Legislation passed out of the Iowa House Tuesday would restrict hiring contracts at state universities and create a general education framework for secondary education.
House File 2513 would bar state universities from entering into an employment contract with H1-B visa holders from countries labeled as “foreign adversaries” beginning July 2 of this year. The bill’s list of restricted countries of origin grew in House debate through an amendment.
Rep. Skyler Wheeler, R-Hull, introduced the bill and the amendment, which he said would put Syria on the list of “federally designated foreign adversaries” as he described them in a committee meeting, joining China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, North Korea and Venezuela. The amendment, passed by the House, also added community colleges and private higher education institutions to the bill.
“This bill enhances national security and protects sensitive research at Iowa’s public universities by preventing potential risks from espionage or intellectual property theft associated with hires from adversarial nations such as China, aligning with broader U.S. concerns over foreign influence in academia while prioritizing American or allied talent,” Wheeler said when introducing the bill.
Two amendments from House Democrats sought to add language stating the policy wouldn’t apply to citizens of NATO allies or those fleeing religious persecution for their Christian faith. Both were defeated. Wheeler said for those in that situation, “there are 1,000 different ways you can get into the United States,” and this bill is dealing specifically with H1-B visas.
Rep. Timi Brown-Powers, D-Waterloo, spoke out against the bill, which she called another overreach into the private university sphere with the amendment.
While the bill would not impact already existing contracts, Brown-Powers said there are more than 300 students and educators at the University of Iowa in the H1-B visa program, alongside 108 people at Iowa State University and 16 at the University of Northern Iowa.
This bill could make it difficult to hire research professors and graduate students, many of whom teach, and Brown-Powers said she hasn’t seen anything from the universities that would indicate dangerous activity from these populations.
“I realize that this is part of a push following a September proclamation by the president (which) states that there is an abuse of H1-B visas,” Brown-Powers said. “However, I have not seen any abuse in the state of Iowa, nor have I heard today of any instances that have happened in the state of Iowa for us to be concerned about.”
U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst have also worked to ensure H1-B visas are available in the U.S. and in Iowa for “hard-to-fill positions” like those of physicians or research analysts, Brown-Powers said. She said she believes the Legislature is “chasing a problem that doesn’t exist.”
Wheeler said in his closing remarks on the bill that “our universities are for Americans and Americans first.”
“Before you take this vote today, ask yourself a question — do you really believe we should have members of the Chinese Communist Party teaching economics or political science or government in our regents universities,” Wheeler said. “Do you really believe that we should have individuals from Russia or Iran influencing future voters in this country? I do not.”
The legislation passed out of House debate with a 67-27 vote.
Iowa House lawmakers also unanimously passed House File 2610, which would require the Iowa Department of Education to create and implement, in collaboration with the Iowa Board of Regents and community colleges, “statewide lower division general education framework and common course numbering systems” for community colleges, as well as to rename career and technical education service areas to content areas and align their six areas with a “national framework representative of all career pathways.”
The bill would also have community colleges replace prerequisite remedial math and English with “corequisite developmental education,” established by the Iowa Department of Education. Wheeler, who also introduced House File 2610, said the change would provide “better options” for students trying to complete remedial math and English.
Its companion bill in the Iowa Senate passed out of the chamber’s education committee Feb. 18.
