Early Iowa bills deal with school threats, child testimony protections, ranked choice voting

DES MOINES — The state lawmaking process already has begun at the Iowa Capitol, even before legislators have returned to conduct their annual work.

Each year, lawmakers and state agencies are allowed to “prefile” legislation in advance of the upcoming session of the Iowa Legislature. As of Wednesday, 48 bills had been prefiled for the 2025 session that begins Monday in Des Moines.

In previous years, prefiled bills have featured a mixture of proposals from state agencies and from legislators. This year, all 48 prefiled bills as of Wednesday were produced by state agencies.

What follows is an examination of some of those bills in this installment of The Gazette’s legislative preview series.

Establish school threat assessment teams

The Iowa Legislature convenes just after the one-year anniversary of a shooting at the Perry Middle and High School that killed a sixth-grade student and a principal and injured six others. The gunman, a 17-year-old student, killed himself.

Under legislation proposed by the Iowa Department of Public Safety, school systems would be allowed to create multidisciplinary threat assessment teams to protect students and school staff when a student exhibits behavior that might threaten their safety.

The proposed legislation would authorize school districts, accredited non-public schools, charter schools and innovation zone schools to create these threat assessment teams. It would also allow collaboration between schools and government agencies to provide services to K-12 students who are “experiencing or at risk of an emotional disturbance or mental illness, or who pose an articulable and significant threat to the health and safety of any person.”

Threat assessment teams could include local law enforcement officials, representatives from Juvenile Court Services, mental health professionals, social services representatives and school officials. The proposal would allow teams to coordinate resources and share records or information. It would also protect the team members who report information related to school safety from civil liability.

This proposal comes as more states require schools to create threat assessment teams to prevent violence in schools.

Court protections for children who testify

Children who testify in court would be given added protections, allowing them to submit remote or video testimony, under an amendment to the Iowa Constitution being proposed by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird.

Bird pitched the proposed constitutional amendment after a 2024 Iowa Supreme Court ruling overturned the child abuse or neglect conviction of an Iowa man because, justices decided, video testimony by the man’s 8- and 11-year-old sons violated the man’s right to face his accusers.

Bird has said that no child victim should be forced to relive their trauma by being forced to testify mere feet away from the adult accused of abused them.

Because the right to face an accuser is in the Iowa Constitution, Bird is proposing a constitutional amendment.

The proposed amendment would read, “To protect children under the age of eighteen and any witness with a mental illness, intellectual disability, or other developmental disability, the right of an accused to confront such witnesses may be limited by law.”

An amendment to the state constitution must be approved by two gatherings of the Iowa Legislature separated by an election, then by a majority of Iowa voters in a general election.

Prohibiting ranked choice voting

Ranked choice voting would be prohibited in all Iowa elections — including in local elections — under a proposal by Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate.

Ranked-choice, or instant runoff voting, allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference instead of voting for one candidate. If there is no clear winner and someone’s first choice is not likely to win, the second choice candidate is counted for the ballot.

A ranked choice voting ban in the state previously was proposed in 2024 as a part of a package of other election laws, but failed to get signed into law. Opponents argue it is too complicated and confusing for voters.

Supporters of ranked choice voting argue it saves time by eliminating the need for runoffs, increases voter participation and makes it harder for extremist candidates to win elections.

The system currently is used in two states, three counties and 46 cities in the United States, according to FairVote.

Proponents of ranked choice voting in 2022 pressed the Cedar Rapids City Council to study it if allowed by the state, but the council declined.

Legal definition for crime of grooming

The legal definition for the crime of grooming would be changed in state law under a proposal from the Iowa Department of Education.

Under the proposal, Iowa law would define grooming as “the process of building trust and emotional connections with a student with the intent to exploit such student.”

Under current state law, grooming is defined as “any behavior, which in light of all relevant circumstances, constitutes actions to entice or entrap a student or students with the intent to make such student or students engage in a sex act.”

The updated definition is needed, the department said, because the current definition, established by a new law passed in 2024, does not provide sufficient distinction between the legal definitions of grooming and a sexual act. The new definition would create that distinction, the department said.

In a separate proposed and prefiled bill, from the Iowa Department of Public Safety, anyone convicted of grooming would be required to register as a Tier I sex offender.

Open THC beverages in vehicles

Drinks containing THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) would be treated similarly to alcoholic drinks under the state’s laws on open drinks in vehicles under a proposal from the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

Last summer, Iowa clamped down on hemp-infused products, including barring the sale of them to anyone under the age of 21 and restricting the potency of products containing THC to 4 milligrams per serving or 10 milligrams per container.

The proposed legislation would prohibit open THC beverages in the passenger area when a vehicle is in operation. It would allow open or unsealed THC beverages to be transported in the trunk of the vehicle, or behind the last upright seat if the vehicle does not have a trunk.

AI use in campaign materials

The use of artificial intelligence in campaign material creation would be required to be disclosed under a proposal by the Iowa Ethics and Campaigns Disclosure Board.

The proposed legislation would require any campaign materials made using AI to display the statement that “this material was generated using artificial intelligence.” Punishment for failing to disclose AI use would include facing a serious misdemeanor.

A bill requiring disclosure of AI use in creating campaign materials was proposed in 2024, but it failed to pass.

As AI continues to gain prominence in elections and political campaigns, 20 states already have laws regulating its use to prevent deception and the spread of misinformation.

Veterans Trust Fund requirements

The goal for filling the state’s Veteran Trust Fund would be raised from $50 million to $75 million under legislation proposed by the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Iowa Veterans Trust Fund is available to low-income Iowa veterans who need assistance making emergency payments for things like medical equipment, emergency room care, dental and hearing care, emergency housing and vehicle repairs, counseling, unemployment assistance and job training.

The Veterans Trust Fund is supported by an annual $2.5 million appropriation from the Iowa Lottery. Spending from the trust fund on claims is limited to $500,000 plus interest earned on the fund.

In 2022, for the first time in a decade, spending from the fund outpaced its allowed limit, causing a monthslong backlog in claims.

Just two budget years later, thanks largely to a new state law that allowed for more flexible financial management of the fund that produced exponentially higher interest, the trust fund has a $1.4 million surplus, according to the veterans affairs department.

Under the proposed legislation, the limitations on claims spending would remain until the trust fund reaches $75 million, instead of the current mark of $50 million.

The trust fund’s balance was $40.4 million as of the end of 2023, according to the latest annual state report. That figure will be updated soon with the 2024 state report.

In a written submission accompanying the prefiled legislation, the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs said raising the trust fund’s principal balance goal to $75 million would generate more future funds for claims spending, account for inflation and expanded program eligibility, and help protect the fund from another surge in claims spending like what happened in the 2022 budget year.

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