Latest news with #HouseFile856
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
DMPD ends 30×30 initiative to comply with state law banning DEI
DES MOINES, Iowa — A bill signed by Governor Reynolds to remove DEI initiatives, policies, and programs is impacting law enforcement agencies in Des Moines, as the city announced it's withdrawing from a national initiative aimed at recruiting and retaining more women in law enforcement. To comply with House File 856, which was signed into law on May 27, Des Moines is eliminating its 30×30 program. A national initiative to improve and grow the representation of women in law enforcement. The Des Moines Police Department joined the initiative in late 2021, with the goal of growing women in police recruitment classes to 30% by 2030. The change comes just after the police department celebrated its most diverse class of recruits yet in 2024. Increasing the number of Asian, Black, and Hispanic officers and increasing bilingual officers on the force. Currently, the City of Des Moines said that the Des Moines Police Department has 43 sworn female officers, representing roughly 11% of sworn officers. Forecast: Mild temps and tiny rain chances City Manager Scott Sanders was unavailable for an on-camera interview on Wednesday, but did provide a list of answers to questions WHO 13 had about the change. When asked about the importance of diverse officers on the force to better serve the community, Sanders said, 'There are many important factors to our police department's success serving the Des Moines community. The top of that list is our officers and their passion for helping our residents and visitors. Whether responding to a call or building relationships in the community, it is our officers' collective goal to protect both lives and property for every member of our community to the best of their ability.' When asked about ensuring future law enforcement career opportunities are open to all individuals, Sanders said, 'The Des Moines police remains committed to providing an attractive workplace for all potential recruits, including women, as it also strives to be a welcoming employer to all officers who are qualified and dedicated to serving the Des Moines community.' When asked about the 30×30 initiative and the decision to withdraw, Sanders said, 'The DMPD's participation in the 30×30 initiative was a goal to increase the presence of women in the Des Moines Police Department. The discontinuation of the 30×30 program means that there will no longer be a hiring goal for the number of women hired by Des Moines Police to comply with state law.' Metro News: DMPS selling student-run radio station KDPS 88.1 FM DMPD ends 30×30 initiative to comply with state law banning DEI 'Suspicious package' found near Federal Building shuts down downtown DSM road Hundreds of volunteers needed for National Speech and Debate Tournament in Des Moines Des Moines man guilty of fatally shooting man at hotel sentenced to prison Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iowa bill would restrict state DEI offices or hires
Iowa state lawmakers remain in overtime and hope to finalize the state budget and adjourn in the next few days, but they're working on other bills in the meantime. They sent a bill that would restrict diversity, equity and inclusion in government agencies to the governor. House File 856 would ban state agencies, cities, counties and community colleges from spending money on a DEI office or DEI employee. State senators amended the bill last week to exempt private colleges from the requirement. Democrats say it would hurt Iowa's workforce, but Republicans call it the next step toward restoring Iowa to a merit-based system. For more information, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill restricting DEI in government entities sent to Gov. Reynolds to be signed into law
DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa House lawmakers advanced House File 856 in a vote along party lines on Tuesday morning. The bill would expand diversity, equity and inclusion measures passed last year. The bill restricts state, county and city government entities from spending money on DEI offices or employees. The bill was just amended in the Iowa Senate last week to take out the language of private colleges and universities as part of the restrictions. Republicans in both chambers held the belief that this will help return state agencies and universities to a merit-based system. House Republicans did take issue with the Iowa Senate removing the private college language. ARL sees rise in parvovirus cases in the community '…private colleges from the original bill. And it also changes the wording, clarifying that this is not about encouraging preferential treatment or special benefits,' said State Representative Henry Stone (R), District 9 from Forest City. Meanwhile, both Senate and House Democrats urged this expansion not be passed. One representative argued that this is how the state remains competitive. 'This is how we compete. Going into the future by holding down diversity, equity and inclusion in our state,' said State Representative Rob Johnson (D), District 34 from Des Moines. 'This isn't about checking boxes, this is about building bridges.' The bill, if signed into law, will take effect on July 1, 2025, meaning that cities and counties need to be looking at this change before passing a budget for the next fiscal year. Iowa News: Bill restricting DEI in government entities sent to Gov. Reynolds to be signed into law Caitlin Clark Foundation dishes another assist Iowa veteran battles through illness on Appalachian Trail journey WHO 13 Farm Report: Tuesday, May 13th Iowa's first Latina legislator sworn in to office Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iowa Senate subcommittee passes bill to bar DEI offices at state entities, private colleges
A bill that would bar state entities and private universities from having DEI offices or officers passed out of subcommittee Tuesday. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) An Iowa Senate subcommittee advanced legislation Tuesday to ban DEI offices and officers in certain public and private entities while noting there are proposed changes in the bill still to come. House File 856 would bar state entities, including universities and community colleges as well as private universities, from spending any funds, public or private, on diversity, equity and inclusion offices or officers, with some exceptions. If found to be noncompliant with the law, private universities would become ineligible for the Iowa Tuition Grant program until they make changes — meaning students who receive Iowa Tuition Grant dollars would not be able to spend them at the offending universities. The section of the bill pertaining to private universities was the main topic of discussion for members of the public, both in opposition and support. It was also the section that subcommittee chairman Sen. Ken Rozenboom, R-Oskaloosa, told those gathered he would be submitting an amendment to remove. In the Iowa Tuition Grant's more than 50-year history, Rozenboom said the Legislature has never added conditions to the program, and if it starts now, more conditions will added later. 