Its a statewide network of nonprofits that connect women with pregnancy support services, housing assistance, and recovery and mental health treatment. School choice is not an anti-public-school movement. Thank you Randy for analysis and clear explanation. The bill allows the Iowa Department of Education to contract with a third party to administer the education savings accounts, but the state hasn't issued a request for proposals from companies seeking to manage the funds. Wills said that policy is one justification for a vast expansion of state funding for private schools in Iowa. Kim Reynolds set to give GOP response to Biden's State of the Union address", "Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signs transgender sports bill into law", "As Governor Resists Mask Mandate, Iowans Sour on the G.O.P. Asked Tuesdaywhat provoked her comments, Reynolds said she recognizes she is the governor of all Iowans, and she acknowledged that her comments probably applied only toa "very small" part of Iowa's population. Reynolds was born Kimberly Kay Strawn in St. Charles, Iowa. She wrote, Happy daughters day! Each voucher will be equal to $5,359, or 70 percent of a state education funding for each K-12 public school student. Kim Reynolds addresses the crowd before signing House File 68, her private school scholarships bill, in the rotunda of the Iowa Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023. Tonight, Governor Reynolds made clear the true goal of her voucher program, which is to continue the Republican attacks on Iowas public schools, and to hand our taxpayer dollars over to wealthy Iowa families that can already afford to send their kids to private school, said Sen. Zach Wahls, (D) Coralville. But it is justso vitriol and vicious right now. They tend to have higher poverty rates, greater behavior issues to deal with, and more students who come from non-English speaking homes. "You can come at me all you want. Republican Iowa Gov. The program is expected to cost $345 million annually by its fourth year, once it is fully phased in, according toan analysisfrom the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency. A recognized leader in state and local issues, Kim served as county treasurer and state senator before becoming Lieutenant Governor and Governor. The average tuition to a private elementary school is $4,560 per year, rising to $9,202 per year for a private high school. Served as Acting Lieutenant Governor, from May 25, 2017 to January 18, 20219, National Lieutenant Governors Association, Trump's trade and tariff policies were hurting American farmers, did not denounce the president's claims of election fraud, Congress formally counted the electoral votes, wider effort by Republicans across the country to roll back voting access, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, List of female governors in the United States, List of female lieutenant governors in the United States, "How Kim Reynolds ascended to Iowa's governorship", "Kim Reynolds high school graduate looking for work - Daily Times Herald", "Lt. Gov. "[17] On May 25, 2017, Reynolds announced that Iowa Public Defender Adam Gregg would serve as acting lieutenant governor; to avoid litigation, the Reynolds administration stated that Gregg "[would] not hold the official position of lieutenant governor" and would not succeed Reynolds in the event of her inability to serve as governor. Signing the bill into law sets up a crash course for the Iowa Department of Education, the agency tasked with getting the program up and running. She graduated from high school at the Interstate 35 Community School District in 1977. Kim Reynolds. Hodges (2016), Reynolds described same-sex marriage as a "settled" issue and said that she did not consider herself obligated to follow the Iowa Republican Party platform provision against same-sex marriage. In May 2018, Reynolds signed into law a bill which scaled back energy efficiency programs in Iowa. Kim Reynolds promoted her proposal to fund private school scholarships Thursday in response to a controversial new policy for transgender students in Linn County public schools.. Democrats have criticized Republicans over the cost of the plan, following multiple years when the public school funding increase approved by GOP lawmakers fell short of what advocates said was necessary to keep up with increasing costs. [20] Reynolds's proposed restructuring of the state tax code would represent a further reduction in income taxes, going beyond 2018 legislation (passed by Republicans in the state legislature and signed into law by Reynolds) that was the largest income tax cut in Iowa history. [36][37] Through her judicial appointments, Reynolds shifted the Iowa Supreme Court to the right. [24][25] She blocked two-thirds of requests from Democratic state Attorney General Tom Miller to join multi-state lawsuits challenging Trump administration policies or to submit amicus briefs in such suits; among the vetoed requests were proposals to challenge Trump policies related to immigration, asylum, abortion, birth control, environmental deregulation, gun policy, and LGBT rights. [80], Reynolds married Kevin Reynolds in 1982. Here's how it works, Who voted for Kim Reynolds' private school scholarships bill? The program would cost $106.9 million in that year. They have three daughters. ", "Ashton Kutcher linked Iowas governor to Utah COVID-19 testing program. Kim Reynolds signed the bill into law Tuesday. "This bill is about freedom for the family to make a decision. At the beginning of this school year, 32,689 students attended one of Iowa's 180 private schools. In 2018, Des Moines Register reported that she and her husband earned $163,000 total in income in 2017 and paid $28,000 in taxes. [70] Despite the outcry from teachers, who noted that social distancing was often impossible in school settings and that many teachers had not yet been vaccinated, in late January 2021 Reynolds signed a bill, passed by the state