BW Insights

2020 Legislative Session-Week 1

By BrownWinick | 01.17.2020

The first week of the 2020 Iowa legislative sessionstarted Monday with the swearing-in of a new House Republican leadership team. Rep. Pat Grassley (R-New Hartford) was officially named Speaker of the House, while Rep. Matt Windschitl (R-Missouri Valley) was sworn in as Majority Leader. Grassley listed workforce-related issues as his top concerns,... Read More

A New Definition Under the Federal Freedom of Information Act

By BrownWinick | 07.09.2019

Article written by BrownWinick 2019 Summer Associate, Mariah Kauder, and BrownWinick attorney, James White What qualifies as confidential? These days it might seem as if very little information truly remains private. However, when it comes to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling has actually expanded the... Read More

Post Session Report 2019

By BrownWinick | 06.11.2019

Iowa lawmakers debated numerous policy proposals during the 2019 legislative session. Legalizing sports betting; establishing Iowa’s first children’s mental health system; restoring felon voting rights; and instituting work requirements for Medicaid recipients were just a few of the many issues debated at the Capitol. The Iowa House introduced... Read More

2019 Legislative Session - Week 14

By BrownWinick | 04.22.2019

House and Senate Republicans have reached an agreement on the budget for next fiscal year (FY20). Under the joint plan, the state will spend $7.64 billion from the general fund. That’s a 0.2 percent increase from last year. Although lawmakers can legally spend 99 percent of ongoing revenues, the GOP proposal uses just north of 97 percent.... Read More

2019 Legislative Session - Week 13

By BrownWinick | 04.12.2019

House and Senate Republicans are continuing to hash-out next year’s budget (FY20), but have yet to agree on the final figures. Those so-called “joint budget targets” lay out how much both chambers are willing to spend on big-ticket appropriations, like education, economic development, and health and human services. In the absence of joint targets,... Read More

2019 Legislative Session - Week 12

By BrownWinick | 04.05.2019

Lawmakers raced bills through committee this week, scrambling to beat the second legislative “Funnel.” Most policy measures that didn’t pass out of the House or Senate, and a full committee in the opposite chamber by Friday are dead for the remainder of session. Tax, spending, government oversight, and leadership bills are largely exempt from this... Read More

2019 Legislative Session - Week 11

By BrownWinick | 03.29.2019

A vast majority of the Iowa House advanced a key piece of of the governor’s agenda this week. Under HJR 14, the state constitution would be amended to restore felons’ voting rights after they complete their sentences. Governor Kim Reynolds made the issue a centerpiece of her agenda this year, proposing the amendment in her January Condition of the... Read More

2019 Legislative Session - Week 10

By BrownWinick | 03.22.2019

Governor Kim Reynolds has shifted her focus toward disaster relief following catastrophic floods across Iowa. Yesterday, she requested that President Donald Trump issue an expedited Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for 57 counties. That move would immediately free up federal recovery resources, including FEMA funding. So far, the floods... Read More

March 2019 REC Summary

By BrownWinick | 03.18.2019

The Revenue Estimating Conference ("REC") met yesterday morning (3/15/19) in Des Moines. A short summary of the information discussed during the meeting is below, along with the below spreadsheet handed out during the meeting that contains more detailed information. In short, the report from yesterday shows that revenues for the existing fiscal... Read More

2019 Legislative Session - Week 9