Ten years ago, I was the lead sponsor on legislation that created an “Address Confidentiality Program” here in Iowa. The Iowa Legislature unanimously passed this law, creating Iowa’s Safe at Home program – a bipartisan effort to protect survivors of violent crimes. Administered by the Iowa Secretary of State, Safe at Home is an address confidentiality program designed to help survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking and stalking stay safe and rebuild their lives. Since its launch, 3,098 Iowans have participated in the program, most of them survivors of these crimes. For a decade, Safe at Home has provided security, stability and peace of mind for those who need it most. Surveys taken annually of program participants show that 81% of surveyed participants say that Safe at Home is extremely important as a safety tool, and 82% of surveyed participants believe they are alive and uninjured because they are a Safe at Home participant. If you know someone who could benefit from Iowa’s Safe at Home program, encourage them to reach out to the Secretary of State’s office staff. Learn more at safeathome.iowa.gov.

We often hear from our constituents about the need to expand access to quality, affordable child care. This week, we passed House File 2514 as one of the many things we can do to help address this. HF 2514 makes children of child-care workers in this state eligible for the state child-care assistance program. Giving child-care workers this benefit will help recruit and retain the staff needed to keep child-care centers open and operating at full capacity. This, in turn, will create more open slots. For a child-care employee to be eligible, they must work at least 32 hours a week and have children enrolled in child-care. The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services has been providing this coverage through a pilot program since July 2023. In that time, 2,105 families have been served by the program. HF 2514 codifies the pilot program.

This week, we passed HF 2488 through the Iowa House to further our efforts to ensure tax dollars are not going to misguided Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts in our colleges. In past sessions, we’ve banned these practices in our Regents colleges. House File 2488 says that private colleges are not eligible to receive taxpayer-funded Iowa Tuition Grant money if they establish, sustain, support, or staff an office of DEI. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is defined as all of the following: any effort to manipulate or otherwise influence the composition of the faculty or student body with reference to race, sex, color or ethnicity, apart from ensuring colorblind and sex-neutral admissions and hiring in accordance with state and federal anti-discrimination laws; any effort to promote differential treatment of or provide special benefits to individuals on the basis of race, color or ethnicity; any effort to promote or promulgate policies and procedures designed or implemented with reference to race, color or ethnicity; any effort to promote or promulgate training, programming or activities designed or implemented with reference to race, color, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation. It is important that we ensure that taxpayer money supports a fair system based on merit, not immutable characteristics beyond our control.

As always, I look forward to seeing you at the Capitol or in the district.