legislature along party lines, that required school districts to provide full-time in-person classes upon parents' request. Kevin and Kim Reynolds have been married since April 3, 1982. The attacks came at a time when Iowans are engaged in a statewide debate over water quality, particularly pollution linked to row-crop farming practicesand large livestock operations. The bill says the Iowa Department of Education may contract with an outside company to administer the ESA program, but it is unknown how much that will cost. Until we are willing to provide adequate funding for the vast majority of our public school students, we should not be creating a private, exclusive school entitlement program with unknown costs and unlimited funding a blank check., More:Iowa's new 'school choice' law is among the most expansive in the US. While the governors vouchers will offset the costs for most private elementary students,they dont come anywhere close to covering private high school tuition. [25], Reynolds has a close relationship with the Iowa pork industry, and in particular with Iowa Select, one of the country's largest pork producers. And he disagreed with the bill's lack of income limits for wealthy families. WebKim Reynolds graduated from Interstate 35 Community Schools in 1977, married her husband Kevin Reynolds in 1982, worked and raised three daughters, and completed her [13], Reynolds was elected chair of the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA) in July 2015. The current federal poverty level for a family of four is $26,500. [53], On March 3, 2022, Reynolds signed into law a bill that bans transgender girls and women from participating on designated female sports teams. By the fourth year, around 42,000 students would receive ESAs at a total cost of $345 million per year. This bill is not about attacking teachers. Then, the GOPexpanded its House majorityto 64 seats in the general election, ushering in more supporters of the issue and giving Republican leadership an added cushion. And Im happy that the governor, Kim Reynolds, has been a staunch supporter of parental rights in education, and this just cements that fact even further.. Adam was the Republican nominee for Attorney General in 2014. Our public schools and students deserve better, said Sen. Molly Donahue, D-Cedar Rapids. [46] After the testing came to light in January 2021, Polk County Supervisor Matt McCoy criticized Reynolds, and State Auditor Rob Sand began an investigation into whether special treatment was accorded to political donors over essential workers and vulnerable persons. [69], In 2020, Reynolds had the lowest approval rating of any governor in the nation for her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, with an approval rating of 28% in July[71] and 26% in September. Adam is recognized as a national leader among Lt. Governors, serving as former Chair of the Republican Lt. Governors Association and Treasurer of the National Lt. Governors Association. [24] She condemned the storming of the Capitol, which disrupted the counting of the electoral votes, but said many people believed the election was "not valid". Until we are willing to provide adequate funding for the vast majority of our public school students, we should not be creating a private, exclusive school entitlement program with unknown costs and unlimited funding a blank check, said Sen. Molly Donahue, D-Cedar Rapids, a teacher for more than 30 years in Cedar Rapids schools. Governor Inaugural Address: Kim Reynolds", "How Successful Are Lieutenant Governors Seeking the Governorship? We want to put parents back in the driver's seat and we're willing to pay for that.. He added that the legislation is also Republicans response to conservative parents who, in recent years, have claimed that public schools advance a liberal agenda in the way they teach race and history or by holding books in the library some parents find obscene. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law just after midnight Thursday that immediately made it illegal to require masks in schools. Kim Reynolds held a closed meeting last spring with parents from Linn-Mar schools who were upset with a policy that allows students in seventh grade and older to keep their gender support plans private. Kim Reynolds signed school choice legislation into law Tuesday that provides private school students with taxpayer funds. [7] In 2010, Reynolds endorsed a ban on same-sex marriage in Iowa. In order for low income families to access private schools, they will also need access to transportation and to additional funding. Her praise illustrated the importance of the effort by Iowa's Republican House leaders like Windschitl and House Speaker Pat Grassley to get the bill passed after two years of failure. I am tough. Reynolds was born as Kimberly Kay Strawn in St. Charles, Iowa. Here's how it works. Each small, rural school district would receive an additional $199.57 per student. First, lets examine the income threshold. Kim Reynolds graduated from Interstate 35 Community Schools in 1977, married her husband Kevin Reynolds in 1982, worked and raised three daughters, and completed her bachelors degree from Iowa State University in 2016 while serving as Lieutenant Governor. She won primarily by sweeping nearly the entire state west of Des Moines. Those numbers align with previous estimates released by the governors office. If Only It Were That Simple", "Gov. Its the choice we made for our daughters, and it's the same path theyve now chosen for their own children. "Public schools are the foundation of our educational system, and for most families, theyll continue to be the option of choice. She is Iowa's first female governor. Thats what the state provides for each child attending a public school. In an April 2020 post, Reynolds shared a happy birthday post dedicated to her daughter Jessica. [35], Reynolds began her first full term on January 18, 2019. 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