describe how the district will assess a student’s readiness for subject acceleration and whole-grade acceleration
      • Correspond to level, complexity and pace of the curriculum to meet student’s academic needs
      • Provide support to address any possible gaps in learning created with subject or whole-grade acceleration.
    • Requires districts to automatically enroll any grade 4-12 student who attains a score within the advanced performance level on the state assessment in the immediately preceding school year in the next most rigorous level of advanced courses/program offered by the school district.
    • Parent can request to opt out (but district must auto-enroll first).
    • Requires the district to notify parents and students of advanced courses and programs available to eligible students. Not intended to limit student access to other advanced programs (Senior Year Plus or college credit).
  • Allow any student enrolled in an accelerated course to take the statewide summative assessment corresponding to the content and level of the course (not necessarily their grade level).
  • States that this is NOT an unfunded mandate.
  • Note: The Advanced Math Pathway and Acceleration and Automatic Enrollment in Advanced Courses proposal goes into IC 279, which regulates what schools must offer. The advanced pathways are not only for TAG students. $24 M in TAG carry-forward from last year would not be allowed to be spent on advanced pathways or grade acceleration if any non-TAG student is auto-enrolled. TAG funding is required to be spent exclusively on TAG children for programs beyond the regular program. Flexibility was added to allow districts to use TAG funds for any TSS purpose, but TAG cannot be transferred to the Flexibility Account for any General Fund purpose.

UEN is currently registered as undecided on this bill, as we gather information about the potential costs associated with the advanced pathways provisions. We do not see much change in the Talented and Gifted program specifications other than more school board oversight and intentional striving to identify students with disabilities and English-Learners.

 

SSB 3048 Teacher Preparation Program Requirements and Licensure by DE

  • Beginning 7/1/2027, requires any student admitted to a teacher preparation postsecondary program to have clinical experiences and preparation for serving English Learners and students with disabilities.
  • Requires the Iowa State Board of Education to adopt rules to prescribe practicum and clinical experience standards, including differentiation, applicable to all students in teacher preparation programs.
  • Requires a minimum of 15 practicum hours for special population instruction and support, including progress monitoring for IEPs for students with disabilities, applicable to all students in the teacher preparation programs.
  • Requires a minimum of 40 practicum hours, both elementary and secondary, for an English-learner endorsement.
  • Requires the DE to provide procedures for ongoing support.
  • Requires teacher preparation programs to administer an end-of-program summative test to measure preparation in content areas needed for endorsement areas. Requires DE to provide the tests to the teacher preparation programs.
  • Requires teacher preparation programs to identify remediation needs for students not making the cut score set by the DE for each endorsement area.
  • Requires teacher preparation programs to report test scores to the DE, and requires DE to report on their website beginning 8.1.28, program-level passage rates and DE efforts to support the teacher preparation programs (curriculum improvement, remediation techniques and program evaluation). Also requires DE to post examples of program remediation and assessment plans teacher preparation programs have provided to students below the cut score prior to program completion.
  • DE staff stated in the subcommittee that a certain score is not required for program completion for students or for licensure. This is a measure of program quality for teacher preparation programs.
  • Also requires completion of a self-paced course of content related to special education laws, assessment and other essential competencies of teachers applying to be special education teachers with a class B or conditional licensure. The bill does not specify if a teacher must complete the course before teaching special education students.

UEN is registered as undecided on the bill. We support the additional clinical experiences for new teachers for students with diverse needs, and the course for special education teachers on conditional licensure makes sense. We are unsure about the impact of the summative assessment on teacher preparation programs and are concerned about the timing of the special education course, that could interfere with recruiting special education teachers and filling positions that are vacant.

 

Other Subcommittees of Interest:

HSB 604 Community-Based (Private) Preschool Providers: Allows private providers to participate in the Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program for 4-year-olds. Requires the DE to approve application and requires that applicant meet the program requirements of IC§256C.3 which is the same as school district requirements. Specifies that eligible private providers may not work with school districts. Provides funding per pupil during the initial year of participation (unlike school districts which are funded by the formula based on the prior years’ count). Funds the ongoing program based on enrollment counts in the prior year (the same as public school districts). UEN is opposed.

 

The following bills also were approved in subcommittees this week.

