Governor Reynolds has announced that 29,025 K-12 students applied for a Students First Education Savings Account (ESA) during the program’s monthlong application period which closed on June 30.

“The tremendous response from Iowa families demonstrates there’s both a need and a strong desire for school choice in our state,” said Governor Reynolds. “Allowing parents to choose the education that’s best for their children levels the playing field and creates equal opportunities for Iowa’s students.”

The program is part of the governor’s landmark Students First Act which was signed into law in January and promotes school choice by providing ESAs for eligible students who choose to attend accredited private schools in Iowa. Universal eligibility will be phased in over three years. All incoming Kindergarteners and all public-school students are eligible in year one with the start of the 2023-2024 school year. Eligibility for families of children currently enrolled in accredited private schools will be income based over the first two years. During the 2023-2024 school year, private school students with household incomes at or below 300% of the federal poverty level (FPL), currently $90,000 or less for a family of four, are eligible. The following year, income eligibility expands to include household incomes up to 400% FPL, currently $120,000 or less for a family of four. Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, all K-12 students in Iowa are eligible regardless of income.

This year, ESAs will be funded with $7,635—the same amount appropriated by the state to support the education of each public-school student during the 2023-2024 academic year. The funds must first be used to pay tuition and fees; remaining balances can then be used to cover other approved educational expenses or held for subsequent school years.

To date, 17,481 ESA applications have been approved. The remaining applications are pending additional review. The state has 30 days following the close of the application period to complete the review process and determine the eligibility status of all pending applications.

Of the applications approved at this time:

• 40% are for students planning to move from public to accredited private schools, while 60% are for students already attending accredited private schools whose families qualify based on income eligibility for the upcoming school year (at or below 300% federal poverty level (FPL), or up to $90,000 for a family of four).
• The average net household income for ESA applicants planning to move from public to accredited private schools is $128,507 (more than 400% FPL); and $62,199 for private school applicants.
• 14% of applicants have household incomes less than 100% FPL (less than $30,000 for a family of four); 31% have incomes ranging from 101% to 200% FPL (above $30,000 and up to $60,000 for a family of four); 36% range from 201% to 300% FPL (above $60,000 and up to $90,000 for a family of four); the remaining 19% are above 300% FPL (above $90,000 for a family of four).

In addition to applying and being approved for an ESA, families must separately apply to the accredited private school of their choice and, if accepted, update their ESA account indicating the school their child plans to attend. Then, the school is able to invoice the family for tuition and fees through their ESA account. Once parents approve the payment, funds are transferred from the ESA account and payment is made to the school. ESA funds remain in the state’s possession until a student’s parent or guardian approves payment to the school.

Approved ESA accounts may be funded as soon as July 15. The first payment from an ESA must be used for tuition and fees to an Iowa accredited private school.

If a student is approved for an ESA but does not attend an accredited private school by September 30, the ESA account will be closed for the school year. The funds remain with the state and are returned to the general fund.

The final number of ESA program participants and other program details will not be available until certified school enrollment numbers are finalized later this fall.

Donnellson, Iowa. A small town of less than a thousand in population, boasting two parks within a few mile radius and the kind of town where every driver that you come across flashes a wave as a gentle reminder that this is small town Iowa. While this town may be small, it is also the site of Iowa’s oldest county fair.

Celebrations have been ongoing since Wednesday, with FFA and 4H kids showing their animals. Josh Hawk, who was showing pigs in the competitive swine category, gave me the rundown on preparing pigs for competition. While I thought it would be a simple process, I was proven wrong rather quickly. He spends a couple of hours each day washing his pigs with water and essentially “fluffing up” their skin to really show off the animal’s strength and muscle definition.

Simply observing the fairgrounds for 5 minutes revealed what could best be described as a set directly out of “The Field of Dreams” movie. Children were playing baseball along the side of the learning center, pigs were housed and being prepared in a barn, contestants were nervous and excited at the same time, and Kenny’s Funland Carnival waited quietly in the background, waiting patiently for it’s turn to burst into life in the afternoon.

