IOWA: STATE YOUR AFFILIATION
Having your party affiliation checked in order to be considered for a job at a public
university? That’s the bill that was introduced by an Iowa Republican state senator
earlier this year. His contention? Too many liberal professors influencing “young
minds”. His solution, framed in a bill that is currently in committee, would require
that “a person shall not be hired as a professor or instructor member of the faculty at
such an institution if the person’s political party affiliation on the date of hire would
cause the percentage of faculty belonging to one political party to exceed by ten
percent the percentage of faculty”.
The bill would have required the state Board of Elections to provide public
universities with registration data for applicants.
It’s been a tough year for higher education in Iowa. Republicans in the state
legislature, in January, proposed ending tenure at the state’s public institutions. In
February, state legislators introduced a bill that would eliminate collective bargaining
for faculty members.
It is unlikely that the bill will move out of committee to a vote. Mark Chelgren is the
Republican member of the Iowa State Senate who introduced the bill. He represents
District 41 and was first elected to the chamber in 2010. In 2016 he was challenged by
Democrat Steve Siegel who lost narrowly by only 374 votes.
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