  • HSB 557 English-Learner Open Enrollment: Allows open enrollment to a receiving district of a student receiving EL services if the receiving district maintains a program to provide those services and if the open enrollment to the receiving district would not cause the size of the class or caseload in that program to exceed the maximum class size or caseload according to the school board policy. Requires is the student would be assigned to the general education classroom, that there is sufficient space. Requires the district of residence to pay for excess costs not covered by the EL weighting assigned to the student. Applies to open enrollment applications, requests and notifications filed by a parent on or after the effective date of the act. UEN is undecided.
  • HSB 610 Computer Science for Graduation Requirement: adds a requirement for high school graduates to have completed a one semester of computer science which may include computer science completed in 8th grade. Applies the graduation requirement to graduates in the 2030-31 school year. Exempts high school seniors who were enrolled in another state that did not have the computer science requirements immediately prior to 12th grade enrollment in an Iowa school. Allows a school district to apply for a waiver for a one-year delay in implementation. Requires high-quality standards for computer science include in all levels and grades of computer science instruction related to the fundamental concepts of evolving computer science technologies and artificial intelligence (AI), including instruction that explains what AI is, how AI impacts society, and ethical considerations related to the use of AI. Requires DE to publish a list of computer science course that school districts may use. Requires the DE to create and publish on their web site a plan to expand statewide computer science teacher capacity to support graduation requirements implementation. Requires the plan to specifically address targeted support for schools with enrollment less than 500 high school students and requires DE to invite input from specified stakeholders. Includes flexibility for computer science courses within other areas of content, including not more than one unit of instruction in the 5 required science units, no more than one of the additional two units of math may fulfill the computer science requirement, and allows appropriately licensed CTE teachers to provide computer science instruction. Specifies minimum course requirements for computer science, including options to teach through a combination of in person and primarily over the internet or delivered primarily over the internet according the administrative rules per IC§256.7, subsection 32, paragraph “a”. Requires school district reporting to DE (number of courses, number and grade levels of students, number of teachers, etc.). Includes preparation in computer science in teacher preparation programs. Requires regent institutions to accept the math or science units of computer science as math or science for purposes of calculation of the regent admission index. States that the unfunded mandate law does not apply and that school districts are to consider state foundation aid as the source of funding to implement this bill. UEN is undecided.
  • SF 2094 Computer Science Graduation Requirement: This is a companion bill to HSB 610 requiring one semester of computer science for graduation as described above. UEN is registered as undecided.
  • HF 2003 Pilot Project for Special Attendance Centers: established a pilot project for one rural and one urban district to create a special attendance center for students with special education IEPs and students with behavioral issues. Requires DE to determine which school districts shall participate and sets the requirements of the program. Requires an annual report from the participating school districts to the DE and specifies the contents of the report and requires DE to compile the annual reports of participants. Requires not less than 45% of district special education funds out of the 90% for AEA services be used by participating districts for their program costs. Defines rural and urban school district for eligibility. Repeals the pilot project on July 1, 2031. UEN is supportive of expanding services for students with disabilities and student with behavior challenges for whom the regular education classroom is not appropriate for their success. Despite that support, UEN is opposed to the bill based on the diversion of funds from AEAs to pay for the program. Note: Other suggested funding possibilities might include one or a combination of the following: appropriation from the sports wagering fund, unspent DE special education funds from the prior year, federal special education funds, part of the mental health state appropriation, or state appropriation. There is also a new federal grant for student mental health services that may be appropriate for some of the service costs of this pilot project.
  • SSB 1049 Career Education Corrections by DE: allows supplementary weighting for summer concurrent enrollment courses and requires that concurrent enrollment courses count for a full Carnegie unit regardless of actual seat time. Also requires a statewide articulation agreement between community colleges and regent universities, with consistent course coding and college credit earned in high school granted by the regents to meet requirements. Also requires career and academic planning must include a discussion with students about opportunities available through the school district to earn college credit and industry-recognized credentials aligned to the students’ interests. UEN is registered in support
  • SSB 3041 FFA and 4H Excused Absences: Requires school board policy the requires the school district to grant a student an excused absence when the student is absent from school due to involvement in an activity or project sponsored by a 4-H club or the FFA. The policy must also allow the student to make up any classwork the was not able to complete as a result of the absence. UEN is undecided.
