Hunter
04/01/22
University of Iowa students met with Iowa legislators Thursday to advocate for a student apartment rental bill and to increase mental health resources and funding for the school to keep tuition rates down.
The Daily Iowan reports that Undergraduate Student Government President Regan Smock was joined by representatives from the UI College of Education, College of Engineering, and Hospitals and Clinics.
The students are pushing for a move-in checklist bill that would better protect students and all renters across the state. It would provide a list of existing damages and ensure that renters are aware of what is in their leases.
The students say more often than not, they lose all or most of their security deposits when they move out because there’s no documentation of existing damages when they move in.
The bill has already passed the Iowa House and is awaiting debate in the Senate.
Representatives from the school also advocated for higher funding on the state level, saying that the cost is falling on students more and more to a level that Smock said isn’t sustainable.
Members of Iowa State and the University of Northern Iowa student governments joined the U of I reps to voice their concerns about funding for mental health services on their campuses.
The DI says that the meeting, Hawkeye Caucus, is an annual tradition where several UI programs go to the state Capitol in Des Moines to speak to Iowa legislators.