Government : Hello, Iowa House District 84 from the State Capitol!

The Iowa Legislature completed week 13 last week, and we're making progress to finish possibly in the next couple weeks, with the budget bills being worked out in their respective committees right now.

On Wednesday, April 3rd, the Iowa House passed an amended version of Senate File 2391, also known as the Meat Integrity Act. This bill basically requires labeling standards that state whether the contents of a meat product is from an animal or "lab-grown meat". It must also state whether it's an actual egg product or egg substitute. The bill does not prohibit schools from buying properly labeled meat or egg substitute products and does prohibit mislabeled egg or meat products.

The Iowa House Democrats voted against it because I think of a misunderstanding that the non-animal products would be banned by SF 2391 from SNAP purchases. The current USDA SNAP guidelines do not qualify egg substitutes to be purchased with SNAP or WIC. In the event the USDA does qualify these products for SNAP in the future, the bill asks for a waiver so that these egg substitutes do not qualify in Iowa. Iowa is a huge egg-producing state, and the bill promotes Iowa products. The bill now goes back to the Senate as amended.

The House passed another education bill, HF 2618, with a 92-3 margin. The bill intends to improve the reading scores of Iowa's young students. Unfortunately, 35% of Iowa's third graders are not reading proficiently. Children who can't read by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school, which dramatically increases their chances of being arrested, using illegal drugs, and having poor health. Teacher prep programs will require students to take the Foundations of Reading assessment. Iowa is the only state in the country that does not require competency in early literacy instruction for teacher licensure. The bill also requires schools to provide students in K-6th with a reading plan until the student is reading proficiently, and schools must report to parents if their student is not reading proficiently in these grades. Parents will be able to retain their student in the current grade level if the parents choose.

Visitors to the Iowa State Capitol on April 3rd included members of the University of Iowa Women's Wrestling team and head coach Clarissa Chun, and they were honored with a resolution on the House floor for winning the national championship. It was also the U of Iowa Day on the Hill. On April 4th, it was Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) Day on the Hill. On Thursday, I attended the Iowa State University dedication of Phase 1 and groundbreaking of Phase 2 of the Veterinary Diagnostic Lab (https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2024/04/04/vdl-dedication-groundbreaking). ISU is the national leader in food animal diagnostic medicine caseloads, and this facility plays a major role in protecting our food supply, our pets, and wildlife!

Have a safe week, please be careful out there, and enjoy the spring weather!