LEGISLATOR REVIEW: Raising teacher pay, school safety investments were highlights for Vondran
Mike Vondran is a Republican who resides in Davenport and represents House District 94. He is the CEO of TAG Communications and in his first term in the Iowa House. He is the vice chair of the House Public Safety Committee. Vondran is up for re-election, challenged by Democrat Tracy Jones.
Last year, Vondran said he was proud to pass property tax cuts and a bill giving teachers tools to respond to behavioral health problems in the classroom. Read his thoughts on this year’s legislative session below.
Area education agency overhaul: Yes.
Income tax cut: Yes.
Illegal immigration enforcement: Yes.
Allowing school staff to carry guns: Yes.
Post-partum Medicaid extension: Yes.
People are also reading…
Bills sponsored/worked on
House File 2531: Allows cities to penalize a strip club that presents a public safety nuisance (passed)
House File 2592: Allows an officer to petition a court to intervene on a county attorney’s decision to put the officer on a Brady-Giglio list (passed)
House File 2310: Changes penalties for trespassing while hunting (passed)
Successes of the session
- Raised beginning teacher pay to the 5th highest in the nation, set the minimum standard salary for 12-year teachers to $62,000, and allocated an additional $14 million to raise pay for paraprofessionals.
- Delivered significant income tax relief for all taxpaying Iowans by speeding up the implementation of the flat tax and lowering the rate to 3.8% in 2025.
- Made our students and staff safer in school with investment in school safety infrastructure and by lowering emergency response times with the creation of an improved permit program allowing staff to carry firearms if they meet the high standards of training laid out in the bill. Local school boards will be able to control this program, too.
- Gave Iowa law enforcement additional policy tools and $2 million of new money to protect Iowans from illegal immigration and related crimes such as drug crimes and human trafficking.
- Prioritized history and civics in K-12 education, while directing the Department of Education to do a thorough review of all curriculum standards to ensure they are setting teachers and students up for success and improving outcomes.
Disappointments from the session
- In the House we passed legislation to cut property taxes for childcare providers by allowing childcare facilities to be taxed on the residential rollback rate rather the commercial rate. Unfortunately, the bill died in the Senate.
- I sponsored a bill that would have raised the minimum bond requirements for certain violent charges like attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, a felon in possession of a deadly weapon and other violent crimes. Current minimum bond required is $10,000, I wanted to move this to $100,000 as a minimum, however this bill did not make it out of the House, so I’ll take a run at it again next year.
In 2024, 180 state legislators are facing term limits. Here’s everything you need to know about which states will be most impacted
In 2024, 180 state legislators are facing term limits. Here’s everything you need to know about which states will be most impacted
Democratic and Republican term-limited incumbents
Term-limited state legislators by year
‘);
var s = document.createElement(‘script’);
s.setAttribute(‘src’, ‘https://assets.revcontent.com/master/delivery.js’);
document.body.appendChild(s);
window.removeEventListener(‘scroll’, throttledRevContent);
__tnt.log(‘Load Rev Content’);
}
}
}, 100);
window.addEventListener(‘scroll’, throttledRevContent);
}