Michael Bergan
It has been a productive week here at the Capitol, full of many bipartisan supported bills getting passed on the House floor. Some of those bills that passed this week in the House include:
HF 248 – requires employers to treat employees who have adopted a child 6 years old or younger the same way as those who have had a biological child regarding their parental leave policies. New parents who have adopted their child deserve to be treated the same as parents who have had a biological child. This session, our caucus set out to prioritize supporting Iowa families and particularly making sure we are supporting kids born into tough situations.
HF 300 – a bill that I floor managed prevailed with no opposition this week in the House. The bill establishes the Physician Assistant Licensure Compact, designed to improve access to medical services by allowing physician assistants licensed in one participating state to practice in other participating states through mutual recognition of their licenses. It outlines a comprehensive process that complements existing state licensing authority while ensuring patient safety. Key provisions include support for military families, enabling active-duty personnel and their spouses to obtain a compact privilege based on an unrestricted license in good standing from a participating state. The bill has moved to the Senate.
HF 547 – This bill establishes the Respiratory Care Interstate Compact, which facilitates the practice of respiratory therapy across member states by allowing licensed respiratory therapists to work in multiple states without obtaining separate licenses.
HF 783 – a bill to establish new requirements for organizations that sponsor or administer extracurricular interscholastic athletics, including the formation of a conference realignment committee. This committee will be responsible for ensuring reasonable conference affiliations among member high schools and will review requests from schools regarding changes to their conference memberships. The bill defines “extracurricular interscholastic athletics” and “organization” as the Iowa High School Athletic Association and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, or their successors. Effective July 1, 2025, school districts and accredited nonpublic schools will be prohibited from using state funds to pay dues or membership fees to these organizations unless they comply with the new requirements. These include the establishment of the conference realignment committee, a policy that restricts changes to conference memberships without committee approval, and the necessity for schools to offer athletic activities for both boys and girls across all seasons. Additionally, schools that withdraw from a conference without approval will face a two-year ban on competing in the same activity within any conference or tournaments sponsored by the organization. The state board of education is tasked with adopting rules to implement these provisions.
It was a busy week full of many visitors. Tuesday morning, I attended an open house visit with fellow legislators where we had the privilege of meeting Sen. Mark Daly from Ireland. I’m excited to share that I’ve joined the Iowa Legislative Irish Caucus, a group dedicated to strengthening ties and fostering continued cultural, economic and diplomatic relationships between Iowa and Ireland. We spoke about the opportunities for Iowa and Ireland to work together in fintech, agriculture and many other areas. Daly is particularly promoting the Iowa State football game against K-State in Dublin this coming August, which serves as a connection between our state and Ireland as the largest English-speaking member of the EU.
I appreciate visits from constituents and learning about the issues that are of concern. Kindly contact me ahead of time if you are planning a trip to the Capitol, it helps me plan my schedule to meet with you. I can be reached at michael.bergan@legis.iowa.gov.
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