Senate File 81 - Introduced SENATE FILE 81 BY SALMON A BILL FOR An Act relating to racism or sexism trainings at, and 1 diversity and inclusion efforts by, governmental agencies 2 and entities, school districts, and public postsecondary 3 educational institutions, and including civil penalties. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 1147XS (6) 90 jda/jh
S.F. 81 Section 1. Section 25A.1, subsection 1, paragraphs d and e, 1 Code 2023, are amended by striking the paragraphs. 2 Sec. 2. Section 25A.1, subsection 2, Code 2023, is amended 3 to read as follows: 4 2. Each agency, governmental entity, or governmental 5 subdivision may continue training that fosters a workplace 6 and learning environment that is respectful of all employees. 7 However, the head of an agency, governmental entity, or 8 governmental subdivision shall ensure that any mandatory staff 9 training and associated materials provided by an employee of an 10 agency, governmental entity, or governmental subdivision, or 11 by a contractor hired by the agency, governmental entity, or 12 governmental subdivision does not teach, advocate, encourage, 13 promote, or act upon stereotyping, scapegoating, specific 14 defined concepts or prejudice toward others on the basis of 15 demographic group membership or identity. This subsection 16 shall not be construed as preventing an employee or contractor 17 who provides mandatory training from responding to questions 18 regarding stereotyping, scapegoating, specific defined concepts 19 or prejudice raised by participants in the training. 20 Sec. 3. Section 25A.1, Code 2023, is amended by adding the 21 following new subsection: 22 NEW SUBSECTION . 2A. a. An employee of an agency, 23 governmental entity, or governmental subdivision alleging a 24 violation of subsection 2 by an employee or contractor of the 25 agency, governmental entity, or governmental subdivision may 26 bring a civil action for injunctive relief against the agency, 27 governmental entity, or governmental subdivision to prohibit 28 the employee or contractor from continuing such violation. 29 b. If an employee is the prevailing party in a civil action 30 instituted pursuant to paragraph a , the court shall award 31 reasonable court costs and attorney fees to the employee. 32 Sec. 4. Section 25A.1, subsection 4, paragraph b, Code 2023, 33 is amended to read as follows: 34 b. Create Except as provided in subsection 2A, create any 35 -1- LSB 1147XS (6) 90 jda/jh 1/ 8
S.F. 81 right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at 1 law or in equity by any party against the state of Iowa, its 2 departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, 3 or agents, or any other person. 4 Sec. 5. Section 261H.8, subsection 2, Code 2023, is amended 5 to read as follows: 6 2. Each public institution of higher education may continue 7 training that fosters a workplace and learning environment that 8 is respectful of all employees and students. However, the 9 president, vice presidents, deans, department directors, or any 10 other administrator of a public institution of higher education 11 shall ensure that any mandatory staff or student training and 12 associated materials provided by an employee of the institution 13 or by a contractor hired by the institution does not teach, 14 advocate, act upon, or promote specific defined concepts. This 15 subsection shall not be construed as preventing an employee 16 or contractor who provides mandatory training from responding 17 to questions regarding specific defined concepts raised by 18 participants in the training. 19 Sec. 6. Section 261H.8, Code 2023, is amended by adding the 20 following new subsection: 21 NEW SUBSECTION . 2A. a. An employee or student of a 22 public institution of higher education alleging a violation 23 of subsection 2 by an employee or contractor of the public 24 institution of higher education may bring a civil action 25 for injunctive relief against the public institution of 26 higher education to prohibit the employee or contractor from 27 continuing such violation. 28 b. If an employee or student is the prevailing party in a 29 civil action instituted pursuant to paragraph a , the court 30 shall award reasonable court costs and attorney fees to the 31 employee or student. 32 Sec. 7. Section 261H.8, subsection 4, paragraph d, Code 33 2023, is amended to read as follows: 34 d. Create Except as provided in subsection 2A, create any 35 -2- LSB 1147XS (6) 90 jda/jh 2/ 8
S.F. 81 right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at 1 law or in equity by any party against the state of Iowa, its 2 departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, 3 or agents, or any other person. 4 Sec. 8. Section 272.2, subsection 14, paragraph b, Code 5 2023, is amended by adding the following new subparagraph: 6 NEW SUBPARAGRAPH . (6) A court finds that the person has 7 violated section 279.74, subsection 2. 8 Sec. 9. Section 279.74, Code 2023, is amended to read as 9 follows: 10 279.74 Training and curriculum prohibited specific defined 11 concepts. 12 1. For purposes of this section , unless the context 13 otherwise requires: 14 a. Race or sex scapegoating Administrator means the same 15 as defined in section 261H.8 272.1 . 16 b. Race or sex stereotyping means the same as defined in 17 section 261H.8 . 