Breaking News. This morning, Governor Reynolds shared she will not seek reelection in 2026, citing a desire to spend more time with her family. Click here to watch her full announcement.
This Week. The Senate debated Monday-Wednesday passing 30 bills. The House debated on Tuesday passing 8 bills. This is the time of year when a lot is going on “behind the scenes” to negotiate the end of session budgets and policy bills.
Speaking of budgets, Senate Republicans released budget targets this week. This means that they took the overall budget amount and determined where and in what proportion they would allocate dollars to the different budget appropriation areas. This allows the Budget Chairs to begin to work on the appropriations bills knowing the limitations of their budgets. The Senate also filed several of the Governor’s Appropriations bills SSB 1222 (Education), SSB 1223 (Economic Development), SSB 1224 (Justice System), SSB 1225 (Judicial Branch) - from which they will begin discussions. The House passed HSB 327, the Governor’s Proposed Federal Block Grant Funding Bill out of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday.
The Governor set the Special Election date for House District 78 for April 29. This seat was vacated on April 1 by former Representative Sami Sheetz (D) who resigned to accept a Linn County Supervisor position.
The End is Approaching. The 110th Calendar day is May 2 - this is the date per diems for legislators end, but is NOT a hard and fast stop date for the 2025 legislative session. This next week, the 14th week, House members no longer have to file amendments the day preceding floor debate. The list of bills that can be considered is limited to: Bills passed by both Houses, Appropriations and Ways and Means Bills, Government Oversight Bills, Legalizing Acts, Administrative Rules Review Committee Bills, Committee Bills related to delayed or suspended Administrative Rules [Iowa Code Sec. 17A.8(9)], Bills co-sponsored by Majority and Minority Leaders of one House, Conference Committee Reports, Companion Bills sponsored by Senate and House Majority Leaders, Concurrent or Simple Resolutions, Joint Resolutions nullifying Administrative Rules, Bills on the Veto Calendar (Joint Rule 23) and Unfinished Business.
School Funding Amount Agreed To. Discussions on school funding increases began during the first month of session and have been ongoing. SF 167 was filed on Jan. 30 and passed the Senate on Feb. 11. It passed the House two days later on Feb. 13. An agreement was reached and acted upon this week. On Monday, the Senate passed SF 167 with an amendment that sets the amount of increased K-12 public school funding at 2%. This equates to a per pupil increase of $157. On Tuesday, the House accepted the Senate amendment and agreed to the 2% increase. The House had originally passed a 2.25% increase. For detailed financial information about the impact of this bill, see the Fiscal Note.
Property Tax Update - New Bills Filed. One of the main issues that both House and Senate Republicans are working to address this session is an overhaul of the state’s property tax system. On Wednesday, Senate Ways and Means Chairperson Dan Dawson and House Ways and Means Chairperson Bobby Kauffman held a joint press conference to announce changes to their original property tax proposals SSB 1208 and HSB 313. The Chairs introduced two new bills, SSB 1227 and HSB 328. The revised bills are a result of listening to public input after the original bills were filed in Week #8.
The 64 page - 99 sections bill at a high level includes the following:
Governor’s Disaster Bill Moves Forward. Another major policy piece of the Governor’s agenda proposed in response to major flooding and tornadoes in 2024 moved forward in both the House and Senate this week. SF 619 passed a Ways and Means Subcommittee on Thursday and HF 982 unanimously passed out of the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.
Accessory Dwelling Unit Legislation Goes to Governor. SF 592 requiring counties and cities to authorize one accessory dwelling unit on the same lot as a single family residence was passed by the House on Tuesday and goes to the Governor for her signature. The accessory dwelling unit is limited to 1,000 square feet or 50% of the size of the single family residence whichever is larger. The bill generally prohibits cities and counties from placing restrictions on accessory dwelling units.
Iowa’s Official Register, the “Redbook” is a historical compilation of state government - thought to have been first published in some form in 1860, it was first authorized by an Act of the Legislature in 1892. It is called the “Redbook” because when it was published it had a red cover. (As described in the Letter to Fellow Iowans in the Introduction to Volume 80 in the 2023-2024 Official Register.) To see the latest version, click here. If you are interested in seeing earlier versions, scroll down to the General Assembly you are looking for on the main website.
Iowa Code Section 2A.5, subsection 4 requires the Legislative Services Agency in each odd-numbered year “compile for publication a printed or electronic version of the Iowa official register for distribution as soon as practicable. The register shall contain historical, political, and other information and statistics of general value but shall not contain information or statistics of a partisan character.”
The Redbook contains information on the Executive Branch, Legislative Branch, Judicial Branch, Executive Branch Agencies, the Federal Government, Local Government, History and the Constitution, Iowa’s Profile, Educational Institutions and Elections. If you are ever in an Iowa trivia event, this may be your silver bullet.
April 8, 2025: Representatives of the Iowa Chapter of the American Institute of Architects pose for a picture following their annual legislative breakfast event.