State Rep. Dean Fisher (R-Montour)

The 2024 Legislative session began on January 8, and as always, the first week was filled with speeches and all the ceremony that surrounds them. Of course, the highlight of those speeches is always the Governor’s Condition of the State address that was delivered by Gov. Reynolds on Tuesday evening.

One of the Governor’s priorities is reforming our nine Area Education Agencies (AEA’s). AEAs were created in the 70’s to provide special education support to school districts. Over time they have expanded and now only about 63% of AEA funds are focused on Special Education, a significant case of “mission creep”. Even more troubling, despite Iowa spending over $5,300 more per pupil on special education than the national average, we’ve ranked 30th or worse in 9 of the 12 national assessments on special education performance. We can, and should, do better for our special education students in Iowa.

There have been many rumors floating around before the session about what changes Governor Reynolds was planning to make to the Area Education Agencies. Now that we have heard from her in her Condition of the State address, let’s make sure we get the facts straight.

Under this proposal, AEAs will focus solely on students with disabilities. Currently, the AEAs provide services and provide oversight over their own services. This, combined with the fact that school districts are required to use them, means there’s hardly any accountability in the current system. The bill will also change how funding works for the AEAs. School districts will now control their special education funds–meaning they no longer will be mandated to send those funds to the AEAs. Our school administrators are frequently demanding fewer mandates and greater flexibility with their budgets from the legislature, and we’ve listened. Instead of being required to send their special education dollars to the AEA they can decide for themselves how best to provide these services. They can continue to use their AEA if they choose, they can decide to use a neighboring AEA, and they can contract with a private company or partner with other districts to share services such as a speech or behavioral therapist.

This session, one of our top focuses in the House is improving education outcomes for students. This must include our special education students as well. Now that we have the bill from the Governor’s office, we will dig into the details as this bill works its way through subcommittee and committee. Our goal is to ensure that we are providing the very best education possible for our special education students.

This of course begs the question, what happens to the other services that the AEA’s currently provide? AEAs will be left to focus on special education. Because the school district is now in control of their own funding, they will be able to decide for themselves the best way to provide the remainder of the services that they need. The Governor’s proposal does not reduce special education funding one bit. All it does is leave the districts in charge of this funding for them to decide the best way to spend it. Right now, some school districts are forced to give this money to the AEA’s even though they don’t rely on the AEA for any of their services. That’s just wrong.

The Governor also announced details of her proposal to raise teacher pay. Her proposal would increase starting pay for teachers by 50% to $50,000. It would also set a minimum salary of $62,000 for teachers with at least 12 years of experience. This change would require a $96 million investment from the Legislature.

The Governor also spoke about tax cuts. Over the past few years, Iowa House Republicans have delivered significant tax relief for Iowans. Because of our responsible budgeting practices, we have continued to put our state in a strong financial position and revenue continues to grow. We are able to fund Iowans’ priorities and we have a $1.83 billion surplus and a projected $3.6 billion in the taxpayer relief fund. The Governor proposed a tax cut package that reduces the income tax rate for all Iowans to a flat 3.65% in 2024, meaning it would be retroactive to January 1st of this year. In 2025, the rate would fall to 3.5% instead of the current plan for 3.9% by 2026. Iowa House Republicans are interested in delivering as much relief as possible to help Iowans facing the consequences of Bidenomics. We will be running our own numbers to ensure whatever tax cut plan is passed is sustainable for the long term.

I’ll work to keep you updated in the coming weeks as we make progress this session. As always, I look forward to hearing from you and visiting with you by phone, email, or in person at the capitol or in the district.

Dean Fisher, a Republican from Montour, represents District 53 in the Iowa House of Representatives which includes the communities of Clutier, Garwin, Gladbrook, and Lincoln.