Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

House Study Bill 692 - Introduced
                                   HOUSE FILE _____
                                   BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON
                                       APPROPRIATIONS BILL BY
                                       CHAIRPERSON MOHR)
                             A BILL FOR
An Act relating to school security, including by modifying
  provisions related to the issuance of school bonds,
  requiring schools to conduct school safety reviews and have
  access to the statewide interoperable communications system,
  establishing the school emergency radio access grant program
  and the firearm detection software grant program within the
  department of homeland security and emergency management,
  requiring the department of public safety to convene a
  task force related to the safety and security standards of
  schools and school infrastructure, making appropriations,
  and including effective date provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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    Section 1. Section 298.21, Code 2024, is amended to read as
 follows:
    298.21 School bonds.
    1. The Subject to subsection 2, the board of directors of
 any school corporation when authorized by the voters at an
 election held on a date specified in section 39.2, subsection
 4, paragraph “d”, may issue the negotiable, interest-bearing
 school bonds of the corporation for borrowing money for any or
 all of the following purposes:
    1. a. To acquire sites for school purposes.
    2. b. To erect, complete, or improve buildings authorized
 for school purposes.
    3. c. To acquire equipment for schools, sites, and
 buildings.
    2. The board of directors of a school corporation shall not
 issue negotiable, interest-bearing school bonds for borrowing
 money for purposes of constructing a new school building or
 site to be used primarily for interscholastic athletic contests
 or competitions, or renovating or improving a school building
 or site that is currently used primarily for interscholastic
 athletic contests or competitions, unless all of the attendance
 centers of the school corporation are in compliance with the
 provisions of the state building code, adopted on or after the
 effective date of this Act, related to the construction of new
 attendance centers and the renovation of existing attendance
 centers that incorporate standards designed to increase the
 safety of schools and school infrastructure.
    Sec. 2. REQUIRED SCHOOL SAFETY REVIEW.
    1. Each school district, accredited nonpublic school,
 charter school established pursuant to chapter 256E, charter
 school established pursuant to chapter 256F, and innovation
 zone school established pursuant to chapter 256F shall complete
 a comprehensive review and evaluation of the school’s ability
 to ensure the safety of students enrolled in the school and
 of school employees, including a review and evaluation of
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 the school’s plan for responses to active shooter scenarios
 and natural disasters and the school’s safety and security
 infrastructure. The results of the comprehensive review and
 evaluation shall be confidential and shall not be a public
 record subject to disclosure under chapter 22.
    2. On or before the first day of the school calendar
 established pursuant to section 279.10, subsection 1, for the
 school year beginning July 1, 2024, each school district,
 accredited nonpublic school, charter school established
 pursuant to chapter 256E, charter school established pursuant
 to chapter 256F, and innovation zone school established
 pursuant to chapter 256F shall submit the results of
 the comprehensive review and evaluation to all local law
 enforcement agencies, including police forces of the counties
 in which school attendance centers are located, the local
 district office of the state patrol, and, if applicable, the
 police forces of the cities in which school attendance centers
 are located.
    Sec. 3. REQUIRED ACCESS TO STATEWIDE INTEROPERABLE
 COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM —— DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND
 EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT GRANT PROGRAM —— APPROPRIATION.
    1. On or before the first day of the school calendar
 established pursuant to section 279.10, subsection 1, for the
 school year beginning July 1, 2024, each school district,
 accredited nonpublic school, charter school established
 pursuant to chapter 256E, charter school established pursuant
 to chapter 256F, and innovation zone school established
 pursuant to chapter 256F is required to have at least one
 handheld or console radio that is capable of accessing
 the statewide interoperable communications system at each
 attendance center.
    2. a. The department of homeland security and emergency
 management shall establish a school emergency radio access
 grant program to provide grants to school districts, accredited
 nonpublic schools, charter schools established pursuant to
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 chapter 256E, charter schools established pursuant to chapter
 256F, and innovation zone schools established pursuant to
 chapter 256F that, as of January 1, 2024, did not have at least
 one handheld or console radio that was capable of accessing
 the statewide interoperable communications system at each
 attendance center operated by the school, to help such schools
 offset the cost associated with purchasing and, if applicable,
 installing, such a handheld or console radio.
    b. The department of homeland security and emergency
 management shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to
 administer this section, including rules relating to grant
 application materials and award criteria.
    c. Moneys awarded under this section shall be used to
 supplement, not supplant, existing public funding used by
 school districts for similar purposes.
    3. a. There is appropriated from the 911 emergency
 communications fund established pursuant to section 34A.7A to
 the department of homeland security and emergency management
 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023, and ending June 30,
 2024, the following amount, or so much thereof as is necessary,
 to be used for the purposes designated:
    For purposes of the school emergency radio access grant
 program established pursuant to subsection 2, if enacted:
 .................................................. $ 3,000,000
    b. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys appropriated in
 this subsection that remain unencumbered or unobligated at the
 close of the fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain
 available for expenditure for the purposes designated until the
 close of the succeeding fiscal year.
    Sec. 4. FIREARM DETECTION SOFTWARE PILOT PROGRAM ——
 DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ——
 APPROPRIATION.
    1. The department of homeland security and emergency
 management shall establish a firearm detection software grant
 program to provide grants to school districts to help such
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 school districts offset the cost associated with purchasing,
 installing, and operating software that meets all of the
 following requirements:
    a. Is designed to detect and alert school district employees
 and first responders if there is a visible, unholstered firearm
 on property owned by the school district.
    b. Is designated by the secretary of homeland security as
 qualified anti-terrorism technology under 6 U.S.C. §441 et seq.
    c. Is designed to integrate with a school district’s
 existing security camera infrastructure.
    d. Was developed in the United States without the use of any
 third-party data or open-source data.
