Relating to and making appropriations to the education system, including the funding and operation of the department for the blind, department of education, state board of regents, department of workforce development, and Iowa special education council

This bill relates to and makes appropriations to the education system. The bill appropriates moneys for FY 2026-2027 from the general fund of the state and other funds to the department for the blind, department of education, state board of regents and its institutions, and department of workforce development. The bill is organized by divisions. DEPARTMENT FOR THE BLIND. The bill appropriates moneys to the department for the blind for its administration. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. The bill appropriates moneys to the department of education for purposes of the department’s general administration and for purposes of supporting the department’s various entities, programs, funds, and duties, including but not limited to the public broadcasting division, community colleges, the Iowa school for the deaf and Iowa educational services for the blind and visually impaired program, the division of special education, and the college student aid commission. The bill also appropriates moneys from the Iowa skilled worker and job creation fund to the department of education for various purposes. STATE BOARD OF REGENTS. The bill appropriates moneys to the state board of regents for the board office, universities’ general operating budgets, the western Iowa regents resource center, the state university of Iowa, the Iowa state university of science and technology, and the university of northern Iowa. STANDING APPROPRIATIONS.209. IOWA TUITION GRANTS.192 establishes a tuition grants program for students attending a vocational-technical or career option program at a community college.192 to allow students attending for-profit institutions to apply for a vocational-technical tuition grant.191 and transfers any moneys appropriated for purposes of the Iowa tuition grants for-profit institutions fund that remain unencumbered or unobligated as of July 1, 2026, to the vocational-technical tuition grants fund. Current law requires the for-profit institutions participating in the Iowa tuition grants program to provide students enrolled in the for-profit institution with a matching amount of institutional financial aid. The bill strikes this requirement. The bill increases the standing appropriation for tuition grants for qualified students under the vocational-technical tuition grants program. STATE PROGRAM ALLOCATION.13 establishes how moneys appropriated for purposes of the student achievement and teacher quality program are to be allocated. The bill extends such allocations to FY 2026-2027.11. IOWA SPECIAL EDUCATION COUNCIL —— REPEAL.35B establishes an Iowa special education council to act in an advisory capacity to the department of education in promoting, directing, and supervising education for children requiring special education in the schools under the supervision and control of the department.35B. APPROVAL OF REQUESTS FOR A MODIFIED SUPPLEMENTAL AMOUNT.11(4). FY 2026-2027 APPROPRIATIONS —— DEPARTMENT OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.3, if enacted by 2026 Iowa Acts, House File 2466, section 16, or successor legislation. Moneys appropriated pursuant to this provision are contingent on the career training physical expansion program fund receiving no other moneys for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, in any Act of the general assembly. BASIC ENROLLMENT —— CORRECTION.6(2) following enactment of 2026 Iowa Acts, chapter 1001. HIGHER EDUCATION —— CIVIC PROFICIENCY. The bill provides that the state board of regents must require each institution of higher education to establish as a requirement for the completion of any general education requirements or core curricula that an undergraduate student complete introductory survey courses in American history and American government. The requirement applies to undergraduate students beginning enrollment at institutions in academic years beginning on or after July 1, 2028. An institution shall assign a value of at least three semester hours of credit to each course. A required course shall be a comprehensive survey of all American history and American government. A required course shall fulfill the general education or core curriculum requirement for social sciences or humanities, as designated by the institution, that a student is required to complete as a condition of graduation. The bill requires an institution of higher education to provide equivalent credit toward the required courses to a student transferring to the institution for previous substantially similar coursework. The division does not apply to a student completing a degree program designated by an institution as a degree program of three years or less in duration. The bill requires the center for cyclone civics at Iowa state university and the center for civic education at the university of northern Iowa to annually designate courses at their respective institutions that satisfy these requirements. The bill provides that the center for intellectual freedom at the state university of Iowa shall be the sole academic unit at the state university of Iowa responsible for offering courses that satisfy these requirements. The bill strikes a requirement that the center for intellectual freedom at the university of Iowa offer at least one three-semester credit hour course in American history and civil government. The bill requires the state board of regents to conduct a review of all undergraduate general education requirements and core curricula at institutions by the semester beginning fall 2028. The bill requires the center for intellectual freedom at the university of Iowa, the center for cyclone civics at Iowa state university, and the center for civic education at the university of northern Iowa to each establish an ongoing lecture and debate series by December 31, 2026. The series must promote civil dialogue and debate on the issues most important to the American republic. The bill requires the directors of the center for cyclone civics at Iowa state university and the center for civic education at the university of northern Iowa to each submit an annual report to the governor, the general assembly, and the board of regents by December 31. The report must provide a full account of the respective center’s achievements and identify any opportunities, challenges, and obstacles in the development of the center. HIGHER EDUCATION —— TUITION. The bill requires the state board of regents to direct each regents institution to establish a policy whereby the tuition amount charged to students classified as residents that is charged to an undergraduate student in the student’s first academic year of enrollment will not increase in the student’s subsequent academic years of undergraduate enrollment. This requirement applies to a student’s first academic year of enrollment that begins in or after 2027. The bill provides limitations on this requirement. The bill requires the state board of regents to limit any increase in the amount of tuition charged by an institution of higher education to a resident undergraduate student to the average of the increases in the higher education price index in the previous three years; provided, however, that this provision does not apply to a resident undergraduate student in an academic year if the tuition amount that can be charged to the student is limited pursuant to the bill’s provisions. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION —— REPORTING REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO ANTIBULLYING PROGRAMMING. The bill requires the department of education to submit an annual report to the general assembly that contains, in part, information related to the department’s antibullying programming.