'I'm very uncomfortable, personally … with dipping our toe into conditioning the Iowa Tuition Grant,' Rozenboom said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX He and Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, R-Fort Dodge, signed off on the legislation, with Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, abstaining. Patty Alexander, who identified herself as a 'concerned mom,' was joined by other parents and lobbyists in support of the legislation. Inspired Life lobbyist Amber Williams said the bill will stop division sowed by DEI policies and activities and protects students from being judged by their demographics rather than their efforts and merit. 'I support this bill because it will hold higher learning institutions accountable and allow them to make corrections, and will ensure that the unhealthy and misguided pursuit of power, which DEI supports, will not be tolerated,' Alexander said. Interfaith Alliance of Iowa lobbyist and Executive Director Connie Ryan opposed the bill and said DEI is about both acknowledging past disparities between different groups and their effects, and also about setting up every Iowan for support and success in the future. The concepts of DEI are key to ensuring members of Iowa's institutions, educational or not, are provided opportunities without erecting barriers, she said. 'That's the goal of diversity, equity and inclusion. It should be the goal of Iowa's elected officials,' Ryan said. 'We are grateful that you took out private institutions. We hope that you would take out the rest of the language as well.' Iowa Board of Regents State Relations Officer Jillian Carlson said the board is registered as 'undecided' on the bill, but it is 'generally supportive' of moving away from DEI, as is happening on the federal level. With other legislation targeting DEI moving through the Statehouse, Carlson said the board would appreciate lawmakers aligning the varying definitions of DEI included in different bills, which Quirmbach and Rozenboom acknowledged. Quirmbach said he was happy to hear of Rozenboom's intentions to remove private universities from the bill, but said he wished community colleges and public universities were also included in the proposed amendment. Echoing comments he made during debate of Senate File 507, which would bar local governments from utilizing DEI practices, Quirmbach said the ideas making up DEI are an asset to organizations wanting to ensure they have the best people and training for the job. 'In general, looking for people of high merit, you want to have the broadest possible pool of candidates,' Quirmbach said. 'The bigger the pool, the more likely you're going to find somebody who is absolutely, spectacularly wonderful. But there are certain groups that aren't typically recruited.' One acronym brought up by supporters of the bill was MEI — or merit, excellence and intelligence. Rozenboom said the tenets of MEI have been replaced over the years with DEI, with negative consequences. Both he and Kraayenbrink said the public signaled its wish to do away with DEI in the last election, and this legislation will help clean up the mess. 'MEI resonates with me a lot more than DEI does, and I hope that's the direction we can head from now on,' Rozenboom said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iowa House Black Caucus responds to DEI legislation passed by House Republicans
DES MOINES, Iowa — On Tuesday, Iowa House Republicans passed three bills that take restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion in the state even further. Three bills passed: House File 269 that bans Iowa's public universities from requiring a course that has topics or instruction of items related to DEI or critical race theory; House File 401 that states required courses cannot include materials that teach identity politics, systemic racism, oppression or distort historical events; and House File 856 that bans DEI offices at all Iowa community and private colleges in the Iowa Tuition Grant. It also bans local governments and state agencies from spending money on DEI offices or staff. 'Almost half of surveyed college students agree that some speech can be so offensive in certain cases that it merits such harsh penalties or punishment, like the death penalty,' said State Representative Henry Stone (R) District 9 from Forest City. 'DEI ideology that is being taught to our kids and it is destroying, in my opinion, our country.' On Wednesday morning, the Iowa House Black Caucus wanted to respond to remarks made during debate and the bills that were passed on Tuesday. How to watch Iowa teams in NCAA basketball tournament 'The fact that diversity is the reason that there are accessible elevators in this building. It's the reason that we take the act of including and being inclusive of people. It's the reason why the Republicans put forward in the bill in support of service animals. That's inclusion,' said State Representative Ross Wilburn (D) District 50, from Ames. 'They chose to talk about race.' 'It didn't just happen. It came about because this was a solution to an issue and a problem that was facing, not just Iowa, but an issue that was facing us here in America, and so, dismantling that dismantles the progress Iowa has pushed for,' said State Representative Rob Johnson (D) District 34, from Des Moines. while referencing members of the 55th General Assembly where 90 plus House Republicans voted to move for equality and end segregation in schools before Brown v. Board of Education was taken up in the United States Supreme Court. Another member of the Black Caucus spoke about comments made about how its members did not reach out to any House Republicans during the last two months when these bills were moving through the process. 'I feel like there were comments made yesterday about the Black Legislative Caucus and how we are not reaching out to individuals on the other side of the aisle,' said State Representative Jerome Amos Jr. (D) District 62, from Waterloo. 'That is not correct. I call it political fodder, is what I call it. And for me, we reach out, we talk to folks. You have to understand that we are not communicating as much as we probably could. But also the other side was not reaching out to us. And I firmly believe that we have to, as a body, start communicating with each other.' Members of the caucus asked Iowans to reach out to their representatives and senators, republicans or democrats, to urge them not to advance these three bills. Also calling on the governor to not sign these bills into law if they make it out of the Iowa Senate chamber this session. Iowa News: Iowa House Black Caucus responds to DEI legislation passed by House Republicans How to watch Iowa teams in NCAA basketball tournament WHO 13 Farm Report: Wednesday, March 19th Fort Dodge police investigating death, apartment fire Attempted murder arrest in Ames shooting Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
