BW INSIGHTS

2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Five

By Matthew H. McKinney, R.G. Schwarm & Julie A. Smith | 02.17.2025

Capitol Update New This Week. Newly elected Democratic Senator Mike Zimmer took the Oath of Office this past Monday. Zimmer was elected to fill the Senate seat previously held by Lieutenant Governor Chris Cournoyer. In addition, Governor Reynolds set March 11th as the Special Election date to fill House District 100, a seat vacated by the sudden... Read More

2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Four

By Matthew H. McKinney, R.G. Schwarm & Julie A. Smith | 02.10.2025

New This Week. Week 3 (last week) ended on a sad note with the sudden passing of Representative Martin Graber (R) on Friday, January 31st. The House didn’t gather in Des Moines on Tuesday of week 4 so that members could attend Representative Graber’s funeral. Graber, from Fort Madison, represented House District 100. He was first elected to serve... Read More

2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Three

By Matthew H. McKinney, R.G. Schwarm & Julie A. Smith | 02.03.2025

Capitol Update New This Week. After Tuesday’s special election, a new State Senator will take the oath of office in Des Moines. Democrat Mike Zimmer, the Central DeWitt School Board president, won the seat for Senate District 35 in eastern Iowa. The district includes Clinton County and parts of Jackson and Scott Counties. Zimmer succeeds in the... Read More

2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Two

By Matthew H. McKinney, R.G. Schwarm & Julie A. Smith | 01.27.2025

Capitol Update Monday was a very busy day in D.C. with the inauguration of our 47th President, Donald J. Trump (and former 45th President). It was also Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and celebrations honoring Dr. King were held in Iowa and around the country. Hands-Free Legislation Passes First Subcommittee. Both the Senate and House are considering... Read More

2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week One

By Matthew H. McKinney, R.G. Schwarm & Julie A. Smith | 01.21.2025

First Day. The first day of the 91st General Assembly began on Monday, January 13, 2025. The State Constitution directs that session be held annually commencing on the second Monday of January and the Iowa Code directs that the general Assembly convene at 10:00 a.m. It was an exciting day for the newly-elected and reelected legislators who took... Read More

Government Relations Update - October 17, 2024 REC Summary

By Matthew H. McKinney, R.G. Schwarm & Julie A. Smith | 10.18.2024

The Revenue Estimating Conference (“REC”) met Thursday (10.17.24) as part of their standard schedule of meetings to estimate future state revenues. REC members Kraig Paulsen (Gov.’s Appointee), Jennifer Acton (LSA), and Jeff Plagge (Public Member) serve on the three-member panel. A summary of the information discussed during the meeting is below,... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Fourteen

By Matthew H. McKinney & Julie A. Smith | 04.15.2024

On Thursday, the first appropriations bill of the year passed one chamber. Kind of like seeing a robin in winter…you know that sine die (spring) is getting closer. This week also saw a lot of action in subcommittees and Appropriations Committees. Although the Senate and House have agreed within their Chambers on targeted amounts for the various... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Thirteen

By Matthew H. McKinney & Julie A. Smith | 04.08.2024

The Senate was busy this week confirming Governor’s Appointees. Confirmations require a two-thirds vote of all Senators. This means that 34 of the 50 must vote to confirm. With 34 Republicans in the Chamber, confirmations were less contentious than they have been in the past. Senators vote to confirm either En Bloc or on an Individual basis. Some... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Twelve

By Matthew H. McKinney & Julie A. Smith | 04.01.2024

State Budget. The final stages of the 2024 session took a big step forward on Thursday when House and Senate Leaders released budget targets. The Senate’s target is to limit expenditures to $8.872 billion for Fiscal Year 2025, the House has a higher budget number at $8.955 billion, and the Governor’s budget is at $8.919 billion. The next three... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Eleven

By Matthew H. McKinney & Julie A. Smith | 03.25.2024

Week #11 ended with movement on one of the main issues of session, the Area Education Agencies (AEA) bill. One of the major priorities of the Governor, the AEA bill in different forms has passed the Senate once and now the House twice. On Monday, the Senate amended HF 2612, and sent it back to the House with a strike-after amendment. On Thursday,... Read More