18 c. b. Specific defined concepts means the same as defined 19 in section 261H.8 . 20 c. Teacher means the same as defined in section 272.1. 21 2. a. Each school district may continue training that 22 fosters a workplace and learning environment that is respectful 23 of all employees and students. However, the superintendent 24 of each school district shall ensure that any curriculum or 25 mandatory staff or student training provided by an employee 26 of the school district or by a contractor hired by the school 27 district does not teach, advocate, encourage, promote, or act 28 upon specific stereotyping and scapegoating toward others 29 on the basis of demographic group membership or identity 30 contractors hired by the school district and teachers or 31 administrators employed by the school district shall not 32 provide any curriculum or mandatory staff or student training, 33 or associated materials, that teaches, advocates, encourages, 34 promotes, or acts upon specific defined concepts . This 35 -3- LSB 1147XS (6) 90 jda/jh 3/ 8
S.F. 81 subsection shall not be construed as preventing an employee 1 or contractor a contractor, teacher, or administrator who 2 teaches any curriculum or who provides mandatory training from 3 responding to questions regarding specific defined concepts 4 raised by participants in the training. 5 b. An administrator employed by a school district shall 6 not knowingly allow a contractor hired by the school district 7 or a teacher employed by the school district to provide 8 any curriculum or mandatory staff or student training, or 9 associated materials, that teaches, advocates, encourages, 10 promotes, or acts upon specific defined concepts. 11 3. a. A parent or guardian of a student enrolled in the 12 school district who alleges a violation of subsection 2 by 13 a contractor, teacher, or administrator may bring a civil 14 action for injunctive relief against the school district that 15 hired the contractor or employs the teacher or administrator 16 to prohibit the contractor, teacher, or administrator from 17 continuing such violation. 18 b. If a parent or guardian is the prevailing party in a 19 civil action instituted pursuant to paragraph a , all of the 20 following shall apply: 21 (1) The court shall award reasonable court costs and 22 attorney fees to the parent or guardian. 23 (2) The court shall assess a civil penalty against the 24 school district that hired the contractor or employs the 25 teacher or administrator, in an amount not less than ten 26 thousand dollars and not more than fifty thousand dollars. 27 Moneys from the civil penalty provided in this subparagraph 28 shall be remitted to the treasurer of state for deposit in the 29 general fund of the state. 30 (3) The clerk of court shall send a copy of the courts 31 order issued pursuant to this subsection to the board of 32 educational examiners. 33 3. 4. School district diversity and inclusion efforts shall 34 discourage students of the school district from discriminating 35 -4- LSB 1147XS (6) 90 jda/jh 4/ 8
S.F. 81 against another by political ideology or any characteristic 1 protected under the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pub. L. 2 No. 88-352, as amended, and applicable state law. Each school 3 district shall prohibit its employees from discriminating 4 against students or employees by political ideology or any 5 characteristic protected under the federal Civil Rights Act of 6 1964, Pub. L. No. 88-352, as amended, and applicable state law. 7 4. 5. This section shall not be construed to do any of the 8 following: 9 a. Inhibit or violate the first amendment rights of students 10 or faculty, or undermine a school districts duty to protect to 11 the fullest degree intellectual freedom and free expression. 12 The intellectual vitality of students and faculty shall not be 13 infringed under this section . 14 b. Prevent a school district from promoting racial, 15 cultural, ethnic, intellectual, or academic diversity or 16 inclusiveness, provided such efforts are consistent with the 17 provisions of this section , chapter 216 , and other applicable 18 law. 19 c. Prohibit discussing specific defined concepts as part of 20 a larger course of academic instruction. 21 d. Create Except as provided in subsection 3, create any 22 right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at 23 law or in equity by any party against the state of Iowa, its 24 departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, 25 or agents, or any other person. 26 e. Prohibit a state or federal court or agency of competent 27 jurisdiction from ordering a training or remedial action 28 containing discussions of specific defined concepts as a 29 remedial action due to a finding of discrimination, including 30 discrimination based on race or sex. 31 f. Prohibit the use of curriculum that teaches the topics 32 of sexism, slavery, racial oppression, racial segregation, 33 or racial discrimination, including topics relating to the 34 enactment and enforcement of laws resulting in sexism, racial 35 -5- LSB 1147XS (6) 90 jda/jh 5/ 8