    2. The department of homeland security and emergency
 management shall provide at least one grant under the firearm
 detection software grant program to each of the following
 school districts:
    a. A school district with a total enrollment in the school
 year beginning July 1, 2023, that was among the forty-eight
 largest total enrollment amounts in the state.
    b. A school district with a total enrollment in the school
 year beginning July 1, 2023, that was among the next sixty-four
 largest total enrollment amounts in the state, after the school
 districts described in paragraph “a”.
    c. A school district that is not described in paragraph “a”
 or “b”.
    3. The department of homeland security and emergency
 management shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to
 administer this section, including rules relating to grant
 application materials and award criteria.
    4. Moneys awarded under this section shall be used to
 supplement, not supplant, existing public funding used by
 school districts for similar purposes.
    5. a. Each school district that receives a grant pursuant
 to this section shall, in coordination with the department of
 homeland security and emergency management and the department
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 of public safety’s school safety bureau, evaluate the
 effectiveness of the software purchased with moneys awarded
 under this section in protecting students, school personnel,
 and the public.
    b. Each school district that receives a grant pursuant
 to this section shall submit an initial evaluation of the
 effectiveness of the software purchased with moneys awarded
 under this section to the general assembly on or before
 December 15, 2024.
    c. Each school district that receives a grant pursuant
 to this section shall submit a final evaluation of the
 effectiveness of the software purchased with moneys awarded
 under this section to the general assembly on or before
 December 15, 2025.
    6. a. There is appropriated from the general fund of the
 state to the department of homeland security and emergency
 management for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023, and
 ending June 30, 2024, the following amount, or so much thereof
 as is necessary, to be used for the purposes designated:
    For purposes of the firearm detection software grant program
 established pursuant to subsection 1, if enacted:
 .................................................. $     350,000
    b. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys appropriated in
 this subsection that remain unencumbered or unobligated at the
 close of the fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain
 available for expenditure for the purposes designated until the
 close of the succeeding fiscal year.
    Sec. 5. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, DEPARTMENT OF
 EDUCATION, AND DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY
 MANAGEMENT —— SCHOOL SAFETY AND SECURITY INFRASTRUCTURE
 STANDARDS —— TASK FORCE.
    1. The department of public safety, in collaboration with
 the department of education and the department of homeland
 security and emergency management, shall convene and provide
 administrative support to a task force that shall study
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 and make recommendations related to the safety and security
 standards of schools and school infrastructure, including
 safety and security standards related to doors, windows,
 cameras, and locks.
    2. Any expenses incurred by a member of the task force
 shall be the responsibility of the individual member or the
 respective entity represented by the member.
    3. The task force shall submit its findings and
 recommendations to the general assembly on or before December
 31, 2024. The findings and recommendations shall include a
 proposal for modifications to the state building code that
 are applicable to the construction of new attendance centers
 and the renovation of existing attendance centers and that
 incorporate standards designed to increase the safety of
 schools and school infrastructure.
    Sec. 6. EMERGENCY RULES. The department of homeland
 security and emergency management may adopt emergency
 rules under section 17A.4, subsection 3, and section 17A.5,
 subsection 2, paragraph “b”, to implement the provisions of
 this Act establishing the school emergency radio access grant
 program and the firearm detection software grant program, and
 the rules shall be effective immediately upon filing unless
 a later date is specified in the rules. Any rules adopted
 in accordance with this section shall also be published as a
 notice of intended action as provided in section 17A.4.
    Sec. 7. STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED. In accordance
 with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring
 compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall
 be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid
 received by the school district under section 257.16. This
 specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed
 to meet all of the state funding-related requirements of
 section 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding
 shall be necessary for the full implementation of this Act
 by and enforcement of this Act against all affected school
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districts.
  Sec. 8. 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 relates to school security, including by modifying
 provisions related to the issuance of school bonds, requiring
 schools to conduct school safety reviews and have access to the
 statewide interoperable communications system, establishing the
 school emergency radio access grant program and the firearm
 detection software grant program within the department of
 homeland security and emergency management, and requiring the
 department of public safety to convene a task force related
 to the safety and security standards of schools and school
 infrastructure.
    The bill requires each school district, accredited nonpublic
 school, charter school, and innovation zone school to complete
 a comprehensive review and evaluation of the school’s ability
 to ensure the safety of students enrolled in the school and of
 school employees. The bill provides that the results of the
 comprehensive review and evaluation shall be confidential and
 shall not be a public record subject to disclosure. The bill
 establishes that, on or before the first day of the school
 calendar for the school year beginning July 1, 2024, each
 school is required to submit the results of the comprehensive
 review and evaluation to all local law enforcement agencies.
    The bill requires that, on or before the first day of
 the school calendar for the school year beginning July 1,
 2024, each school district, accredited nonpublic school,
 charter school, and innovation zone school is required to have
 at least one handheld or console radio that is capable of
 accessing the statewide interoperable communications system
 at each attendance center operated by the school. The bill
 provides that the department of homeland security and emergency
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 management shall establish a school emergency radio access
 grant program to provide grants to schools that, as of January
 1, 2024, did not have at least one handheld or console radio
 that was capable of accessing such system at each attendance
 center operated by the school, to help such schools offset the
 cost associated with purchasing and installing such radio.
 The bill authorizes the department to adopt emergency rules
 to implement the program. The bill appropriates $3 million
 from the 911 emergency communications fund for FY 2023-2024
 for purposes of the grant program. The bill provides that if
 these moneys remain unencumbered or unobligated at the close of
 the fiscal year, the moneys shall not revert but shall remain
 available for expenditure for the purposes designated until
 the close of the succeeding fiscal year. The bill establishes
 that moneys awarded u