(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Senate has expanded a bill that would make it a crime to lie about academic credentials to get a job. Earlier this month the House voted to set fines and a prison sentence of up to 30 days for Iowans convicted of falsely claiming a degree or academic credentials. Under the Senate’s addition, claiming to have a professional license would bring far larger fines and could land someone in prison for up to two years.
Senator Mike Zimmer, a Democrat from DeWitt who’s a retired educator, was an administrator at Pleasant Valley and North Scott High Schools. “Unfortunately, I was made aware early on before we had electronics of…a teacher falsifying their spouses licensure and submitting that as having a teaching license when they did not,” Zimmer said, “but also this can get a lot more serious…somebody falsifying a nurse anethesis license, a dental hygenist license. I could go on and on.”
The House must approve the Senate’s change before the bill can go to the governor for her signature. The legislation was drafted after former Des Moines Superintendent Ian Roberts was arrested by immigration agents and was found to have lied about having a doctoral degree from Morgan State University.