  • SSB 3043 Fine Arts, Mathematics, and Science Endorsements: requires the BOEE to adopt rules establishing additional endorsement in these specific high-needs areas for student enrolled in PK-12. Prohibits the BOEE from granting an applicant an endorsement unless they hold a BA degree from an accredited college or university. Repeals the subsection July 1, 2030. UEN is registered in support.
  • SSB 3050 Computer Science via CTE: allows one-half unit of computer science to be offered and taught through Career and Technical Education courses, stating that the use of instruction related to applied sciences, technology, engineering or manufacturing may fulfill a portion of the computer science unit. Requires the Iowa State Board of Education to adopt rules to implement the bill. UEN is registered in support.
  • HF 2051 School and Career Specialist: Creates a new operational sharing position of school and career specialist to generate weighting tailored for I-JAG implementation. Specifies that the position is employed by the nonprofit organization partnering with the school district to serve at-risk students. Amendment language was suggested to specific that for purposes of this position, the 501C3 is considered another political subdivision, to make the school district eligible for operational sharing supplementary weighting. UEN is undecided.
  • HF 2122 School Violence Policies: Requires public school boards and charter schools have policies for student discipline for disorderly conduct. Such policies are already required to be consistent with state administrative rules for special education, with federal I.D.E.A requirements, the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and this bill adds they must also be consistent with Iowa Code section 279.65B, which is the new section created by this bill.
    • Defines disorderly conduct as intentional conduct to which any of the following applies: 1) constitutes violent behavior or a threat of violent behavior, 2) disrupts, disturbs, or interferes with any services provided by the school district, or 3) disturbs the peace, order or discipline within the classroom.
    • Defines “principal” to include a principal, assistant principal, vice principal or administrator who is responsible for the day-to-day operations of an attendance center.
    • Allows a teacher to exclude from their classroom and place under supervision with the principals any student who does any of the following while in the teacher’s classroom: 1) engages in disorderly conduct, 2) threatens, abuses, intimidates, or attempts to intimidate another student or any school employee, or 3) uses abusive or profane language.
    • For a K-5th grade student excluded from the classroom, prohibits readmittance until after the principal provides written notice to the teacher indicating that the student will be readmitted.
    • For a student in grades 6-12 and excluded from the classroom, prohibits readmission until after the principal provides written notice. Additionally prohibits readmittance until, at the earliest, the immediately subsequent school day.
    • If the principal determines disciplinary action should be taken against the excluded student, requires the principal to take the disciplinary action and provide written and if possible, electronic notice of the disciplinary action to the students’ parent or guardian.
    • If the grades 6-12 student is excluded three times in any thirty-day period, requires the principal to discipline the students by doing any of the following: 1) in-school or out-of-school suspension, 2) recommending to the superintendent placement in an alternative learning environment.
    • If the grades 6-12 student was removed classroom because the conduct, statements or action actions were severe or pervasive, and if requested by the teacher, then the principal shall impose the maximum amount of punishment applicable to such conduct, statements or other actions as provided in Board policy, including placing the student in an alternative learning environment approved by the superintendent.
    • Allows the teacher to appeal to the school board: 1) a principal’s refusal to allow the teacher to exclude a student or 2) a principal’s readmission of the students prior to the time allowed.
    • Prohibits the school board from retaliating against the teacher tor exercising the teacher’s appeal rights and defines disciplinary action. If the board of directors violates the teacher’s right the teacher may enforce them under a civil action. Specifies that the board of directors is liable for affirmative relief including reinstatement, with or without back pay, civil damages in an amount not to exceed three times the annual wages and benefits of the aggrieved teacher prior to the violation of the prohibition of retaliation. Allows a court to grant an injunction against the school board for the retaliation, allowing the injunctive relief to be brought by an aggrieved teacher, the county attorney or the school district’s human resources manager.
    • Grants immunity to a school employee from any civil or criminal liability which might otherwise be incurred or imposed as a result of physical contact that occurs when the employee is addressing a student’s conduct, statements or other actions for which the student could be excluded from a teacher’s classroom if the physical contact complies with section 280.21 subsection 2. Also establishes a rebuttal presumption, for a teacher facing legal, disciplinary or professional sanctions, that the is a rebuttable presumption that the action as necessary to restore and maintain the safety or instruction atmosphere of the teacher’s classroom.
    • Requires the school board to immediately grant a teacher a leave of absence for physical and mental recovery with full pay for at least five day if the teacher is injured due to a student’s disorderly conduct.
    • Specifies principal duties and restates requirements to follow section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act, the federal I.D.E.A, FERPA, and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

