HF 269 Iowa House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

A bill for an act prohibiting certain requirements for students and faculty at regents institutions relating to diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical race theory and including applicability provisions.

HF 269 prohibits Iowa's public universities (regents institutions) from requiring students to take courses or faculty to use teaching materials related to diversity, equity, inclusion, or critical race theory as part of degree requirements. The bill bans institutions from constraining students' course choices to meet such requirements or mandating faculty to incorporate specific content or participate in related training as part of evaluations or promotions. Limited exemptions exist only for programs explicitly focused on racial, ethnic, or gender studies, and students cannot be forced to take these courses for other degrees. The law takes effect for academic years starting July 1, 2026.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
House Passage
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 6, 2025 Last action Mar 31, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Reprinted · 4 edits
MODERATE
The bill was reprinted with significant formatting changes and minor text modifications. The core policy content remains substantially the same, though some definitions were reorganized and consolidated for clarity. The bill establishes restrictions on requiring students to take diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical race theory courses and limits faculty requirements related to these topics at Iowa state universities.
Scope change
No substantive change to the bill's scope or applicability. The bill still applies to public institutions of higher education governed by the state board of regents, effective July 1, 2026.
TECHNICAL

Formatting and layout changes from a single-column text format to a proper two-column bill reprint format with page numbers and section headers.

Added a stamp indicating the bill was 'As Amended and Passed by the House March 18, 2025' and updated the committee attribution to include 'md' (likely indicating a different committee member or drafter).

Removed the detailed explanation section that appeared at the end of the original version, as this is typically condensed or formatted differently in the final reprint.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'Diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical race theory-related content' was reorganized. The reprinted version consolidates what were previously separate subsections (a, b, c, d) into a more streamlined format with items a, b, and c, removing the fourth item about student bias.

Floor votes · House Mar 18, 2025

How they voted

6434
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 100
Mar 18, 2025
D Democratic33
33 Nay
100% Nay
R Republican67
64 Yea 1 Nay 2
95% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
13
Key actions
5
Committee
3
Amendments
5
Mar 31, 2025
Legislature · Passed
Subcommittee recommends passage.
legislature
Mar 27, 2025
Legislature · Passed
Subcommittee Meeting: 03/31/2025 12:30PM Senate Lounge.
legislature
Mar 26, 2025
Upper · Passed
Subcommittee: Gruenhagen, Pike, and Quirmbach.
upper
Mar 18, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed House, yeas 63, nays 34.
lower
Mar 18, 2025
Introduced
Amendment H-1111, yeas 33, nays 64, lost, as amended.
lower
Mar 18, 2025
Introduced
Amendment H-1114 to amendment H-1111 filed, adopted.
lower
Mar 18, 2025
Lower · Passed
Amendment H-1082 adopted.
lower
Mar 17, 2025
Introduced
Amendment H-1111 filed.
lower
Mar 13, 2025
Introduced
Amendment H-1082 filed.
lower
Feb 6, 2025
Introduced
Introduced, placed on calendar.
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.