BW INSIGHTS

March 15, 2024 REC Summary

The Revenue Estimating Conference (“REC”) met Friday (3.15.24) as part of their standard schedule of meetings to estimate future state revenues. REC members Kraig Paulsen and Jennifer Acton welcomed Jeff Plagge to the panel as the new public representative. A summary of the information discussed during the meeting is below, along with the linked... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week 9

Capitol Update The second funnel deadline is next Friday. We expect to see mostly Committee work next week as bills that have not made it through the Committee in the other Chamber will be considered dead for the session, with exceptions. Even though a bill itself may be considered dead, ideas are not dead and can come back in the form of... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Eight

Capitol Update This week, many bills were debated in either the House or Senate and then passed onto their last stop in the legislative process. Each chamber must vote on the exact same language in order to finally pass the bill and have it become law. The Senate will often substitute a House File and vice versa during floor debate so the language... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Seven

Capitol Update The focus of the legislature this week turned toward Floor Debate. Mostly non-controversial bills were considered. According to Joint House and Senate Rule 20, during week #7 debate is limited to only Senate Files in the Senate and House Files in the House. The next two weeks of debate are not limited by that rule. Budget... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Six

Funnel week. Funnel week has come and gone and it was quite a week with 227 bills moving through Committees and 99 scheduled subcommittees. The purpose of the funnel is to “weed out” those bills that will not be given further consideration this session. The next major procedural deadline - the second funnel - is March 15. For a bill to be... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Five

The pace continued during week 5 with 164 bills scheduled for consideration in Committees and 165 scheduled for subcommittee discussions. Next week is funnel week - which means bills must be considered in a subcommittee and pass the Committee by next Friday. Of course, there are exceptions to that rule. Although based on the large numbers of bills... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Four

Capital Update Big news on Thursday with the Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair Senator Dan Dawson and the House Ways and Means Committee Chair Representative Bobby Kaufmann jointly releasing a tax reform package that will consist of two different bills (SSB 3141 and SSB 3142). The Press Release states the following:  “The first bill... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Three

Capitol Update General Assembly Update. The third week of session was hectic with 176 subcommittee meetings scheduled. We expect this pace to continue as the first major funnel is fast approaching. By February 16, all bills must be voted out of the Committee of origin. That means the bill must be filed, subcommittee assigned, passed subcommittee,... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Two

Capitol Update The second week of session picked up speed following Monday’s caucus events. On Wednesday the first “floor work” for the session was conducted. Both the House and Senate passed resolutions, SR 102 and HR 102, to recognize the term “brain health” as a term that may be used synonymously with the terms mental health, mental illness and... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week One

Capitol Update Iowa lawmakers returned to Des Moines on Monday to convene the second legislative session of the 90th General Assembly.  General Assemblies run in two-year cycles.  The second session is the shorter of the two, with the goal of sine die by April 16 this year.  Bills that were declared “dead” in the first session (2023) may be... Read More