S.F. 81 oppression, segregation, and discrimination. 1 Sec. 10. IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT. Section 25B.2, subsection 2 3, shall not apply to this Act. 3 EXPLANATION 4 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 5 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 6 This bill relates to racism or sexism trainings at, and 7 diversity and inclusion efforts by, governmental agencies 8 and entities, school districts, and public postsecondary 9 educational institutions. 10 Current Code section 279.74 requires the superintendent 11 of each school district to ensure that any curriculum or 12 mandatory staff or student training provided by an employee 13 of the school district or by a contractor hired by the school 14 district does not teach, advocate, encourage, promote, or act 15 upon specific stereotyping and scapegoating toward others on 16 the basis of demographic group membership or identity. The 17 bill modifies this provision to prohibit contractors, teachers, 18 and administrators from providing any curriculum, or mandatory 19 staff or student training, or associated materials, that 20 teaches, advocates, encourages, promotes, or acts upon specific 21 defined concepts. The bill also prohibits administrators 22 from knowingly allowing a contractor or a teacher to provide 23 any curriculum or mandatory staff or student training, or 24 associated materials, that teaches, advocates, encourages, 25 promotes, or acts upon specific defined concepts. The bill 26 requires the board of educational examiners (BOEE) to adopt 27 rules that require the BOEE to disqualify an applicant for a 28 license or to revoke a persons license if a court finds that a 29 person violates these provisions. 30 The bill authorizes a parent or guardian of a student 31 enrolled in a school district who alleges a violation of 32 these provisions to bring a civil action for injunctive 33 relief against the school district that hired the contractor 34 or employs the teacher or administrator to prohibit the 35 -6- LSB 1147XS (6) 90 jda/jh 6/ 8
S.F. 81 contractor, teacher, or administrator from continuing such 1 violation. The bill provides that if the parent or guardian 2 is the prevailing party in such civil action, the court shall 3 award reasonable court costs and attorney fees to the parent or 4 guardian, the court shall assess a civil penalty against the 5 school district in an amount not less than $10,000 and not more 6 than $50,000, and the clerk of court shall send a copy of the 7 courts order to the BOEE. The bill makes conforming changes 8 to Code section 279.74. 9 Current Code section 25A.1 requires the head of a 10 governmental entity to ensure that any mandatory staff training 11 provided by an employee of a governmental entity, or by a 12 contractor hired by the governmental entity, does not teach, 13 advocate, encourage, promote, or act upon stereotyping, 14 scapegoating, or prejudice toward others on the basis of 15 demographic group membership or identity. The bill modifies 16 this provision to require the head of a governmental entity 17 to ensure that any mandatory staff training or associated 18 materials provided by an employee of a governmental entity, 19 or by a contractor hired by the governmental entity, does not 20 teach, advocate, encourage, promote, or act upon specific 21 defined concepts or prejudice toward others on the basis of 22 demographic group membership or identity. The bill authorizes 23 an employee of a governmental entity alleging a violation 24 of Code section 25A.1 by an employee or contractor of the 25 governmental entity to bring a civil action for injunctive 26 relief against the governmental entity to prohibit the employee 27 or contractor from continuing such violation. The bill 28 provides that, if an employee is the prevailing party in the 29 civil action, the court shall award the employee reasonable 30 court costs and attorney fees. The bill makes conforming 31 changes. 32 Current Code section 261H.8 requires the president, 33 vice presidents, deans, department directors, or any other 34 administrator of a public institution of higher education to 35 -7- LSB 1147XS (6) 90 jda/jh 7/ 8
S.F. 81 ensure that any mandatory staff or student training provided 1 by an employee of the institution or by a contractor hired by 2 the institution does not teach, advocate, act upon, or promote 3 specific defined concepts. The bill modifies this provision 4 to also require such individuals to ensure that any materials 5 provided in association with the mandatory staff or student 6 training do not teach, advocate, act upon, or promote specific 7 defined concepts. The bill authorizes an employee or student 8 of an institution alleging a violation of Code section 261H.8 9 by an employee or contractor of the institution to bring a 10 civil action for injunctive relief against the institution 11 to prohibit the employee or contractor from continuing such 12 violation. The bill provides that, if an employee or student 13 is the prevailing party in the civil action, the court shall 14 award the employee or student reasonable court costs and 15 attorney fees. 16 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code 17 section 25B.3. The bill makes inapplicable Code section 25B.2, 18 subsection 3, which would relieve a political subdivision from 19 complying with a state mandate if funding for the cost of 20 the state mandate is not provided or specified. Therefore, 21 political subdivisions are required to comply with any state 22 mandate included in the bill. 23 -8- LSB 1147XS (6) 90 jda/jh 8/ 8