Week #2 Update: Patriot Pastors’ & Citizens’ Day follow up; Homeschool / Christian School Day on Tuesday; List of bills we are following.
We had an excellent Patriot Pastors’ & Citizens’ Day at the Capitol on Tuesday!Thank you to those who were able to attend. We met with Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver and encouraged him to move forward with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). We don’t have a bill number yet, but we are hopeful that it will be filed before the end of next week. To stay alive, a bill must be out of Committee in its respective chamber by the end of the day on February 16. Please be in prayer that RFRA makes that first deadline.
This Tuesday is our Homeschool / Christian School Day at the Capitol. I am excited to announce that we scheduled a meeting with Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg. We will begin our day at 10:00 AM in the dining area in the center of the building down the hallway after you pass through the metal detector. We will conclude at noon. For those who want to eat lunch inside the Capitol following the end of our tour at noon, you are free to bring food with you into the building. Please call me at 319-759-3325 if you have any questions. I am watching the weather, and it appears that the precipitation will be rain, not snow, for most of us. If we need to cancel, I will email by 2:00 PM on Monday; otherwise, assume the event is a “Go.”
Below is a list of the bills we are following.
They are sorted:
- Disposition: Support, Oppose, Watch
- Category
- Bill Number (Green = Support, Red = Oppose, Orange = Watch)
Clicking on a bill number will take you to the bill’s online page on the Iowa Legislature’s website, where you can access all of the information about the bill, including the text.
Following each bill number is the bill’s current status in the chamber in bold black lettering. Following the status is a brief explanation of the bill.
The bill numbers with a flag in front of them are the bills we have determined to be particularly important to Christians. In some cases, we will send out a “Call to Action” email when a flagged bill is coming up for a vote.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding a particular bill(s), please contact your legislators using their contact information at the end of this email.
Sincerely,
Brad Cranston
Founder, Baptists for Biblical Values
SUPPORT:
- HF2007 – Passed House Subcommittee – Provides restitution for children whose parents are injured or killed in car accidents.
- HSB533 – Introduced – Raises penalties for bestiality to a class D felony. (Companion to SF2018)
- SF2018 – Passed Senate Subcommittee – Raises penalties for bestiality to a class D felony.
- HF464 – Passed House Subcommittee – Eliminates the four-student limit and allows for fees and tuition to be charged for schools operating under the independent private instruction classification.
- HF2031 – Introduced – Requires public schools to include high-quality videos of an unborn baby’s growth and development in human growth and development classes.
- HF2034 – Introduced – Provides a fire code exemption for church schools with less than 50 students.
- HF2073 – Introduced – Authorizes public school districts to employ chaplains or engage volunteer chaplains, to provide services to students.
- SF2027 – Introduced – Changes human growth and development instruction from parent opt-out to parent opt-in.
- SF2059 – Introduced – Provides for education on the holocaust for students and teachers in school districts.
- SSB3050 – Introduced – Lengthens the time an investigation can commence when a teacher has been allegedly romantically involved with student.
- HSB530 – Introduced – Slows the release of convicted human traffickers. (Companion to SSB3027)
- SSB3027 – Introduced – Slows the release of convicted human traffickers. (Companion to HSB530)
- HR101 – Adopted – Resolution in support of Israel. (Companion to SR101)
- SR101 – Introduced – Resolution in support of Israel. (Companion to HR101)
- SF2037 – Passed Senate Subcommittee – Prevents local governments from enacting conversion therapy bans.
- HF2040 – Introduced – Removes the current exemption of libraries and schools from the obscenity law.
- HF2046 – Introduced – Increase penalties for distributing obscene materials to minors from serious misdemeanor to aggravated.
- HF2048 – Introduced – Prohibits dissemination, publishing, distribution, or posting of a visual depiction showing another person of any age in a state of full or partial nudity or engaged in a sex act that has been altered to falsely depict another person without their consent.
- HF2049 – Introduced – Prohibits the sexual exploitation of a minor by the creation, adaptation, or modification of a visual depiction to give the appearance that an identifiable minor is engaged in a prohibited sexual act or the simulation of a prohibited sexual act. Violation is a Class “D” felony.
- HF2051 – Introduced – Creates liability for social media sites that have obscene material.
- SSB3004 – Introduced – Prohibits dissemination or threatening to disseminate pornographic images or likenesses, including those created by AI, of another person of any age without their consent.
- SF297 – Carryover from 2023 – Allows health care providers to deny services based on their religious beliefs and moral convictions without penalty.
- SF2030 – Introduced – Limits the governor’s state of disaster emergency and public health disaster proclamations to 60 days and includes religious liberty protections during the period covered by the proclamations.
- SSB3006 – Introduced – Protects health care providers from going against their conscience when performing their duties.
- SF2032 – Introduced – Protects Iowans from unconstitutional presidential executive orders.
- SF2053 – Introduced – Expands property tax exemption to include grounds owned by a religious institution that is used for schooling.
- SF2003 – Passed Senate Subcommittee – Requires the state to inform parents about how to apply for an exemption if a new vaccine is required.
WATCH:
- HSB542 – Introduced – Reforms the state Area Education Agencies (AEA) and provides for more accountability.