Lobbying & Public Policy

We represent and advocate for clients before legislative and executive branch decision makers to obtain support for (or defend against) legislative and regulatory proposals. Supported by the firm’s full range of nationally recognized legal services, our attorneys work closely with clients to carefully draft legislation, develop grassroots programs and build coalitions on numerous matters. Both political parties are represented in our lobbying team.

Our Iowa Government Relations and lobbying team of attorneys have considerable prior experience in all three branches of state government, as well as service in county and city government.

Apr04

Ankeny Office Hours

9:00 AM to 10:30 AM

Apr04

Orient Legislative Coffee

10:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Apr04

Thompson Legislative Forum

11:30 AM to 12:30 PM

Apr04

Forest City Legislative Forum

2:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Apr04

Waterloo Legislative Forum

4:30 PM to 6:30 PM

Apr04

Cedar Valley Legislative Forum

4:30 PM to 6:30 PM

Apr05

Council Bluffs Town Hall

9:00 AM to 10:30 AM

Apr05

Atlantic Legislative Coffee

9:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Apr05

Apr05

Apr05

Algona Legislative Forum

10:30 AM to 11:30 AM

Apr05

Apr07

Apr07

Apr11

Ankeny Office Hours

9:00 AM to 10:30 AM

Apr12

Creston Legislative Forum

8:00 AM to 9:00 AM

Apr12

Marion Coffee & Conversation

9:00 AM to 10:30 AM

Apr12

Denison Legislative Forum

10:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Apr12

Corning Legislative Forum

10:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Apr12

Storm Lake Legislative Forum

10:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Apr14

Apr18

Ankeny Office Hours

9:00 AM to 10:30 AM

Apr19

Iowa City Legislative Check-In

9:00 AM to 10:00 AM

Apr21

Apr25

Ankeny Office Hours

9:00 AM to 10:30 AM

Apr26

Council Bluffs Town Hall

9:00 AM to 10:30 AM

Apr26

Camanche Legislative Coffee

9:00 AM to 10:15 AM

Apr26

Apr26

DeWitt Legislative Coffee

11:00 AM to 12:30 PM

Apr28

May03

Marion Coffee & Conversation

9:00 AM to 10:30 AM

May03

May05

May17

Adel Legislative Forum

10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Eleven

Capitol Update This Week. The days to the next funnel are dwindling. This week the Senate passed 30 bills on the floor and the House passed 49. Most of those bills will have to be pushed through the Committees on the other side by next Friday, April 4 or they will be ineligible for further consideration this session. New Representative Blaine...
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2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Ten

Capitol Update Both the House and Senate debated bills this week with the Senate passing 29 bills and the House passing 54 bills. During week 10, Joint Rule 20 found in House Concurrent Resolution 5, states that the Senate can only consider Senate bills, Senate joint resolutions, and unfinished business and the House can consider only House bills,...
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2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Nine

Capitol Update Most of this past week consisted of House and Senate floor debate as there is a push to advance bills from one chamber to the other in order to meet the next funnel deadline (April 4th), particularly bills that are not filed in both Chambers. The House passed 52 bills and the Senate passed 30 bills. This week, five of those bills...
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March 13, 2025 REC Summary

The Revenue Estimating Conference (“REC”) met today (3.13.25) 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,...
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2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Eight

Capitol Update Week #8 was busy! The first major funnel of 2025 is behind us. There were 165 different subcommittees scheduled between Monday and Thursday. For comparison purposes, last year’s funnel week had 99 subcommittees. Last week (#7) 192 different subcommittees were scheduled. The BW team doesn’t attend ALL of those subcommittees, but does...
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2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Seven

Capitol Update The pace quickened this week at the Capitol. The first major funnel deadline is next Friday, March 7, the eighth week of session. March 7th is the date by which Senate bills must be voted out of Senate Committees and House bills must be voted out of House Committees. However, there are certain committees that are not subject to this...
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2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Six

Capitol Update A Good Week for Governor’s Bills. The Governor held a Press Conference on Tuesday to discuss her new health care policy proposals. The bills, HSB 191 and SSB 1163 follow up on the goals the Governor discussed in her Condition of the State Speech to address health care workforce shortages and scarcity of care in rural Iowa. The bill...
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2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Five

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...
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2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Four

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...
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2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Three

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...
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2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Two

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...
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2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week One

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...
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Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Fourteen

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...
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Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Thirteen

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...
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Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Twelve

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...
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Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Eleven

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,...
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Government Relations Legislative Update - Week 10

The past week was the second funnel week. Thursday was the last day of action at the Statehouse. The Senate did not debate and instead focused on Committee work. The House debated Monday through Wednesday. On Thursday, the House placed 31 bills on the Unfinished Business Calendar which means they will continue to be eligible for further...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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SERVICES OFFERED:

Lobbying Services

We represent and advocate for clients before legislative and executive branch decision-makers to obtain support for (or defend against) legislative and regulatory proposals. Supported by BrownWinick’s full range of nationally recognized legal services, we work closely with our clients to carefully draft legislation, develop grassroots programs, and build coalitions on numerous matters. Both political parties are represented in our lobbying team.

Strategy Development

Clients are assisted in developing goals and effective strategies in support of their legislative and regulatory agendas. This includes arranging meetings with key elected officials and policymakers. Assistance is also provided in the development of effective and supportive public relations and media campaigns.

Legislative/Regulatory Drafting

Our team regularly drafts legislation and regulations to address our clients’ needs. BrownWinick assists clients in getting these legislative and regulatory proposals introduced before the appropriate governing body and in shepherding them through the approval process.

Tracking and Evaluation of Legislation

On-site personal attention, as well as the latest computer technology, are both used to monitor legislative trends and developments that likely affect clients and their interests. This work includes legal analysis and reporting on legislation as it moves through the lengthy process of hearings, committee meetings, floor debate, and consideration by the executive branch.

Ethics and Election Laws

Our team regularly works with and counsels clients to ensure compliance with applicable rules, laws, and ethical considerations on lobbying, campaign finance, and corporate political activity.

Political Activities
Practical recommendations are made to clients on the administration and development of political action committees. Such work includes providing proposals for the effective use of campaign contributions. Campaign contribution plans are also developed for clients without political action committees. Finally, we also assist with political campaigns and administer ballot issue campaigns.

Peer Recognition

BrownWinick’s Iowa Government Relations team has been recognized as a leader in the industry. Members of our team have been recognized in the peer evaluation platform, Super Lawyers, which only 5% of attorneys in a state can be recognized in Super Lawyers.

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Lobbying & Public Policy Attorneys

headshot of Douglas E. Gross

Douglas E. Gross

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headshot of Hannah Rupp

Hannah Rupp

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headshot of R.G. Schwarm

R.G. Schwarm

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Julie A. Smith

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