UEN is registered as undecided and working with legislators to improve the workability and language of the bill.

  • HF 2124 State Data System: Requires DE to contract with a provider for a state data system. Discussed an amendment to clarify that districts retain their own student information system and that this reporting system is just a bridge for easier reporting to DE and faster DE processing of data. UEN is undecided.

 

Bills in the Education Committees:

There are two places to find lists, links and descriptions of bills in each of the chamber’s Education Committees:

Senate Education Committee:

House Education Committee:

 

Advocacy Actions This Week:

Adequate School Funding: Contact legislators regarding SSA. The Governor’s recommendation of 2.0% falls short of inflation (as has every SSA increase over the last five years). The teacher salary investment last year was a really good start, but SSA has to keep pace, or our staff and programs for students will be compromised. See the UEN Issue Brief for additional information. The deadline for deciding SSA is February 12, so the advocacy window is tight. No bills sponsored by Republicans have yet been introduced to set the SSA rate but we are hearing that the Senate may begin work next week. Additional Supports:

  • Download the UEN 2026 Adequate School Funding Issue Brief, providing education funding history, comparing total Iowa education expenditures per pupil, which most recently ranked our state as 35th in the nation, now spending over $2,700 less per student than the national average, and including some talking points to help you advocate with your legislators. UEN’s Legislative Priority supports an SSA rate that at least matches the inflation rate schools are experiencing.
  • The REC sets a revenue growth estimate for FY 2027 of 4.2%. Shouldn’t schools benefit from the general fund recovery?
  • With a statewide enrollment decline of 7,336 students, the cost of SSA to the state is lower than it would normally be. The state could fund a 4% increase at a cost of $132 million (lower than last year’s increase of $134 million). Higher SSA of 4% would leave fewer districts on the budget guarantee and lower budget guarantee property taxes to 25% of those estimated in the Governor’s 2% recommendation. The higher SSA would also result is less special education deficit or English-Learner request for modified supplemental amount (MSA) from the School Budget Review Committee (SBRC.)
  • The ISFIS New Authority Calculator allows users to set the SSA rate and calculate the impact across all districts for FY 2027 on your regular program (not including special education or other supplementary weightings). Enter the SSA percentage increase to compare to the new money you’d receive if the SSA rate was higher than the Governor’s Recommendation of 2.0%. Check out the new tab to determine the impact of 2% on your TSS and other per pupil categoricals and media and education services. What would that additional authority provide for students? What happens if your school experiences a few more years of 2% or lower?

 

Property Tax Relief: Encourage legislators to get fiscal estimates from LSA and DOM before proceeding with big system changes. The property tax system is complicated. Multiple changes to all three components of the system are very hard to predict.

  • The Senate’s proposal, in particular, significantly changes or limits all three components: Valuation, Rates and Total Levy (dollars collected).
  • The Governor’s version is more modest, but still accelerates SAVE funds within a very short time frame, negatively impacting resources available for school infrastructure, safety and equipment. This proposal removes an estimated $170 million annually from school infrastructure, technology, safety, equipment, buses and construction in four years.
  • There is already significant voter involvement in SAVE:
    • Voters approve a district RPS, which must include bonding to authorize it.
    • Many districts have facility planning and infrastructure committees with local citizens, taxpayers and community leaders involved.
    • Public hearings are held on SAVE bonding decisions.
    • Reverse referendum is an opportunity for taxpayers if used for athletic facilities.
  • Many districts choose to move slowly, bonding for just a year or two at a time and improving facility safety and upgrades along the way. Having to hold special elections every other year would be cost-prohibitive.
  • Delays increase costs as revenue growth doesn't keep pace with construction inflation.
  • Districts would be more inclined to use property tax bonds, which get a better interest rate if the SAVE process was changed, which doesn't align with the intention of this bill.

Protect schools from property tax reductions and limiting policies that restrict revenue, since schools are already primarily budget-limited and enrollment-driven under the foundation formula.

See the UEN Property Tax Reform 2026 Issue Brief for additional talking points and items to discuss with your legislators.

 

Quality Preschool and Teacher Shortages: In every communication, find a way to mention Quality Preschool and Teacher (especially special education) and other Staff Shortages. Find Issue Briefs and other resources on the UEN Website to find talking points or as resources to share when you meet with policymakers.

 

Connecting with Legislators: To call and leave a message at the Statehouse during the legislative session, the House switchboard operator number is 515.281.3221 and the Senate switchboard operator number is 515.281.3371. You can ask if they are available or leave a message for them to call you back. You can also ask them for the best way to contact them during the session. They may prefer email, text message, or a phone call, based on their personal preferences.

Find out who your legislators are through the interactive map or address search posted on the Legislative Website here: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators/find

 

Other UEN Advocacy Resources:

Check out the UEN Website at www.uen-ia.org to find Issue Briefs, these UEN Weekly Update Reports and Videos, UEN Calls to Action when immediate advocacy action is required, testimony presented to the State Board of Education, the DE or any legislative committee or public hearing, and links to fiscal information that may inform your work. The latest legislative actions from the Statehouse will be posted at: www.uen-ia.org/blogs-list. The 2026 UEN Advocacy Handbook will be available and posted soon at www.uen-ia.org/advocacy-handbook.

 

Contact Us

Margaret Buckton
UEN Executive Director
margaret@iowaschoolfinance.com
515.201.3755 Cell

 

Thanks to our 2025-26 UEN Corporate Sponsors:

Special thank you to your UEN Corporate Sponsors for their support of UEN programs and services. Find information about how these organizations may help your district on the Corporate Sponsor page of the UEN website at www.uen-ia.org/uen-sponsors.

 

Capitol Update