HF 222 (LSB 2392YH (2) 91)

HOUSE FILE 222

BY  BROWN-POWERS, GOSA, and CROKEN

A BILL FOR

An Act allocating hotel and motel taxes to schools that begin school calendar years after Labor Day, creating an alternate school start date fund, and making appropriations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 279.10, Code 2025, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  3.  a.  A school district or accredited nonpublic school may receive moneys under this subsection if the school district or accredited nonpublic school’s school calendar begins after Labor Day. The school calendar of the school district or accredited nonpublic school must satisfy the day or hour requirement under subsection 1.
   b.  If the school district or accredited nonpublic school uses the hours of instruction standard, the school district or accredited nonpublic school shall fulfill the one thousand eighty hours of instruction requirement during the calendar year as if the school district or accredited nonpublic school started on August 23, except for any days that may be added to the school calendar due to inclement weather. 
   c.  An alternate school start date fund is established as a separate fund in the state treasury under the control of and administered by the department of education. The department shall distribute the moneys in the fund to each school district and accredited nonpublic school whose school calendar began after Labor Day on a pro rata basis. 
   d.  The moneys provided to a school district pursuant to paragraph “c” shall be deposited into the general fund of the school district and shall be considered miscellaneous income as defined in section 257.2. However, such moneys shall not be included in district cost. 
   e.  The department of education shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to administer this subsection.
    Sec. 2.  Section 423A.5A, Code 2025, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  7.  The department shall remit the state-imposed tax collected from August 23 through Labor Day of any year to the alternate school start date fund established in section 279.10. 
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill allocates hotel and motel taxes to schools that begin the school calendar year after Labor Day.
   The bill provides that a school district or accredited nonpublic school may move the school start date to after Labor Day. The school calendar of the school district or accredited nonpublic school must satisfy the day and hour requirement under Code section 279.10(1). 
   The bill provides that if the school district or accredited nonpublic school has set the hours of required attendance, the school district or accredited nonpublic school shall fulfill the 1,080 hours of instruction requirement during the calendar year as if the year started on August 23, except for any days that may be added to the school calendar due to inclement weather. 
   The bill requires the department of revenue to remit the state-imposed hotel and motel tax collected from August 23 through Labor Day of any year to the alternate school start date fund established in the bill. 
   The bill creates an alternate school start date fund as a separate fund in the state treasury. The fund shall be under the control of and administered by the department of education and shall be used to provide support to a school district or accredited nonpublic school whose school calendar began after Labor Day. The moneys in the fund shall be allocated to each school district and accredited nonpublic school on a pro rata basis. 
   The moneys provided to a school district pursuant to the bill shall be deposited into the general fund of the school district and shall be considered miscellaneous income as defined in Code section 257.2. However, the bill specifies that such moneys shall not be included in district cost.