The Lee County Fair continues through this weekend, and KILJ will continue to provide updates from the grounds of the oldest county fair in Iowa.

The Mount Pleasant Ordinance Committee will meet Wednesday, July 12, 2023, at

9:00 a.m. at City Hall in the City Administrators’ Conference Room.

AGENDA

Call to order

Discuss Prairie Restoration

Discuss Food Truck Ordinance

Discuss Off Street Semi Parking

Discuss Ongoing Nuisances

Open forum

Adjourn

The Mount Pleasant Childcare Center needs your help. With summer in full swing, the children at the Childcare Center are busy enjoying the sun and creating crafts their parents will cherish for years to come. With this being said, the Mount Pleasant Childcare Center needs cardboard boxes, bamboo or wood skewers, kid scissors, box milk cartons, glue of all kinds, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, paint, and paint brushes as well as sunscreen. If you have extra craft supplies, or see a sale on sunscreen, please consider donating to the Mount Pleasant Childcare Center. Despite having a childcare center in Mount Pleasant, Henry County is still a childcare desert meaning your support is crucial in supporting our area centers. Donations can be dropped off at the center, 304 West Washington Street Mount Pleasant, IA.

The Iowa Finance Authority Board of Directors recently awarded a total of more than $15 million in federal housing tax credits and HOME program loans to support the construction and rehabilitation of a total of 410 affordable rental homes for Iowans. The awards were made to 11 rental housing projects, notably in Burlington, West Burlington, and Keokuk.

“Housing is foundational to the economic mobility of Iowans and the strength of our communities,” said Iowa Finance Authority Executive Director Debi Durham. “The financing announced today will provide hundreds of Iowa families and seniors with homes in which they can thrive in communities all throughout the state.”

“Not only will the new Keokuk Family Flats provide an additional 47 rental homes in our community, but it will also be a tremendous catalyst for economic ripple effects as more of our workforce will be able to live near where they work,” said City of Keokuk Mayor Kathie Mahoney.

Housing Tax Credits
The Internal Revenue Service makes an annual per capita allocation of federal tax credits to each state for the Federal Housing Tax Credit program. The Iowa Finance Authority is charged with allocating those credits to affordable housing developers. The developers who receive tax credits sell them to investors to generate equity for the housing developments.

View Award Listing Here

Thursday, July 6th U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley held a Henry County town hall meeting at Access Energy Cooperative in Mount Pleasant as part of his 99-county tour. Many constituents were in attendance as well as city, county, and state officials. A wide range of topics were discussed as Grassley opened his remarks stating, “There are no inappropriate questions; I don’t get those from Iowans.”

Some topics brought up by the attendees that affect Iowans were rural internet access, our ongoing relationship with China, and robo calls. Grassley’s response to a question on rural internet access included information about the Infrastructure bill which allocated $65 billion over the next 5 or 6 years for broadband expansion across the country. Iowa was awarded $415 million for the effort. Grassley said the bill was passed two years ago, but the money still hasn’t filtered down yet.

Our complex relationship with China was another hot topic, especially when talking about trade with China – imports and exports. Iowa exports about 40% of our pork to China, but that number has been decreasing. Remarks from the crowd stated a growing concern for what that will do to our economy here. Grassley couldn’t speak with certainty on the future of our trade relationship with China but did mention that our dependency on China for pharmaceutical drugs and ingredients, as well as personal protective equipment like masks and gowns, is a growing concern which was highlighted during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Lastly a constituent asked what was being done about those dreaded robo calls. The crowd groaned in agreement. Grassley remarked they have passed legislation that has cracked down on robo calls and spam but admitted it hasn’t eliminated them stating, “Clearly, more needs to be done.”

This town hall was the only town hall open to the public on his schedule for this week, crossing off 47 of the 99 counties in Iowa he represents. KILJ asked the Senator if this town hall was a typical of the discussions he’s been having as he tours the state.