A bill for an act relating to robotics, including by establishing a robotics grant program within the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics collaborative initiative and requiring the university of northern Iowa to develop a public-private partnership to support robotics competitions, and making appropriations.

House

File

504

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

504

BY

KRESSIG

,

LEVIN

,

WICHTENDAHL

,

GJERDE

,

WILBURN

,

AMOS

JR.

,

McBURNEY

,

KURTH

,

BAETH

,

YOUNG

,

B.

MEYER

,

MADISON

,

JACOBY

,

BAGNIEWSKI

,

SIECK

,

SIEGRIST

,

KONFRST

,

BROWN-POWERS

,

GOSA

,

and

CROKEN

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

robotics,

including

by

establishing

a

1

robotics

grant

program

within

the

science,

technology,

2

engineering,

and

mathematics

collaborative

initiative

and

3

requiring

the

university

of

northern

Iowa

to

develop

a

4

public-private

partnership

to

support

robotics

competitions,

5

and

making

appropriations.

6

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

7

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504

Section

1.

Section

256.111,

Code

2025,

is

amended

by

adding

1

the

following

new

subsection:

2

NEW

SUBSECTION

.

5A.

a.

The

collaborative

initiative

shall

3

develop

and

administer

a

robotics

grant

program

to

provide

4

grants

to

school

districts,

accredited

nonpublic

schools,

5

charter

schools,

and

innovation

zone

schools

to

support

6

robotics

programs

by

offsetting

costs

associated

with

all

of

7

the

following:

8

(1)

The

payment

of

stipends

to

members

of

school

robotics

9

teams.

10

(2)

Fees,

kits,

and

supplies

that

are

required

to

establish

11

or

maintain

a

school

robotics

team

or

to

participate

in

a

12

robotics

competition.

13

(3)

Event

registration,

materials,

transportation

costs,

14

travel

costs,

and

other

expenses

related

to

attending

a

15

robotics

competition.

16

b.

The

collaborative

initiative

shall

establish

the

17

application

processes,

deadlines,

eligibility

requirements,

and

18

award

criteria

associated

with

the

robotics

grant

program.

19

c.

Moneys

awarded

under

this

subsection

shall

be

used

to

20

supplement,

not

supplant,

existing

public

funding

used

by

a

21

school

district

for

similar

purposes.

22

Sec.

2.

DEPARTMENT

OF

EDUCATION

——

ROBOTICS

GRANT

23

PROGRAM.

There

is

appropriated

from

the

general

fund

of

the

24

state

to

the

department

of

education

for

the

fiscal

year

25

beginning

July

1,

2025,

and

ending

June

30,

2026,

the

following

26

amount,

or

so

much

thereof

as

is

necessary,

to

be

used

for

the

27

purposes

designated:

28

For

purposes

of

the

robotics

grant

program

established

29

pursuant

to

section

256.111,

subsection

5A,

if

enacted:

30

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

$

400,000

31

Sec.

3.

UNIVERSITY

OF

NORTHERN

IOWA

——

ROBOTICS

32

COMPETITION.

There

is

appropriated

from

the

general

fund

of

33

the

state

to

the

state

board

of

regents

for

the

fiscal

year

34

beginning

July

1,

2025,

and

ending

June

30,

2026,

the

following

35

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504

amount,

or

so

much

thereof

as

is

necessary,

to

be

used

for

the

1

purposes

designated:

2

For

the

university

of

northern

Iowa

for

purposes

of

3

developing

a

public-private

partnership

with

a

person

or

4

persons

who

provide

matching

funds

to

support

the

Iowa

regional

5

FIRST

robotics

competition,

including

salaries,

support,

6

maintenance,

and

miscellaneous

purposes:

7

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

$

100,000

8

EXPLANATION

9

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

10

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

11

This

bill

relates

to

robotics,

including

by

establishing

12

a

robotics

grant

program

within

the

science,

technology,

13

engineering,

and

mathematics

collaborative

initiative

and

14

requiring

the

university

of

northern

Iowa

to

develop

robotics

15

competitions.

16

The

bill

requires

the

science,

technology,

engineering,

and

17

mathematics

collaborative

initiative

within

the

innovation

18

division

of

the

department

of

education

to

develop

and

19

administer

a

robotics

grant

program

to

provide

grants

to

school

20

districts,

accredited

nonpublic

schools,

charter

schools,

21

and

innovation

zone

schools

to

support

robotics

programs

22

by

offsetting

certain

specified

costs.

The

collaborative

23

initiative

is

required

to

establish

the

application

processes,

24

deadlines,

eligibility

requirements,

and

award

criteria

25

associated

with

the

robotics

grant

program.

The

bill

26

appropriates

$400,000

to

the

department

of

education

for

27

purposes

of

the

robotics

grant

program

for

FY

2025-2026.

28

The

bill

appropriates

$100,000

for

FY

2025-2026

to

the

29

state

board

of

regents

for

the

university

of

northern

Iowa

30

for

purposes

of

developing

a

public-private

partnership

with

31

a

person

or

persons

who

provide

matching

funds

to

support

the

32

Iowa

regional

FIRST

robotics

competition.

33

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