HF 187 (LSB 1888YH (2) 91)

HOUSE FILE 187

BY  CROKEN, R. JOHNSON, and WILSON

A BILL FOR

An Act modifying provisions related to eligibility for payments under the education savings account program, and including effective date provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 257.11B, subsection 2, paragraph a, subparagraph (2), unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   For the school budget year years beginning on or after July 1, 2024, the following pupils who attend a nonpublic school for that school budget year shall be eligible to receive an education savings account payment:
    Sec. 2.  Section 257.11B, subsection 2, paragraph a, subparagraph (3), Code 2025, is amended by striking the subparagraph.
    Sec. 3.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill modifies provisions related to eligibility for payments under the education savings account program.
   Under current law, for the school budget year beginning July 1, 2024, the following pupils who attend a nonpublic school are eligible to receive an education savings account payment under Code section 257.11B (education savings account program): a resident pupil who is eligible to enroll in kindergarten, a resident pupil who is eligible to enroll in grades 1 through 12 and was not enrolled in a nonpublic school for the school year immediately preceding the school year for which the education savings account payment is requested, a resident pupil who is eligible to enroll in grades 1 through 12 and was enrolled in a nonpublic school for the school year immediately preceding the school year for which the education savings account payment is requested if the pupil’s household has an annual income less than or equal to 400 percent of the most recently revised poverty income guidelines published by the United States department of health and human services, and a resident pupil who received an education savings account payment in the immediately preceding school budget year. Also under current law, for school budget years beginning on or after July 1, 2025, the eligibility requirement related to the pupil’s household income is removed and resident pupils eligible to enroll in kindergarten through grade 12 who attend a nonpublic school for the applicable school budget year are eligible to receive an education savings account payment. The bill strikes this provision. The bill provides that the eligibility requirement related to the pupil’s household income applies to school budget years beginning on or after July 1, 2024.
   The bill takes effect upon enactment.